First, the dream

A sk, and they will tell you. The boy from the Imperial Valley who says he was the kind of kid that teachers just wished would go away, until he started making straight A's and proved them wrong, who says wishes are dreams, who says someday he'll be a doctor, someday he'll buy his mother a house with a big yard, someday he'll be somebody. If only he could figure out how. Or the girl who loves the ocean, who knows how hard it will be for her and her parents to come up with the money for college but maybe they'll find a way, who says she will keep the dream alive in her heart, because no matter what anybody says, she's going to be a marine biologist. Someday.

But how do you find your way if there's no one to ask, no one to show you, no one to help you understand that dreams really can come true for all of California's children, not just the lucky ones? Ask Fatima Gross. She'll tell you how it's not enough just to be smart, how success is built on a foundation of schools and family, how some children don't dare to ask because they've never known anyone like them who's made it. "Well, now you know me," she tells them. "I've made it."

For Fatima success is a path paved with her grandmother's pride, her mother's determination, her own hard work and the support of the University of California's Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP). That path has taken her from Oakland's public school system to UCLA where she was a political science major, and on to the Yale Law School. Eventually, it will lead to a judge's chambers with her name on the door. An ambitious plan, yes, but Fatima Gross does not settle for small dreams, or for short-term goals.

"My parents, my grandparents, everyone has always told me 'You can do whatever you want to do. Think broad. Think high.' Lots of younger students don't realize their potential; it's not that they don't care, it's that there's almost an air of hopelessness. Their families may think education is important, but they may not know how to guide their child, so that they can realize their dreams. Even if the family emphasizes education at home, they may not realize that to get into four-year universities like UCLA the student needs to be taking advanced classes, or even how to be ready for college if their school doesn't offer honors classes or if they aren't put on the college track. In order to really succeed, you have to be able to visualize yourself living your dreams and that means seeing other people who are like you doing those things you want to do. Some people don't have that opportunity. Programs like EAOP help change that."