【推荐2】When I was a child, my grandmother often said interpersonal communication mattered. She backed that up with her own behavior, and she invested her time and energy in interacting with people. When she walked down the street, she spoke to everyone, whether an elderly or a child, speaking whether English or Spanish.

However, as she aged, she noticed that most people wouldn’t have time for communication that’s longer than a 160-character text message, much less time to develop genuine friendships that last decades. In fact, people are barely speaking to one another nowadays. As much as I hate to admit it, I have noticed it too.

My grandmother opened my mind to having a pen pal on the other side of the world. It all started in 2013 when I was at University of Southern California. I met with Kerstin Zilm, a German radio personality who wanted to interview me about being a student struggling financially. I didn’t know much about German culture or the German audience who would listen to the show, but I agreed to do so. I had internalized(使内在化)my grandmother’s concept and I felt this was another way of communication and that speaking about my story was better than keeping it to myself. You never knew who could learn from your life experiences.

After the story aired, a woman named Renate reached out to Kerstin, inquiring how she could find me and help me financially with college. I was grateful, but my pride didn’t allow me to accept the money.

However, I didn’t let the opening halt. Encouraged by Kerstin, I emailed Renate back, thanking her for her kindness. This was the beginning of a beautiful intercontinental friend-ship. From then on, Renate and I often emailed each other. And whenever I was in trouble, she was always there. She sent me virtual hugs at the moments when I needed them most. Though I have never met her in person, she is one of the most important people in my life.

【推荐2】Kurt, one of Australian most respected and recognized athletes, has won over 40 marathons, including New York, Chicago and London, in his career of more than 20 years. He became the first athlete with a disability to win The Don Award-given to honor those whose achievements inspire the whole nation — in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2018.

Kurt has always been determined. Being born without the lower part of his spine (脊椎) has never held him back, from backyard games of football to crewing an attractive Sydney to Hobart ship and winning dozens of marathons around the world.

Growing up in a large and loving family in the small town of Carcoar, Kurt was encouraged to make the most of every opportunity, and he did. He took on almost every challenge presented to him, encouraged by his parents. He even managed to move himself on his elbows up and down hills at an early age.

Turning his attention to wheelchair sports in his teens, Kurt quickly became a world beater. He started his career with two silver medals at the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games, before making his winning breakthrough at the 2004 Athens Paralympics with gold medals in the 5,000m and marathon races. Following the 2004 Paralympics, Kurt conquered the world, winning seven world championships and more than 30 marathons around the globe.

Kurt is a person who supports the rights of people with disabilities. He throws himself into a number of charitable activities. For example, in 2009, Kurt spent two weeks crawling (爬) the 96 kilometer Kokoda Track to raise awareness and money for people’s health charity.

While Kurt’s athletic career is over, his commitment (投入) to sports and support for people with disabilities live on in so many different forms. Kurt believes that people with disabilities should be given more opportunities.

【推荐3】Dave Mader has been racing for 50 years, and while he always wants to win a trophy, a second-place finish on a national stage had the 65-year-old feeling pretty good.

Mader finished behind Corey Heim, who at 18 years old was born well after Mader’s only victory in the series in a 1991 race at Michigan. Mader competed in 10 Cup events from 1988 to 1992 and still races short tracks throughout the Southeast. He finished 27^th in the February at Daytona after a mechanical issue ended his day.

Mader said, “This is huge. I’m 65 years old. This is for all the old people. Isn’t that great I want to cry. It’s so exciting? I’ve been doing this for 50 years. To still be able to do it on any capacity is great. Mander said he got into another car early in the race but had a fairly smooth day.

“I guess they’re going to go, ‘the old man ran into somebody,’” he said with a laugh. “It’s tough out there running 190 and being that close. Things happen.”Heim said he has never met Mader, but he seemed to enjoy hearing the history of Mader’s accomplishments.“It’s pretty unreal to see people like that up front. He was a very smart, clean racer,” Heim said.

Mader has no plans of slowing down.

He said, “I’ve been doing it all my life. It’s what I’ve always done. I do it for fun. I love the trophy. It’s not about ego or anything like that. I just enjoy it. I’ve been pretty good at it for a long time, and as long as I feel good and be fair, I want to continue doing it. ”