The Victory of a Dreamer

by Wellington Lucas (Brazil)

A leap into the unknown USA

In mid-2004, at just 16 years old, Jean was just a teenager with a thousand plans and goals already outlined in his mind, plans that would only come true over the years and years ahead, after all he was always an ambitious boy and he dreamed very high, immaturity did not prevent him from dreaming, but his young age did not allow them to be realized. He always bet on daring challenges and he never lacked the courage to seek the unreachable, because for him the unreachable did not exist, he always pulsed a vein of stimulus, one that takes him into the unknown without fearing anything. Despite his humble life in the suburb of São Paulo, Jean longed to be a player of the National Football League (NFL), collected numerous images, reports and all the information about the highlights of the selection, Tom Brady for example was his favorite scorer. I just waited to reach the age of majority before making the long-awaited trip to Boston in Massachusetts. Jean played for the Brazilian under 20 team as a striker, he was born with this gift, he was one of the highlights of the team, occasionally winning medals and trophies in championships. He gave a ball when he had her on his feet. He also worked as a pizza delivery man during his free time, so he earned an extra, but he was a regular with the training. On one occasion when he was 20 years old, he had a great opportunity to really fulfill his dream of going abroad, more precisely Boston. A championship of the best sub-20 teams, the top 3 would win a good prize, a prize that would lead them to a promising future, although it was all challenging determination, focus and boldness did not let him give up on that extraordinary dream. Yes, because boys of their age group generally did not have such ambition, they already felt that they were on the right path for acting in a youth team, everything they had achieved already served as a stimulus and great importance for each of the athletes. But with all the opportunity, Jean then took the plane to Boston and when he arrived there he met big names in football and arriving at the stadium, for the first time he felt that fear of facing all those professionals he always admired. With all that anxiety to start the game, Jean remembered all his trajectory until that moment, of what his life was like in the suburb of São Paulo, and then singing the Brazilian national anthem. At the beginning of the match, Jean did what he does best, played against his opponents and surprised his coach, causing a good result for his team. Winning the game or not, it didn't matter to him, what made him very emotional was the fact that he was there and lived that moment. In front of his idols, Tom Brady was not playing, but he was watching, and that was more important to him than winning the game, so at the end of the game, Jean's team lost the game, but Jean won the attention of their idol, making them meet at the end of the game. Tom Brady hugged him and congratulated him on the beautiful game, so Jean, already out of breath with emotion, realized his dream of meeting his great idol. With two more days of accommodation in Boston, Jean went for a walk around the city, observing those incredible buildings in the city, he felt like he was dreaming, because he never believed that overnight he would have the great opportunity to be almost on the other side of the world. realizing the dream of a child to get to know other places and come across great names that have been inspired since childhood. Jean did not want to return home, his job as a pizza delivery man in Brazil was of great importance, as he got through his experience a job to support himself in the USA, after receiving the opportunity that he would never have imagined, which had just been youngest player in the National Football League (NFL).