Don’t be afraid to dream big
Woodinville Weekly
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
By Deborah Stone, Staff Photo by Ian Gleadle
Melissa Borghorst aims to inspire the world to follow their dreams and celebrate their accomplishments.
The local woman, who was raised in Woodinville and now lives in Bellingham, is founder of Dream List Media and creator of “Dream List Journals.” Her work takes her to schools across the Northwest, where she gives workshops for children to teach them goal-planning skills and empower them to achieve their dreams.
“I strive to inspire kids to go after their dreams, big or small, and make them reality,” explains Borghorst. “The key to doing this lies in the ability to set clearly defined goals that are then broken down into smaller, manageable steps. It’s a process that kids can take with them and use in many different facets of their lives.”
As a young girl, Borghorst remembers making lists of activities she wanted to do, like kayaking and riding a horse on a beach, and places she wanted to visit, such as Alki Beach and the San Juan Islands. And each time she accomplished something on her list, she crossed it off with a sense of pride and satisfaction. Then in college, she received the gift of a journal, which she began using to formally keep track of her goals and accomplishments.
“The journal triggered something for me,” comments Borghorst. “It was the perfect place to write down my dreams and then document them with photos and brief descriptions when they came true. And then I had this great record of everything I had done.”
Over the years, Borghorst has filled up several journals and has seen many of her dreams come to fruition. She pet a kangaroo in Australia, climbed the Eiffel Tower in Paris, snorkeled, rode in a gondola in Venice, visited Hawaii, went sky diving and more.
Her list of dreams is always growing, as she is constantly thinking of all that she wants to do in her life. “I have so many things I want to experience and places I want to visit, as well as work that I’d like to accomplish,” says Borghorst. One of her goals has been to create Dream List Media, which she finally did last year, after leaving her job in the corporate world.
The Woodinville native realized she wanted to share her ideas with others, especially children, and encourage them to pursue their dreams. “I had been practicing what I preached for years,” she comments. “It just felt so right to go in this direction. My heart was in creating this business, so I went ahead and made a plan to make it happen. And it’s happening. And it’s very exciting!”
During a recent workshop at East Ridge Elementary School in Woodinville, Borghorst spoke with the sixth grade classes about their hopes and dreams. She first shared her own personal experiences and successes with the students and then directed them to create personalized Dream Journals in which they listed their dreams for the future: for a career, for fun and for others and the world.
Afterward, they each chose one dream they wanted to begin working on this year and proceeded to construct a dream tree that outlined the specific steps to achieve their goal. The room buzzed with excitement, as kids talked with their tablemates about their ideas and plans, which included everything from piloting a plane and living in Paris to being a rock star and owning a water park.
One child expressed his desire to be a missionary in a poor country, while another talked about buying malaria nets to help the people in Africa.
Mariah Swayne, 11, spoke of becoming an actress one day and she meticulously noted the steps she needed to take to succeed in her endeavor, including enrolling in acting classes, auditioning for school plays, doing a job shadow of a professional actor, going to different theaters and researching colleges with good drama schools. “It’s good for me to think of these things now,” she commented. “That way I can start planning everything I need to do to make it happen.”
Henry Coba, 12, wants to play basketball in college. He said, “Doing the dream tree made me realize that there are actually a lot of steps involved in making my dream come true. Now I can see what I have to do.”
And Julia Schoen, 12, who plans to be an artist, added, “This is really useful for me because I can look at it and check how I’m doing from time to time.”
Throughout the year, the children will be encouraged to use their Dream Journals to record their progress and any accomplished goals, using photos, drawings, clippings and written entries.
Borghorst also discussed the element of finances with the kids and pointed out that many dreams will require money to achieve. She told them that there are creative ways to approach this problem and illustrated one possible solution by telling them her hot air balloon story. “I use this story because I think it gets students to think outside the box when it comes to money,” explains Borghorst. “I wanted to go for a hot air balloon ride when I was in high school, but I didn’t have the money and my parents weren’t just going to give it to me. It was expensive. The summer after I graduated, I decided to see if one of the local hot air balloon companies would let me go for a ride in exchange for doing some work for them. After calling several places and getting ‘no’ to my requests, I finally found one who took me up on my offer. And that summer, I got to go up in a balloon twice.”
Borghorst emphasizes that dream fulfillment can take time, patience and perseverance. She also assures kids that their dreams will change and they may lose interest in a specific goal, but that’s okay. “Just don’t give up if it’s something that is really important to you,” she adds. “Don’t dismiss it because you think it’s going to be too hard or take too long to accomplish. Don’t be afraid to dream big.”
Candy Collyer, East Ridge sixth grade teacher, views Borghorst’s workshops as instrumental in helping students set short and long term goals, evaluate themselves and prepare for their future. She says, “These are all skills that speak to the district’s standards. Melissa’s presentations really connect to the curriculum and the tools she gives the kids will help them establish good habits that will serve them in the years to come.”
For Borghorst, the reward is in the ability to touch children’s lives and influence them in a positive manner. She adds, “My heart feels fulfilled when I do this work. I believe that helping others in this way is my calling.”