Lake Region — It felt as if it were a dream. Perhaps one strong pinch would wrench me back to reality. I was sitting at a luncheon in Chicago while two very prominent men held a dialogue on a stage directly in front of me. One of the men, a passionate Baptist preacher, questioned the other snowy-haired distinguished gentleman. “If you could tell this group one thing,” said the preacher, “what would it be?” The acclaimed white-haired gentleman pondered the question for a second.
“There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream, but don’t give up! Keep running!” The words coupled with the famous Arkansan accent streamed from the man’s mouth and flooded my mind. Keep running, I thought to myself. Being an athlete, those words really impacted me. The dialogue continued and the noteworthy gentleman began to describe his humble and modest childhood. Looking around the Sheraton Hotel’s ballroom, you would never guess that anything about this guy was obsequious. There were men resembling the “Men in Black” surrounding the stage and guarding every exit.
At the dialogue’s conclusion, the Secret Service promptly ushered Bill Clinton, former United States president, off the stage. Then came my inauguration. The Reverend Jesse Jackson called me and approximately 40 other students to the stage, and top executives from AT&T, Toyota, and McDonalds applauded us for being the recipients of $5,000 college scholarships. At the program’s conclusion, I spoke with Reverend Jackson. He congratulated me and told me to “keep pushing for excellence.” I promised him that I would, and then I told him that he “would be hearing from me.” His curious facial expression gave away the surprise that my statement caused. He reached to shake my hand, and when our hands embraced they did so in such a manner that the skin on my hand got pinched. I then knew that I wasn’t in a dream. Instead, I was living my dream.
Alvin Davis, Jr. is a sophomore at Michigan State University and plans to attend Loma Linda University Medical Center after graduation. A member of the Highland Avenue Church in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Davis credits his achievement to God, quoting, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13).
