Citation :
Dreaming big
Canadian Idol winner is a shining example for teens of how they can reach high, work hard and live their dreams
J.D. GRAVENOR, Freelance
The Gazette Published: 9 hours ago
Being a rising star is nice work if you can get it. But don't kid yourself. It isn't as easy as it looks.
Take Eva Avila for example. This 20-year-old singer from Gatineau, Que., outperformed hundreds of other hopefuls to win Canadian Idol 4 last fall. But that's when the real work got started. Since then, Avila has been making countless appearances across the country to perform, record music, shoot videos and promote good causes.
Some days, she gets by on only a few hours sleep. Last week, she appeared before hundreds of students in a steaming-hot gymnasium at Marymount Academy. But she looked cool and fresh as she sang a song from her debut album, Somewhere Else.
The reigning Canadian Idol, Eva Avila, performed a song from her first album for students at Marymount Academy last Friday. I always had the dream to be a professional singer, she said.View Larger Image View Larger Image
The reigning Canadian Idol, Eva Avila, performed a song from her first album for students at Marymount Academy last Friday. "I always had the dream to be a professional singer," she said.
DAVE SIDAWAY, GAZETTE
Her secret?
She's working at what she has long aspired to do: using her voice to entertain audiences.
"I always had the dream to be a professional singer," she said. "I was never discouraged. I never changed my mind. I always knew. I guess I never made a deep decision. It was just always there in my head, like a second nature."
Lots of students who were on hand for Avila's appearance at Marymount know just the way she feels.
Grade 11 student Steven Hazzard has dreamed of succeeding in professional basketball for as long as he can remember.
"I always wanted to play in the NBA," said the 16-year-old, who plays point guard for the LaSalle Boys and Girls Club. "I grew up around basketball. All my friends played basketball. My dad played basketball. It's just something we do."
Hazzard dreams of earning a living in his favourite sport and making his family proud. But he's not unrealistic. He knows the importance of having an education, just in case things don't work out as planned.
"I will have to work hard and be determined," he said. "I will have to stay in school and do my best."
Hazzard has a crystal-clear vision, too. He would love to attend Duke University in the United States and play basketball for "Coach K." (Mike) Krzyzewski. But come what may, his first step will be to go on next year to the Law and Society program at Dawson College.
"I want to be a family lawyer," he said. "That's pretty much my backup plan."
Having a legal career - with a difference - is also what Jenna Labreche, 15, aspires to - even though it will entail at least nine more years of education, just for starters.
"I want to become a military lawyer for the Air Force," said the Grade 11 student whose grandfather was a military doctor in World War II. "I've always been interested in the military. I want to be able to go to other countries and help represent officers and soldiers. But first, I'll do two years at Champlain (College), four years at McGill and another two or three years at Royal Military College."
In fact, Labreche wears her heart on her sleeve. She has been a member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets for the past three years. But she has other interests, too. Dramatic acting in theatre productions is one of them.
"It's something that I definitely like," she said. "But I would rather do it in my spare time. I'm more interested in the military."
Jahedul Hannan, 16, is another student with a strong sense of ambition.
"In my family, being a doctor was always a dream," said the 16-year-old. "But in the past, nobody in my family had the money to go to college. I come from a poor family. And now, I have a chance to accomplish what my family always wanted to do. So I'm planning to become a dentist."
For Hannan - whose family came to Canada from Bangladesh before he was born - achieving his dream means building a thriving dental practice and then settling down in a comfortable home.
"In my family, we never owned a house, so it's one of my dreams to own a big house," he said. "Not too fancy, just a regular house with a kitchen, two bathrooms, hopefully, and a bedroom for everybody, because back in our country my family all had to live in one bedroom."
But his mindset was different when he was just starting high school. Back then, he dreamed of being a professional basketball player, just like classmate Hazzard.
"But I decided just to keep it as a hobby and focus more on school," he said. "It's just a better way."
Students change their career goals all the time, said Marymount guidance counsellor Elyssa Feldman. And that's a good thing.
"With younger students, we get much more imaginative career wishes, like being an astronaut, and also more realistic choices, like being a firefighter, a policeman, those kinds of glamorous-looking jobs," she said. "But then some will say something like, 'I want to be a pediatrician. That's what I want to work towards.' "
By the time students enter their last year of high school, Feldman will focus more on career exploration - especially for those students who don't have a clear-cut dream and who haven't decided what they want to do with the rest of their lives.
Students like 16-year-old Sharna Dey.
"I really don't know where I want to go in life," said the Grade 11 student. "But one thing I know for sure is, whatever I do, wherever I go, I want to create an impact. I want people to remember me. And I want to love it."
For the moment, Dey's not too worried about heading down the wrong career path. After all, she's young and can change her mind again.
"Even if I'm 25 and I'm still confused, I know it's OK because I'll end up doing something I love," she said.
The problem - if it can be called a problem at all - is that she has many conflicting interests and talents. She's interested in medicine and science, but she also loves the arts, having organized a dance troupe and won second prize in a singing competition. So what will it be?
"I'm not sure. I'm still looking," she said.
Dey and other students who haven't settled on a dream have nothing to worry about, according to Canadian Idol winner Avila, who shared this piece of advice.
"Just don't give up, and trust your gut feeling," she said.
"If it's meant to be, if it's meant for you and it's in your path, then it's going to happen."
What Do You Think?
What do you dream about for the future?
source:
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/n ... 3ae1cb6709