In Disney tales we are taught many life lessons, they teach us how to be brave, and how to stand up for ourselves. Or they just tell a story that all little girls want in their lives. But with every great story comes the magical four words, “Once upon a time”. So in other words here is mine.

Once upon a time there was a girl named Clara. She, unlike Cinderella. had great parents, a great sibling, and human friends. Each and everyone of them had their own tales to tell. And in their own way each were heros of some sort.

She wanted to be like them. She wanted to help people in the way they help. But she only recently found out that she can help too. She doesn’t have to be like her parents, or sibling. She can be her own person. Like her own things. Be her own hero.

But in order for her to set off into the land and find her own adventure she has to overcome the first of many obstacles. Graduation. It’s the first step of becoming her own person. It’s the first step of saying goodbye to the past and saying hello to the future. But if you knew Clara at all saying goodbye is the hardest thing she could ever do.

Jiminy Cricket once said “Goodbyes are not forever, goodbyes are not the end, they simply mean i’ll miss you, until we meet again, remember to wish upon a star, my very special friend.”  The scary thing about this is that a cricket is more wise than I will ever be. Goodbyes are not forever and they are not the end. The goodbyes aren’t even the scary part. Goodbyes are the easiest. It’s the letting go that’s the problem. It’s about letting go of the place that was a safety net. It wasn’t the best place but it was the home away from home. That’s where you got to see your friends everyday, where you were taught life lessons that will help you in the real world. This place isn’t just a school, it was much more than that. It held the people who helped you become who you are today, what you have accomplished. People wish they can stay there forever.

But life doesn’t allow you to stay one age forever. At some point you have to grow up and accept that your not Peter Pan.

Every story needs a map, to be able guide you through the different adventures that await in the future. This is the prologue of the story. Like Pocahontas you need to be able to choose your own path, it may not be easy but it’s the right one. For Clara she needs to overcome the doubts of other people and choose her own path. Choose the one she knows is right.

It may be hard to overcome the people that have protected her all these years but she just doesn’t need to choose her own path she need to live it. The Chief may not like her choosing her own path but in the end they know it’s the right one. And the best decision she will ever make.

Dreaming is the first step of the adventure. They say if you can dream it you can do it. Here’s a challenge. Let yourself dream. Don’t let the fear of failing knock down the person you are. Don’t build a wall to keep out the monsters that can go peep in the night. If we learned anything from Mike Wazowski and Sully is that they can go anywhere at any time. And if there is an obstacle they will find their way around it.

Dreaming is a big thing in life. Without out it, this speech wouldn’t exist. Dreaming is the foundation that built Disney. It’s also the foundation that built our dreams along with it. Dreams can only take you so far though. In order for it to happen you need to have faith in yourself to make it come true.

Clara’s dreams will come true. She will find it in herself one day to let them come to life. Not everyone has faith in her. Some say she won’t make it, some even go as far to belittle her dreams and make her doubt her path. But they don’t know her story, like she doesn’t know theirs. They don’t know how hard she has worked to make it this far,  they have no idea what she has been through to be where she is today.

Take “Aladdin” for example. The merchant in the story stresses that the lamp, though may seem dull on the outside, has something that makes it extraordinaire on inside.   

Clara may not look like a lot, but she is more. She is more than what is showing. Take Belle’s book too. She doesn’t care about the cover of the book she cares about the words on the pages on the inside. It tells a much better story than a cover does.

But also don’t forget. Every story didn’t have just one character. They had multiple characters trying to help each other reach the same goal. This story doesn’t just have Clara, she had her parents, her family, teachers, and friends. They were all helping her reach the goal she worked so hard to get at. And they are helping her achieve it still.

She’s gonna find adventure in the great wide somewhere
She knows that Hakuna Matata and the Bare Necessities will always be her guide
She going to go to infinity and beyond
She knows happily ever after exists
And she knows that life will always be better under the sea.
Ya know why because “Everything ends and so our story begins.” -Peter Pan