It’s simple to say that the mind is full of hopes and dreams at a young age. A young girl can fantasize about finding her Prince Charming, while the average boy could dream of owning his own sports car. Children frequently dream big and tend to have no sense of limitations. Dreams are bold and unfiltered in kids; they don’t have a set direction, just an end goal. As they age, however, dreams become more focused and stem from what they originally had planned as children.

“[I’ve] always wanted to be a cook,” freshman Jack Steitz said.  “My dad owns his own restaurant and I thought it would be cool to cook in a restaurant with him.”

Sometimes dreams seem too big or far-fetched and people find it hard to stick to their passion, especially if it doesn’t change at all from when they were a little kid.

“As I’ve grown older I’ve realized that the workload and schooling to become a pediatrician is more than I can handle,” junior Sara Jilly said.

A person’s ability to alter their dreams over time can correlate to the fears they experience in present time. Most children pass through periods of intense fearfulness at different ages, but these episodes typically end after a few weeks or months. For some children, fears are so pronounced that they could be vulnerable to a lifelong phobia. The children in whom the fearfulness becomes a perpetual part of their lives, preventing them from normal play or school attendance, are in need of treatment.

“[My biggest fear is] sharks,” future Sequoit Bryn Heidemann said. “I’m a swimmer so sometimes when I’m in the water I feel like they’re right by me and I get so scared.”

As time goes by, fears become more realistic; fears can go from whimsical to real. When younger, typical fears include the dark or the monster under the bed. As people get older, their fears become more closely related to their real experiences.

“My biggest fear now is not being able to have children,” Rizzo said. “I think being able to have your own kids is really beautiful. I know it’s hard being a parent but nothing seems more amazing than getting to love and care for someone that much.”

Having fears creates limitations on dreams. As children grow up, they start to realize what’s real and what isn’t. Living in the real world can make someone realize what they can actually achieve. However, the more one fears, the more limited their dreams become.

As people age, innocence is impacted by reality, and childhood dreams are perceived as no longer achievable.