Dreams Don't Die: They Wait For Us!

By: Stella Saunders

Life often throws you a curve ball…changing your direction at any given time. You just need to know how   to hit the ball over the fence every chance you get. 

I never thought that I would make home my home as an adult ...what does that mean? I was born and raised on St. Thomas. I moved off island to further my formal education and ended back home after graduation with a degree in Communication and no definitive direction to take.  After a failed marriage that moved me to Alabama and then a return move to Florida, I returned back to the Virgin Islands. By then, I had three beautiful children who needed a mother who was a stable provider, so I decided to sink my roots deeper into the fabric of the Territory.  Giving my all and serving in many capacities helped to mold me into a confident public servant who has had the pleasure of working for the Departments of Public Works and Human Services, the University of the Virgin Islands and the VI Waste Management Authority. 

I was gaining a lot of experience professionally, but personally my youngest son was experiencing medical challenges with all signs leading to: Stella, you need to move off island to provide him with the support(s) that he needs.  Here I was, at the age of 55 with a 12 year old son who needed me to uproot my life to save his! 

Once the realization of this began to feel more real, feelings of dreams deferred started to creep back into my subconscious.  But why? Those dreams were dead...squashed and never to be pursued! Says who? You see, I had always wanted to become an educator, but really didn’t have the time or funding to return to school while being the sole provider for my young family. 

I had lived in Florida twice previously, most recently in Orlando, but I didn’t want to return there. I took a chance and chose the Tampa area. I had previously given tentative verbal notice at work when I realized that it was a possibility. But, when I decided on August 3, 2015 that I needed to move, I was packed and on a plane on August 10th, relocating with, again, no job, no place to stay and no real direction other than to find a proper academic and medical environment to meet my son’s needs. I think that I chose the Tampa area because I emailed  their school district in the middle of the summer for information about services, and the Director of Special Education called me personally to answer my questions. That impressed me. 

After relocating, I had about 4 months of leave accumulated that allowed me the opportunity to job hunt. One Sunday afternoon, while perusing the local paper, I fell upon a full page ad announcing the school district’s search for degree(ed) individuals to enter a job training program to become an Exceptional Student Educator…..for free.  I jumped at the opportunity to fulfill a career dream, entered the program, and became a Special Education teacher! 

Since our relocation, Mateo has been getting both the academic and medical services needed. He loves the area, but it has been a challenging transition for him, moving away from friends and family. It has made me question my move at times, but I see the desire in him to succeed and that helps us both stay focused. A major advantage is that I’ve been able to enjoy school vacation time off with him.

But, as an overachiever, I’m usually bored after a couple of days of downtime. So, I re-visited another career goal...to become a Realtor. I had previously held my Realtor’s license in the 90’s in St. Thomas when I worked at the largest real estate company on island in an administrative middle management capacity.  But, I had never sold anything.

So, I studied and passed my Florida’s real estate salesperson’s exam, while teaching school full-time. In the past 4 years, I have become a certified Exceptional Student Educator and a licensed Realtor. But the most important accomplishment , my son is getting great medical care.. He is being provided with great academic opportunities and required services from caring and dedicated professionals. He is happier now, therefore, so am I.  

Dreams don’t have timelines. Life happens and they can get delayed, diverted and even discouraged, but once that desire to achieve remains, the Dream will continue to live. It takes a step at a time, as anyone is capable of accomplishing whatever they put their heart and mind to do. Dreams do come true! 

I challenge you to think about the dreams that you think may never come true. What is one thing that you can do today to start making that dream a reality?

Stella was born on the island of St. Thomas and is the eldest of her parents' five children. Stella completed her secondary education at the Florida State University where she received a degree in Communications. After initially working in the private sector, she then worked as a dedicated public servant for more than 23 years for several VI Government agencies. In her most recent move to Florida, she has started her second career as a Special Education teacher for almost 4 years now, and, most recently, has become a licensed Realtor She is the mother of three children, Philip II, Daniella and Mateo, and has 8 grandchildren.