I didn’t always understand Brookings’ tag line: “Bring your dreams.” But I do now.  In order to “bring your dream” you have to know where your dream came from and how far it will take you. 

What value do dreams have? I know my dreams have changed. I have accomplished a few and set forth with many more. To me, the biggest value you get out of a dream is how much bigger you learn to dream by living out your current ones. 

There are many things I have crossed off my bucket list: graduating from high school, receiving a college degree, owning my own business, driving through Spearfish Canyon in my convertible, and buying a house, the list goes on. We all have lists filled with lofty thoughts of the dream job, the dream house, and the dream family, but what we need to think, is how the dream we are living fits into today, tomorrow and ten years from now. 

Looking back to high school, I was hoping to get out of dodge. I looked at schools throughout the Midwest, but today I am proud to say, I am, and always will be, a Jackrabbit. 

The addicting thing about SDSU and Brookings is the fact that people really do bring their dreams here. And others in the community are really willing to help them grow their dreams beyond a thought or idea. 

People here help other people. I found, through living out my dream of owning my own business, that my love is not number crunching and paying bills, but working with people, building better lives for them. I found inspiration in those that supported my business and feel I offered them a friendship they couldn’t find any place else. These people helped me take my dream to the next level. 

If you would have asked me six years ago where I would be today, I probably would have told you that I would be living in a swanky loft in a thriving-urban downtown working at an architecture firm. Things change. 

Today, I hold a college degree in mass communications and I am the Assistant Director at the Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce. I love what I am doing. Everyday I am educating business owners, consumers, citizens and visitors about the great things that Brookings has to offer. My dreams will probably change once I find the spark in my current position that launches a bigger dream. 

Whether a student or resident, I hope you find the resources to help your dreams grow in Brookings or beyond.  If you do find your dreams elsewhere, don’t forget where they started. Remember if you “Bring your dreams” you really can “Go anywhere from here,” but for now “Be Great. Start Here.” 

 

Jamison Lamp is a graduate of SDSU with a degree in mass communications and political science and is currently the Assistant Director at the Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce. He previously served various editorial roles at The Collegian.