One sunny Friday morning, the school hallways were filled with excitement. The yearly school project was just a week away, and the students were busy preparing their presentations. Among the students, two friends, Lisa and Emily, found themselves in a heated argument.

“I can’t believe you’re proposing that boring topic, Emily!” Lisa shouted, her eyes wide with anger. “We need to come up with something special, something that will make us stand out!” Emily rolled her eyes,” But Lisa, I’ve been working on this idea for weeks. It’s not about being special, it’s about doing something meaningful.“

Lisa crossed her arms, “Well, if you say so. But I still think we should go for something more flashy.’

As the disagreement continued, their voices grew louder, catching the attention of their classmates. Soon, other students started to gather around, adding their opinions and suggestions.

The once peaceful hallways were now filled with unpleasant voices, each one voicing their own ideas and concerns.

Then their teacher, Mr. Thompson, approached them. “What’s all the argument about?” he asked calmly. Lisa and Emily turned to him, still arguing.

Mr. Thompson held up his hand, silencing them.” Listen, “he said,”I know you both want to do your best and make a lasting effect. But remember, it’s not about being the most special or flashy. It’s about coming up with a topic that matters to you and making a difference in someone’s life.”

Lisa and Emily looked at each other, realizing their mistake. They had been so focused on impressing others that they had forgotten the true purpose of their project.

“You’re right, Mr. Thompson,” Lisa admitted softly. “We shouldn’t let ourselves be limited by what’s popular or what others expect us to do.”

Emily nodded in agreement, “Yes, we need to focus on something that truly matters to us.” With newfound determination, Lisa and Emily decided to work together again and choose atopic that aligned with their passions and interests. They spent the next week researching and planning their presentation, ensuring that it would be both engaging and informative.

The day of the school project finally arrived, and Lisa and Emily stood behind their table with a renewed sense of purpose.

As the judges deliberated over(评出)the winners, Lisa and Emily felt a sense of pride and satisfaction.

It was my first year teaching in a special needs classroom, and I wasn’t sure what to expect at our annual Special Track and Field Meeting. My students had a range of challenges, from mild learning disabilities to severe cerebral palsy（大脑性麻痹）.

Of the poor ones, Mark was one disabled with the latter. Confined（受困于） to a wheelchair, he had to fight his spasms（痉挛） just to control his movements. But, despite the great difficulties, he always had a positive attitude and greeted everyone each morning with a huge smile.

His classmates loved him and always took the time to make sure he was included in group activities, especially Mike, Andy and Lucas, three boys who were excellent at sports. In his heart I knew Mark was dying to be just like them, unrestricted by the limitations of his body and watching the grace（优雅） with which they moved on the playing field seemed to fill him with wonder.

When track and field day came, Mike, Andy and Lucas placed well in their heats（预赛）, and gave the normally quiet crowd something to cheer about. Mark sat on the sideline, cheering them on, although he himself placed last in his own heat because his wheelchair wouldn’t go fast enough.

The final event of the day was the 400-meter race. Everyone was invited to either walk or run, according to their ability, around the entire length of the track. We watched as the sprinters（短跑运动员） took off --- Mike, Andy and Lucas determined to prove who the best athlete was.

But when the exhausted three runners reached the finish line they paused and turned to look behind them. At the back of the crowd was Mark, determined not to be left behind. His classmates had passed him by and even the slowest walkers were outdistancing（把...远远地抛在后面） him. He was alone on the track with over half the distance left to cover.

Mike, Andy and Lucas looked at each other, and a silent thought passed between them.

The progress was slow.

Growing up along with Olympic Champions

Many teenage champions have stood out in the Beijing Winter Olympics.

My problems started when we were having a biology class. Students were curious about a picture of ducks and wanted to see the kind of animals. Mrs Reno, our biology teacher, told us that she had a baby duck in her yard and could take him to us to know him. But baby ducks were on my list of terrifying things. Because I’ve always been afraid of these furry (毛茸茸的) animals.

To make matters worse, Trent Dillard was in my class again, Last year, I had to sit in front of him. He knew I was afraid of furry animals, and all the year he pretended to put them on my hair.

The next day. Mrs Reno took a cage, a baby duck inside it. She pulled out the baby duck and set him on the desk. “This is Ripley,” she said. Strangely, he seemed to understand what Mrs Reno said, and he was quiet and stayed at the desk.

Trent whispered (小声说), “I think you’re scared of him.” “I am not!” I said. Mrs Reno looked towards Trent and me. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Amy’s scared of Ripley,” Trent announced. “No, I’m not.” I was nervous. “I love ducks. They’re my favorite animals.” Mrs Reno smiled, “I was going to ask for a volunteer to feed Ripley at recess (课间休息), but since you’re a duck lover, how would you like the job?” She probably thought I was speech-less with joy. But I was very frightened.

At that time, Trent stood up and said, “I want to join Amy.” Mrs Reno said, “OK. I guess Amy can have a helper.” During the recess, Trent opened the cage and caught Ripley. “Careful!” I cried, surprised that I was worried about him. Trent looked out the window. “Hey, the guys are playing football and I’ll go. Take Ripley.” “You can just put him down.” I meant for Trent to put him down inside the cage, but Trent set him on the floor and ran out-side. At that time, Ripley walked towards the door.

I took a deep breath (呼吸) and caught Ripley.

In fact. Mrs Reno knew I was afraid of Ripley and was glad that I could overcome my fear.

I awoke suddenly from a deep sleep. My heart was pounding, and I was scared. I closed my eyes, hoping to fall back to sleep quickly. But there it was again.

I was drowning. I was going to die soon if I didn’t do something! “Swim to the light,” a little voice said. I started struggling. I broke through the surface of the water. I was alive, and everything was going to be fine.

I got out of bed, afraid I would have the bad dream again if I went back to sleep. It troubled me all day, making it hard to focus on work. My mind kept drifting back to the dream, wondering what it could possibly mean.

That night, the dream came roaring back again. The next morning, I told my husband about it while we were getting ready for work. My husband said, “The dream might be just to reassure you that your friend, Sandy, will be alright if she fights back.” I liked his interpretation, but I wasn’t sure if that’s what it really meant.

Sandy was my friend, who had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and had started chemo(化疗). She was only in her thirties and had three young children. Outwardly, I tried to be positive and encouraging, but inwardly I was very upset by all that was happening to her.

Over the next few weeks, I had the same dream several times. I couldn’t shake the dream. I became convinced that the dream was mostly about me, but somehow Sandy was very connected. Sandy was fighting her cancer. The dream was showing me that I needed to fight back and swim to the light.

I struggled to find a connection between Sandy and my dream. What was wrong? What did I need to fight? The only thing I could come up with was to make an appointment for a check. A few days after the appointment, I got a call saying they wanted to do more X-rays. That same day, the radiologist recommended a medical check, which was scheduled for a few days later.

The day finally came for me to get the results of medical check.

It was a long road with surgery, chemo, and radiation.

When I was in third grade, we got five new computers in our classroom. Mrs. Brown was my third-grade teacher, and she acted like computers were scary, especially the new ones. She always needed to look at a how-to book and the computer at the same time. Even then , she got mixed up a lot. Then she had to call Mrs. Reed, the librarian, to come and show her what to do.

It was a Monday morning in May, and Mrs. Brown was sitting in front of a new computer in the back of the room. She was confused about a program we were supposed to use for a math project. My desk was near the computers, and I was watching her.

Mrs. Brown looked at the screen, and then she looked at this book, and then back at the screen again. Then she shook her head and let out a deep sigh (叹气). I could tell she was almost ready to call Mrs. Reed.

In fact, I was not good at using computers, either. But I knew how to turn them on and open programs, play games and type-simple things like that. So I got up from my desk, pointed at the screen, and said, “Mrs. Brown,if you double-click on that little thing right there, then the program will start running. And then you click on this, and that opens up the part about number lines.”

So Mrs. Brown did what I told her and the program started running. Because that’s the way it works and anybody knows that except Mrs.Brown.When the program started playing the music,     

Mrs. Brown smiled a huge smile at me and said,“Jake, you’re wonderful!” And she said it so loud that every kid in the classroom stopped and turned to look at us,just in time to see Mrs. Brown pat ( 拍) me on the top of my head.