There are some dreams that are so personal to us that we have grown used to keeping them in stealth mode, tucked away in the folds of our hearts. We don’t talk about them because we really want them. Because of that we talk about other things, safer things; these are the dreams and aspirations we believe will be easy for people to grasp and understand. But the real dreams are still there. They are the things we think about when we are out on long walks, when we are just about to fall asleep or when gazing out an airplane window to the miniature world below.

Today I went to a diversity conference/info session for Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. And there was one thing that stuck out above all else. It wasn’t the fact that every other person was from Harvard or the fact that every third person had started their own non-profit to combat world hunger. What really made an impression was how candidly the current students and alumni talked about their passions and dreams. They not only revealed what their dreams were to us, but they had told the entire business school. And in response, the whole school did not gasp in horror, but joined together to help them make their dreams a reality. One student’s dream was to open her own gym. Another alum launched a membership-only barbershop, lounge and wine bar.

The whole time the panels were talking, I just sat there thinking, “I didn’t know you could dream out loud like that about things like that in business school!” If the point of the conference was to make me really want to go to Stanford (which I’m fairly sure it was), then it’s safe to say that that mission has been accomplished.