I was really bright as a kid and tested well and it was clear that I was going to get scholarships to any schools I wanted. My dad always said I could be an engineer at that time it was the elite of society: steady job working in science which was then the answer to every problem we had. It was kind of a mandate. Kind of a dream he had for me.

My dad used to draw these great cartoon figures. His dream was being a cartoonist but he never achieved it and it kind of broke my heart. I think part of my interest in art had to do with his yearning for something he could never have.

I am lucky to have had an attentive curious and loving dad and heart-smart down-to-earth gifted mother. They changed the outlooks of their own lives and have never forgotten the people and organizations that helped them dream bigger than their circumstances should have allowed.

Barack Obama knows that to create an economy built to last we need to focus on middle-class families. Families who stay up on Sunday nights pacing the floor like my dad did while their children tucked in bed dream big dreams. Families who aren't sure what Monday morning will bring but who believe our nation's best days are still ahead.

It wasn't like I was self-motivated. My dad started me. It was his dream before it was mine.

You know my dad served in the President's Cabinet after his time as a governor. He told me he enjoyed being governor a lot more. Now I understand why. If I do my job well I can make a difference in people's lives and I can help our children realize their dreams.

As a little girl I used to daydream about my real father coming on a white horse to rescue me.

Each of us has an inner dream that we can unfold if we will just have the courage to admit what it is. And the faith to trust our own admission. The admitting is often very difficult.

There is hope in dreams imagination and in the courage of those who wish to make those dreams a reality.

Prime Minister Sharon Prime Minister Abbas I urge you today to end the designs of those who seek destruction annihilation and occupation and I urge you to have the will and the courage to begin to realize our dreams of peace prosperity and coexistence.