The superb blog, Letters of Note, has the story on this letter. I think it reads well without context, but I think you should visit the blog (now and often) to get it. It’s from an animator at Pixar to a young boy who wants to become an animator. But really, with some minor changes, it could be to anyone.
Smart People I Know 
I simply CANNOT resist commenting on this post! 🙂
I will share this with my daughter who applied to a “prestigious film school” with a 94% academic average AND a superb, professional looking portfolio (perhaps TOO polished!) ….Her application was declined!
She STILL wants to be a professional filmmaker/animator, but in the meantime she has moved on to radio broadcasting & journalism. 🙂
Just wonderful! Reminds me of a story I read recently about Betty Fox urging Terry to forget about running across Canada.