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"A dream." "Crazy." "Special."
These are some of the words Penny Samar uses to describe her opportunity to compete on "American Idol" and the opportunities in her life that took her to that chance.
As the Sun-Gazette talks to Samar, she is frequently thankful -- for her family and for the support her community has given her to pursue her dreams.
It is a vital reminder of the importance of both family and of supporting and encouraging the ambitions of our younger neighbors and family members.
Of course we hope Samar is successful -- as we hope all the young people in our region, pursuing their careers and goals and aspirations are.
We are confident that Samar -- and the other hopeful young people -- recognize the hard work and dedication it takes to pursue a dream. We hope our schools, civic groups, neighborhoods and families continue to set the right example for youngsters -- an example that demonstrates the importance of working hard to find opportunities and to make the most of them.
We also hope that as other young people realize their dreams and aspirations, they can be as grateful and humble as Penny Samar has been in her conversations with our reporter.
Gratitude for the chance to pursue a dream is itself, as much as hard work, an important part of building the kind of community where everybody has the chance to seek and find success.
We are glad that right now on our TV sets, people not only in our region but around the world can see how our communities value hard work and gratitude. We hope our region can continue to build a reputation for that.