"Dreams and Reality" by Lauren Barkley

The piece "Dreams and Reality," by Lauren Barkley, is about a young man named Luke with Big Dreams. He looks to live out the Rags to Riches American Story, rising from what he considers to be a nothing family of dairy farmers to a college baseball player to a lawyer, leaving behind his family's business and cows forever. The conflict comes, however, when his father wants him to stay and take over the relatively successful farm and have a stable livelihood. Tension rises between the two, until Luke leaves without telling his parents to tryout for the University of Mississippi baseball team. Luke is forced to realize, however, that dreams don't come true just because you want them.

The subject matter of this piece was strong and interesting. The American Dream is something that is accessible to many readers on an emotional level and is, therefore, something that can hold the readers' attention. The  point of view is also strong, I think. Third person limited works well to establish Luke as a character that could really be anyone - this is a shared dream by many. The dialogue and emotions that are conveyed between Luke and his father are also well done. There is tension in the beginning, at the top of the second page as Luke tells his father that he doesn't want to be "in the middle of nowhere being a nobody," without having to take pages to  establish that relationship. And at the end, when his father hugs him, the emotion is strong again.

I believe adding to the story would make it stronger. Though the reader gets a sense of the tension between Luke and his dad, I think playing up the fights caused by Luke's desire to leave, as well as a look at their relationship from before this burning ambition rose, would make the emotional stakes higher. Also, I think that emphasizing that he is a somebody in his little town would add another dimension to the story by bringing to focus the difference between the small town popularity Luke has and the "big city" dreams that he has.