Follow your dreams. It’s a phrase that’s been taught to us from a young age: the concept that breathes fairy tales to life, the inspiration that pushes people through the roughest days with hopes of some brighter future. Of course, such a concept is much simpler in theory than in practice. Only a fraction of us ever really achieve our ultimate dreams, even if the steps along the way can still be satisfying. It’s what labels those who arrive at the top as the very best of the best: the ones who really made it.

Another hard truth is that some dreams are much more difficult to attain than others. For trainees in the relentless K-Pop industry, for example, such aspirations can seem as far out of reach as the stars billions of lightyears away. And yet, so many strive for that distant beyond, believing with their entire beings that they can be the ones, that they can make it. Which, in the end, makes the success of the chosen few so much sweeter.

Jessica’s start could be considered one of the harder ones; years ago, she was someone who was too shy to even look at a camera, much less the dozens now pointed straight at her during any time of day. But even back then, Jessica was sure of one thing: that she wanted to sing, wanted to stand on a stage and perform for hundreds, even thousands.

This desire carried her through years of training, and many more years as another cog in the entertainment industry. She learned and she cried and she grew. And with that hard-sought combination of luck and skill and sheer willpower, she made it to the top, where everyone could finally hear her voice.

Jessica is nothing if not strong — perhaps an unnecessary statement to make in the here and now. But in her earlier years, Jessica had cultivated a somewhat laid-back reputation: someone who walks and never runs, someone who would rather sit back than take the reins. The “lazy” aspect of her personality has long been pushed to the forefront of her public image, masking the inner drive that makes her a force to be reckoned with.

Jessica’s wholehearted investment in her goals and desires is something that might not be so obvious upon first glance, or even a second and third. Her quiet steel might be perceived as careful restraint, her determined focus mistaken for easy distraction. But Jessica won’t take no for an answer, and this is how she still stands tall, whether on her own or with others.

Because, against all odds, she’s made it.

At the end of it all, Jessica represents the toughest kind of success story. The obstacles she faced were never small, and her road has no doubt been rocky even at the best of times. Yet still she presses on, calmly and surely, feet steady on even the thinnest and frailest of tightropes.

Happy birthday, Jessica. As the years pass by, may your dreams get even bigger — because we know that you have more than enough heart to achieve them.

Sources: “HARPER’S BAZAAR”, [email protected], JESSTURE, BLANC & ECLARE, Jessica’s Official Weibo
Written by: moonrise31@soshified

Originally posted on April 18th, 2019.