Dream Runners

Dream runners
As thousands of people waving her off the coast, Laura Dekker, a 14-year-old, embarked on her own sail solo around the world on August 4. The Dutch girl has made a bold leap of attempting to break the world record. The courage of this dream runner is nothing short of breathtaking. Merely in terms of ambition, Laura deserves all the praises we give to her. But when we are basking in the admiration of Laura, we can’t help remembering another Australian girl who had completed this immense mission.

Undoubtedly, she is Jessica Watson, who embarked on her hometown about three months ago after sailing around the world nonstop, solo and unassisted for about 210 days. The moment Jessica came home with high-flying success, she disproved all the criticism which ridiculed that she was too young to finish this harsh task. Amazing jubilation swept the whole world as Jess stepped on the land after having endured all the solitude since last October. Her one-of-a-kind journey accounted for all the compliments and respects that she obtained. Without exception, I, on the other hemisphere of the Earth, was also totally startled to see that this 16-year-old girl, who is at my age, was so valiant to explore the vast ocean. Certainly, Jess did not raise to fame overnight, she had endured far more than we expected. During her voyage, Jessica battled with brutal storms, suffered several knockdowns and put up with all the fears either from herself or from other people. While all kinds of praises from every direction on the compass are throwing to Jess, I do appreciate her attitude towards fame and all the disbelief people cast on her.
Once regarded as ridiculous to finish such a tremendous task, Jessica was not friendly-received by mass media last year as she began her journey. But Jessica did not flinch; the other way around, she was determined to prove her ability to all the critics who did not believe her. Even when she set foot on the dry land, some critics also...