Dillon Drake | Winner of Essay Writing Contest

September 11, 2009


Dr. Kent:  Welcome back to Sound Authors. Today is June 12th and the sun is just starting to shine here in New York, which is a great thing, summertime is coming. And in the summer we all like to think about baseball, and there’s a fellow named Paul Mullen who wrote a book called The Day I Hit a Home Run. And he’s been inspiring kids around the country with that book, and inspiring them to be able to live their dreams. There’s a contest that he held, and the winning essayist from that contest is with us on the show today. His name is Dillon Drake, and he’s from Mount Air Community School, and he’s 16. Welcome to the show, Dillon.

 

Dillon Drake:  Hello.

 

Dr. Kent:  How’re you doing today?

 

Dillon Drake:  I’m pretty good.

 

Dr. Kent:  Well, congratulations to you for winning this essay contest.

 

Dillon Drake:  Thank you.

 

Dr. Kent:  Is this the first time that you’ve written an essay like this?

 

Dillon Drake:  No, we’ve had a few assignments like this, but they were never any contests.

 

Dr. Kent:  Well the great thing about the contest is of course that you’re supposed to talk about achieving your dream. Tell us a little bit about your dream. I’ve read your essay, of course, but tell the folks listening. What’s your dream?

 

Dillon Drake:  My dream is to have my own ranch and run cattle and ride horses and just live out in the open.

 

Dr. Kent:  And is that something that you inherited from your parents? Do they have that dream for you as well?

 

Dillon Drake:  No, I just kind of worked with my dad, and he rides horses and takes care of cattle, and I want to do something like that.

 

Dr. Kent:  Now, where do you live?

 

Dillon Drake:  I live here outside of Mount Air, Iowa.

 

Dr. Kent:  And how’s the weather out there this time of year.

 

Dillon Drake:  It’s been pretty rainy.

 

Dr. Kent:  Yeah? And in the winter time you have to suffer through some cold, huh?

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah, it gets pretty cold.

 

Dr. Kent:  And tell me about this. Now, if you were to own your own ranch, and you’re going to raise cattle and horses, how could you possibly do that? How do you go about it? Do you hire some people? Do you get out there early in the morning?

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah, probably just start out small and do everything myself. Then once I start expanding I’ll have to hire some help and, cause I can’t do everything on my own.

 

Dr. Kent:  And your main point in your essay is that you want to be happy with your life because you’ll be doing something that you love. Talk about that. How would it make you happy to be doing that?

 

Dillon Drake:  Well, I’ve always liked to be outside and outdoors, and feeling free riding horses and taking care of cattle. Just being out in the open, look around and see nothing but, no forms of modern civilization. Like you feel like you’re all alone. Kind of peaceful.

 

Dr. Kent:  And now, you’re 16 years old, right?

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah.

 

Dr. Kent:  And you’re already working towards your dream here, right?

 

Dillon Drake:  Yes.

 

Dr. Kent:  Tell me about your, are you working this summer?

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah.

 

Dr. Kent:  What do you do?

 

Dillon Drake:  Me and my dad take care of about 400 head of steers and 100 head of cattle and calves for a guy who lives in Carson, Iowa.

 

Dr. Kent:  In Carson, how far is that from Mount Air?

 

Dillon Drake:  About 2 hours north.

 

Dr. Kent:  So do you have to wake up at like four in the morning?

 

Dillon Drake:  No, he brings the cattle down here in the spring, and we take care of them close to home.

 

Dr. Kent:  And so what time do you have to get up?

 

Dillon Drake:  Not very early, about 7:00, 7:30.

 

Dr. Kent:  That sounds early to me, out here in New York. Well, and so obviously your dad means a lot to you. As part of this essay you talk about him a couple times. What does he mean to you?

 

Dillon Drake:  Well, he’s just taught me to be independent and do what you want to do, and don’t let anybody stop you. Just work hard to get what you want.

 

Dr. Kent:  And you met this fellow who wrote The Day I Hit a Home Run, right? Paul Mullen. How was that? He came to your school?

 

Dillon Drake:  No, I haven’t met him.

 

Dr. Kent:  Well, I hope you do someday. The essay contest is something then that you heard about through your school?

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah, we heard about it in my English class, and all of our…

 

Dr. Kent:  Were you pretty surprised when you won it?

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah. Very surprised.

 

Dr. Kent:  And was your family pretty happy about that, too?

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah. Everybody saw it in the paper and cut it out and put it up on the wall or something.

 

Dr. Kent:  So you’re sure you don’t want to be a writer instead of a cattle rancher? 

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah.

 

Dr. Kent:  Cool. And what’s your plan? What grade are you in right now?

 

Dillon Drake:  I’m going to be a junior in the fall.

 

Dr. Kent:  Ok, junior, and you’re going to finish school. And what’s your plan after that?

 

Dillon Drake:  Probably go to local two year college and find out what kind of degree I’m wanting to get so I can open up my opportunities.

 

Dr. Kent:  And tell me, as somebody who’s never worked with cattle, I’ve seen a whole bunch. What do you do when you take care of them? You, do you get to ride around and make sure they’re in the right spot, or what does it, day to day, what do you do with them?

 

Dillon Drake:  Well, yeah, we, the steers we have to ride around and make sure they’re not getting out into other people’s land, and making sure none of them are sick. If they are we’ve got to rope ‘em and give them shots. The cows, they’re calving, so we have to get the baby cows and make sure they’re tagged and up and moving around all right. Make sure everything stays in and fed.

 

Dr. Kent:  And can you rope them?

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah.

 

Dr. Kent:  Wow. I bet that took a long time to learn.

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah. I started when I just started walking.

 

Dr. Kent:  Yeah. Well, so it’s pretty cool that you wrote this essay and that you’ve won this contest. Now, are you a baseball player?

 

Dillon Drake:  No, I used to be, but I didn’t much enjoy it out here.

 

Dr. Kent:  I think what Paul Mullen’s talking about by The Day I Hit a Home Run is it’s about really following your dreams, and you’ve got a real plan to follow your dreams. And I’ll be your father and mother are just busting at the seams cause they’re so proud of you for winning this thing.

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah, they’re pretty proud. My whole family is.

 

Dr. Kent:  Cool. Well, I want to say congratulations to you very much, and it’s been a pleasure talking with you here on Sound Authors, and I hope you do keep writing. And I think if you’re a cattle farmer, maybe you can come inside at night and write a few words down, cause you’ve got a good start here.

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah. Well, thanks. It means a whole lot to everybody that I won this competition, so…

 

Dr. Kent:  Yeah, and tell me a little bit about your school. They’ll probably like that.

 

Dillon Drake:  Well, it’s not a very big school. (inaudible) kids in our high school.

 

Dr. Kent:  How many?

 

Dillon Drake:  200.

 

Dr. Kent:  Wow, that is a small school.

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah.

 

Dr. Kent:  Wow, and so you know everybody, I’ll bet.

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah.

 

Dr. Kent:  Do you get sick of them?

 

Dillon Drake:  No, not really.

 

Dr. Kent:  Everybody gets along pretty well?

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah.

 

Dr. Kent:  And how many teachers do you have in that school?

 

Dillon Drake:  Oh, about 40.

 

Dr. Kent:  Wow, cool. So you know all them too, I’ll bet?

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah. We’re all pretty good friends around here.

 

Dr. Kent:  Cool. Well, it’s been such an honor chatting with Dillon Drake. He goes to Mount Air Community. Is that the name of the school?

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah.

 

Dr. Kent:  And he’s 16 and he won the The Day I Hit a Home Run essay contest about the dreams he has for his life, and it’s a great essay. Go check it out on the website at thedayihitahomerun.com/essays, and there’s a whole bunch of essays up there, including Dillon’s, which won first place. Well, congratulations to you, and I hope you have a great summer.

 

Dillon Drake:  Thanks, you too.

 

Dr. Kent:  All right. And one of these days, I hope I’ll get a chance to check out a real cattle ranch. I haven’t done that in my life, but one of these days I’ll do that.

 

Dillon Drake:  Yeah, it’s pretty fun.

 

Dr. Kent:  All right. Take it easy. And thank you, everybody, for tuning into Sound Authors today. Pick up a great book for me, and we’ll see you next week. We’ve got some great authors coming up. We’ll talk to you the next time.

 

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