Hall of Fame - The Script feat. will.i.am
Aleigha woke up this morning. She sighed. Another day; another fight; another heartbreak; anoher broken dream. Her life was a summary of good and bad days. The bad being more than the good ones. But she was sure that today she would give the best of herself ust to see her dream come true.
Yeah you can be he greatest you can be the best, you can be the king-kong banging on your chest
Getting up from bed she made her way downstairs. Her dad was on the living room, drunk as ever. The smell of liquor invaded the room. She saw him with a regretful look. Lying on the sofa, asleep, drunk, useless as ever. She wished he would have been a different dad. A caring, sober, useful dad. But this wasn’t the case. Her dad was lying on the sofa, drunk. He will wake up about 10 o´clock, he will beat up her mom, her younger brothers, curse everything and everyone. He will eventually then go to his nonexistent “work”, she knew he had been fired several weeks ago, but her mom kept believing her worked at the market. By night he will go to the bar again, just to get drunk again and arrive the next morning. “Useless” she thought. If there was something she was sure about was that she was never going to be like him.
You can beat the world, you can beat the war, you can talk to God go banging on his door
In the kitchen her mom prepared breakfast. Her younger brothers Michael and Alex fought over stupid 5 year-old things. At least they were still too young to understand how broken their family was. Her older borther Bill had gone away from hom six months ago, she missed him. As kids they used to be really close.
Suddenly, her mom turned around and saw her. Her eyes filled with anger she stareted yelling at her for not preventing her dad to go drinking yesterday’s night. She blamed her as it was her fault. It wasn’t she knew it, but that didn’t help the guilty feeling that was rising in her heart. She yelled back, with fear and anger. She wanted to escape from this place. Packing her things for school she just ran away from her house. Once out she walked the long way to school.
You can throw your hands up, you can beat the clock, you can move a mountain, you can break rocks, you can be a master, don’t wait for luck, dedicate yourself and you can find yourself…
While she walked she thought. She didn’t wanted to be like her family. She was different. She had always knew it. She was destinied for a brighter future. Or at least she hoped it was the case. She had always, though, imagined herself as someone able to change the world.
Standing in the hall of fame, And the world’s gonna know your name, Cause you burn with the brightest flame, And the world’s gonna know your name, And you’ll be on the walls of the hall of fame
She dreamed of the day she will see all her dreams acomplish. She would be a great writer. She would inspire the entire world with her beautiful words. Her poems would be taught in all the schools of the world. Her books sold everywhere. Her phrases quoted by presidents, and important people. She would make things right. She wouldn’t make the same mistakes her parents did.
You can go the distance, You can run the mile, You can walk straight through hell with a smile.
She arrived to school. Her second hell after home. Afterall, the most cruel people on earth where 13 year old girls. Constantly bullied because of her black skin color, Aleigha had soon learned how to ignore those girls. They were stupid rich girls; she was a smart poor girl who was going to do big things in the future. She would dedicate herself to her dreams. She could accomplish them. That was what Mrs Collins said.
You can be the hero, You can get the gold, Breaking all the records they thought never could be broke.
Mrs Collins. The only person that made her life more tolerable. She knew about her family situation, she knew about her bother, about the bullying. She was the only one who understood. She presented her the world of literature and writing. The world where girls like her where the heroes of the day. That fantasy world was Aleigha’s home. But would she only live on the world of her imagination? Of course not. She would bring a change on the world. She would leave her mark on it. She wanted to erase racial inequality. She hated the bullying, the hate, the mockery. In her stories, she would write about her people.
Yeah, do it for your people, Do it for your pride, How are you ever gonna know if you never even try?Do it for your country, Do it for your name, ‘Cause there’s gonna be a day…
Mrs Collins believed in her, and if she did, why shouldn’t she believe in herself? Days like this where difficult, but there’s nothing that paper and ink can’t understand. She wrote everything. Her feelings, her life, her dreams and fears. She wrote about her family, how she wanted them to be happy, about the girls at school, how she wanted them to respect her, about Mrs Collins, how she admired and loved her, and about herself and how she was going to change the world someday. She always showed her essays to Mrs Collins, and the teacher always answered: “Oh Aleigha, when…
When you’re standing in the hall of fame, And the world’s gonna know your name , 'Cause you burn with the brightest flame, And the world’s gonna know your name, And you’ll be on the walls of the hall of fame.
That day Aleigha ran to Mrs Collins with teary eyes. Telling her everything that had happened, the teacher pulled her into an embrace. Comforting her she quietly whispered in her hear “You won the state’s writing contest. They’re going to give you an award and interview you. Go and clean your face from tears because your story will be published”. Aleigha looked up with amazed eyes. A grateful smile appeared on her sad face. Her beautiful black eyes showed a mix of emotions indescribable. She had worked so hard in her sotry and finally her dream was coming true.
Suddenly the whisper of a song resounded in her head.
Be a champion, be a champion, be a champion, be a champion
On the walls of the hall of fame, Be students, Be teachers, Be politicians, Be preachers
She couldn’t believe it. The world around her seemed to start picking some color. Her dream was comig true
Be believers, Be leaders, Be astronauts, Be champions, Be truth seekers, Be students, Be teachers, Be politicians, Be preachers
The principal gave her the award. The journalist came and asked her a lot of questions. Her teachers, classmates and the contest jurys congratulated her. And trough all this time she just had one thought. “What would Billy say about this?”
Be believers, Be leaders, Be astronauts, Be champions…
During the interview she just fel like floating in the sky. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She answered every question with the most honest answer and a true happy smile. Finally the journalist asked one last question: “Aleigha, waht would you say to other girls your age, or any person at all, to inspire them to write? What would you tell them to not be afraid to write something as impressive as you did? What’s your advice”
A sudden emotion invaded Aleigha, she didn’t know what it was. “I would tell them…” She stopped, panicking for a second. But then she relaxed and simply answered them “You can change the world with what you write….I changed mine”
Standing in the hall of fame, And the world’s gonna know your name, 'Cause you burn with the brightest flame, And the world’s gonna know your name, And you’ll be on the walls of the hall of fame…
From that day and on, Aleigha’s life was different. Her father was killed a few weeks later by a truck while he was driving drunk. Her mother started working on a salon. Mrs Collins got her to visit a therapist that helped her with her anger issues. Her little brothers started attending school that year’s fall. Mrs Collins felt ill in the fall. It was breast cancer. She died some months later. It was a shock Aleigha never totally recovered from, but she learned to live with it. She never saw Billy again, though. She learned a few years later in life that he had joined the US army and had died in Afghanistan.
Who would have thought that wining a writing contest could change your life so dramatically? Was her writing a curse? Of course not, it was her way out in every hard situation she lived.
Her life kept being a summay of good and bad days, although the bad ones started gradually to be less. She never stopped writing…never . As she grew older her dreams of becoming a writer became true. At twenty one she published her first copilation of short stories, including the one that had won the writing contest. She then published several books, all of them addressing different problems she had to over came in life. She was happy with her life after all, she got to accomplish her dream. A lo of more big triumphs came to her life, but she would never forget the day where it all began.
