disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the quote
"No matter where you're from, your dreams are valid."
Tina froze as she listened to Lupita Nyongo's Oscar acceptance speech.
After all the years of people telling her that what she wanted to do with her life wasn't viable, that she wasn't good enough or deserved to have her dreams fulfilled while expected to support the dreams of others, those nine little words struck a chord inside of her.
How was it, that someone she never met, said exactly what she needed to hear when the people who knew her best, always did their best to bring her down and make her doubt the one thing that she wanted in her heart of hearts.
She couldn't help it when the first tear fell from her eyes then another and another; she had always been a crier.
The sentence kept repeating itself over and over in her head as she met every word with a tear; a tear that came from all the pain that she kept inside of her every time someone told her, she would never be a performer because she wasn't good enough to get the solo.
Tina never really understood the power of positive words before. The negative, she was well acquainted with but never it's polar opposite, the positive. The feeling overwhelmed the tired and stressed young woman as she continued to let her emotions out, glad for once that she was home alone.
Sometimes, it was rough, trying to explain her emotions to her parents who never quite seemed to get her even though they tried.
Once she calmed down, Tina grabbed her lap top and opens Google to search for an image of Lupita Nyong'o then prints it out. Then she grabs a marker and at the top of the image, writes 'No Matter Where You're From' and at the bottom, writes 'Your Dreams are Valid.'
Taking the paper upstairs to her room, she sticks it next to the one she did for Gandhi that reads, 'Be The Change You Want to See in The World.'
Standing back, Tina wipes her eyes as she smiles while looking at the two images that she had placed on the wall.
She was going to believe in herself because no one else was going to do it for her and maybe, that's how it should be. Looking at Lupita's picture, she nodded her head; one day, that was going to be her up on that stage and giving a speech that would inspire girls like her to go after their dreams even if they go it alone.