I love stories where dreams come true.
That's why I'm writing about a man who used to teach at my high school and whose dream came true thanks to his students.
Jim Morris was born in Texas in 1964. He was good at baseball and his dream was to play for a Major League team. In the 1980s he played Minor League baseball. But then he hurt his arm, so he gave up his dream and became a PE teacher and baseball coach at Reagan County High.
Ten years later, Jim and his pupils made a deal. If the school team won the District Championship, Jim promised to play a trial match for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The kids won the competition, so Jim went to the trial. Amazingly, he played really well. Finally, on 18 September 1999, Jim played in a Major League game at last. He was thirty-five years old.
Because of his arm, Jim only played twenty-one games. After retiring from professional sport, he wrote his autobiography and Disney made a film about him called The Rookie. He is now a public speaker who talks about his own experiences to inspire and motivate people.
Jim's life shows it's never too late to believe in your dreams. What's more, it shows that sometimes students can inspire teachers.
