Life is about chances, creating them and embracing them, and for me, that was the Olympic dream. As a member of the Australian ski team heading towards the Winter Olympics, I was on a training bike ride. It was a perfect autumn day. I looked up to see the sun shining in my face. Suddenly everything went black. I was hit by a truck. I was badly hurt. I broke my neck and my back in six places. I was paralyzed from the waist (腰)down. The doctor said, "Janine, you'll have to rethink about your life, because you're never going to be able to do the things you did before. "

Six months later, I got home. I had no feeling from the waist down. I couldn't walk. I had to use a catheter(导尿管)for the rest of my life. All of those totally depressed me. All I wanted was to give up.

Maybe being at rock bottom is actually the perfect place to start.

One day, sitting at home in my wheelchair, I saw an airplane fly overhead. I looked up and thought to myself, "That's it! If I can't walk, I might as well fly. "So I went to a flying school and a man named Andrew started to train me. People there used to look at me and think, "Oh, who is she kidding? She's never going to be able to do this. "But that didn't matter, because there was something inside me burning, which far outweighed my injuries.

Little goals kept me going along the way, and eventually I got my private pilot's license(飞行执照)and became a pilot. Then I taught other people how to fly, just within 18 months after I'd left the hospital.

Then I knew for certain that although my body might be limited, my spirit was unstoppable.

【推荐2】Maria and her parents moved to the US from Brazil one year before the pandemic (流行病). Better education opportunities lay ahead, and they were excited to get Maria into an American high school to prepare for college.

Each parent got a job, and Maria started studying. She also signed up for a service club because she wanted to meet people, practice her English and be a part of the community. “I love to serve,” Maria says. “I think it is my thank-you for the opportunities I have.”

She worked at the local food bank with other kids of her age, organizing bags for families who were having a hard time making ends meet. But when the pandemic hit, she found herself at the food bank for another reason: to bring home groceries to her parents. “We were all shocked when my mother lost her job. My friends at the food bank got me through it,” Maria said.

Luckily, her father kept his job. And with classes moving online, Maria was able to secure a full-time job and do her class work at night. Three of her courses were college prep classes that demanded a lot of work. During her senior year, Maria worked 40-hour weeks and studied even more. Yet, in her spare time, she packed food bags for others before taking hers home.

Just before graduation, Maria came into the food bank. One of the volunteers started getting a bag ready for her. “I don’t need one today,” Maria said. “My mother got a job. I’m here to help.”

Maria supported her family for eight months. She graduated on time and got scholarship offers from three different colleges. She moved to part-time work and has completed her first semester of college.

【推荐3】I grew up in a poor family with a single mom addicted to drugs. Often there was no money for food, and I was always hungry.

On my fifth birthday, some close family members were invited to go to a park to celebrate my birthday. No cake. No presents. Except for my auntie, she had an envelope in her hand.

Before everyone sang Happy Birthday, I saw a little boy, probably my age, and a woman, digging in the park dustbin for food. I begged my mom to invite them to my party but my mother was not a fan of strangers. She said no.

I was attracted by them. I didn't know others struggled like me, and it hurt my heart. I watched them as everyone sang. I watched them when my auntie handed me the envelope. I watched them as I opened it until I saw the contents, a one hundred-dollar bill. My mother was enraged because my auntie gave me such a large amount of money. Maybe she thought my auntie trusted me more than her with cash.

We were poor. I didn't eat 3 days a week and I had a very hard childhood. But I had never dug in a dustbin for food.

My auntie kept talking it over with my mother. Finally, she told me I could do anything I wanted with that money. So I did. I walked to the boy and his mother. I explained to the boy that it was my birthday and my present was $100, and I wanted to give it to them. There were so many tears and thanks.

I, and my auntie, understood how powerful it was to give the only money I'd ever seen away. My mother never did. I paid dearly for the action that night. But it was worth it.

I think about that boy and his mother often.