He knew that if I really wanted to be a songwriter, IвЂ™d have to write songs, not just think about the five I had written. But his counsel was exceedingly important. A barrelful would be hundreds of songs вЂ“ and I only had five. He said, вЂњIвЂ™d like you to come back after youвЂ™ve written a barrelful and weвЂ™ll talk again.вЂќ Then he said something very important to me and to my whole life. Now, how many songs have you written?вЂќ I told him five, and I had brought them all. When I was finished, he said, вЂњVery nice, Fred. He asked me to play a couple of those original songs for him, and he listened intently while I played them and sang the words as well as I could. IвЂ™d probably have to give up college and get an apartment in the city, and my parents would be so proud of me, and before long my five songs would be sung by millions of Broadway show-goers.

I was able to get an interview with that man, and I remember so well going to New York City and, all the way, thinking: This is it. I was convinced that if I could just play my songs (I think I had five) that songwriter would introduce me to Tin Pan Alley and I would be an instant, successful composer of show tunes. That songwriter was a person, I had always wanted to meet вЂ“ ever since I was a little boy. When I was a freshman in college, I met someone who knew a very famous songwriter. Well, by now you know what it took to make that wish come true and so do your parents and your teachers and your friends! It might take months or years for a wish to come true, but itвЂ™s far more likely to happen when you care so much about it that youвЂ™ll do all you can to make it happen.ДЄt some point in your life some of you must have wished to be college graduates. What does make the difference between wishing and realizing our wishes? Lots of things, of course, but the main one, I think, is whether we link our wishes to our hopes and our hopes to our active striving. In fact, I probably wished on more stars for those things than I ever wished to be in television. Why didnвЂ™t I become a concert pianist? Or a vegetarian? Why didnвЂ™t I learn shorthand or the Japanese language вЂ“ or get to be a commercial pilot? Those were all things I had wished for, years ago. I had lots of wishes! And lots of Dreams!ДЄs I sat there the other night, playing that song and thinking those words, it dawned on me how important it was that all my wishes and all my dreams had not come true, but it was equally important that some of them actually had. To think that wishing on anything would make things come true was such a splendid idea to me. I remember when I first heard that song (quoted from Walt DisneyвЂ™sВ Pinocchio). It was called вЂњWhen You Wish Upon a Star,вЂќ and it begins by saying: Little by little, the words came to me, and I realized I had known that song for many years. One evening last week, as I sat at the piano, I began to play a song вЂ“ almost without thinking. When he finished his address, Hess says,В the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Why, there are whole galaxies that we havenвЂ™t even discovered yet, stars way out in space within ourselves that are patiently waiting to brighten up our world,вЂќ Rogers said. I trust that youвЂ™ll feel good enough about yourself to do all you can to help the best of your wishes come true.вЂќ TheyвЂ™re about simple things of daily life expressed again and again in contacts with other persons around us. Wishes are sometime as grand and far beyond the reality of the present, but other wishers are intimate. Nobody but you and the people you care to share them with should know them. Rogers told the Classes of 1985:В вЂњI donвЂ™t know your wishes or your hopes. The graduating classes cheered as Rogers was introduced, asВ Assistant Director of First-Year SeminarsвЂ‹ Susan Hess вЂ™85 recalls.В вЂњAВ piano had been wheeled onto the steps of Coxe Hall,вЂќВ she says so thatВ RogersВ could sing the songs wovenВ intoВ his speech, вЂњaccompanying himself as he did so.вЂќ

Rogers, he officially entered the CollegesвЂ™ community in 1985, when he delivered the Commencement address and was awarded an honorary degree. While many in the HWS community grew up with Mr. When Rogers died in 2003, Junod wrote in his eulogy that вЂњonce you entered into FredвЂ™s life, well, there was no doubt that he would enter into yours.вЂќ вЂ™85 and journalist Tom Junod that began when Junod was assigned to profile the legendary host of Mister RogersвЂ™ Neighborhood.

The film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which premieres this November, is based on the true story of theВ friendship between Fred Rogers L.H.D.

When you wish upon a star movie