3 . I grew up knowing that I was different, and I hated it. I was born with a cleft palate, and when I started to go to school, my classmates -who were constantly teasing- made it clear to me. I couldn’t even blow up a balloon without holding my nose, and when I bent to drink from a fountain, the water spilled out of my nose.

When my schoolmates asked, “What happened to your lip?” I’d tell them that I’d fallen as a baby and cut it on a piece of glass. Somehow it seemed more acceptable to have suffered an accident than to have been born different. By the age of seven I was convinced that no one outside my own family could ever love me. Or even like me.

And then I entered second grade, and Mrs Leonard’s class. She was round and pretty. Everyone adored her. But no one came to love her more than I did. And for a special reason.

The time came for the annual “whisper test” given at our school. I was barely able to hear anything out of one ear, and was not about to show yet another problem that would single me out as different. And so I cheated.

I had discovered in kindergarten that nobody checked to see how tightly the untested ear was being covered so I merely pretended to block mine.

As usual, I was last, but all through the testing I wondered what Mrs Leonard might say to me. I knew form previous years that the teacher whispered things like “The sky is blue” or “Do you have new shoes?”

My turn came. I turned my bad ear to her, plugging up the other solidly with my finger, then gently backed my finger out enough to be able to hear. I waited, and then came the words, seven words that changed my life forever.

Mrs Leonard said softly, “I wish you were my little girl.”

Emily White was born seventeen years ago with so many birth problems in her body. Some of her organs, bones and muscles were out of shape. No one expected her to survive. She did make it but with her strange body figure, everyone could recognize her, even from a distance.

In Emily White’s hometown, there was a yearly outdoor performance in the school auditorium (大礼堂). It had been performed for so many years and actually had become one of the most important events of the Christmas season for many of the town’s people.

Many people tried out each year for it, but so many were turned away. It can only include the most excellent people in the field.

Emily had a beautiful singing voice. Last year she went to Mrs. Owens — her music teacher to ask to join in the performance. Without letting her sing, Mrs. Owens took a look at Amy’s body and said, “Child, you just don’t fit. Everyone would stare at you and that would make you uncomfortable. It would make them uncomfortable, too.”

Without singing a single note, Emily was sent back through the door of the choral room. Hurt and upset, she decided never to try out again. But Mrs. Owens then retired.

This year, there came a new music teacher, Mr. Buttler. He heard about Emily and suggested that she have a try.

Emily didn’t want to be rejected again, so she hesitated a little about it. As Emily struggled, the door was pushed open and Mr. Buttler called, “Emily, you’re next.” Although kind of nervous, Emily did as Mr. Buttler told her to do. Mr. Buttler sat by the piano to keep Emily company. When Emily finished her testing performance, she thanked Mr. Buttler and knew the result would be posted on the door of the choral room the next day.

Emily couldn’t sleep that night. She was suffering from the feelings that she didn’t fit and the great need to be accepted. By the next morning, her stomach was even in pain because of stress.

Paragraph 1: The next day, Emily nervously glanced at the list on the door of the choral room.

Paragraph 2: Finally, the day of performance came.

6 . I was born in a poor community on the north side of Boston, US, raised by a single mother who didn’t finish 3rd grade, lived each day on food stamps and attended what the media called “the most dysfunctional (功能失调的) public school district”. Not many people expected much of me, so I had to expect.

On my 13th birthday, I bought a poster of Harvard to hang in my room. Being at Harvard became what I dreamt about. Even if my electricity was cut off, I still woke up at 5:30, because I knew that my poster of Harvard was still hanging only two feet away from me.

Reminding myself of my goal each day made it easy to say no to the same choices I saw my peers making, because those paths wouldn’t have had me closer to my goal. Being poor could not take away my power to decide what I choose to do with my day. The poster gave me the courage to send emails to about 50 Harvard students to ask for feedback on my application essays; it gave me the energy to study just one more hour on my SATs when my friends were asleep; and it gave me the determination to submit just one more scholarship application when 180 others had already turned me down.

Every day, I could feel myself getting closer and closer to my goal as my writing got better, my SAT score increased, and my scholarship checks started coming in. Finally, an email arrived from Harvard. The first word was “Congratulations!” A month later, Harvard flew me up to visit the campus where for the first time I stepped onto my dreaming land.

Who you are today is the result of the decisions you made yesterday, and who you will be tomorrow will be the result of the choices you make today. Who do you want to be tomorrow?

I was home with my two young kids, when my mind started to wander. I was reflecting on my past and couldn’t help but think: Whatever happened to Kathy?

Kathy lived in a tiny Canadian town and she became my pen pal when I was 13. As a girl growing up in New Zealand, I was curious to learn more about the world and Kathy’s letters certainly showed me how different life could be in another country.

When I was 18, the letters had petered out (逐渐减少) and we lost contact. I’d gone on to marry my husband, Paul, and start a family, but the more I thought about it, the more I missed news of Kathy’s adventures. I decided to write to Kathy and knowing that her parents lived in such a small town, I addressed the letter to them and hoped for the best.

Three weeks later, my heart leapt when I got an envelope postmarked from Canada. “I recognized your handwriting straightaway,” Kathy wrote to me. It turned out that, like me, she’d also married but due to health problems, she was unable to have children. Her job as a nurse kept her busy and she enjoyed helping others.

Realizing how quickly life could change. I promised to keep writing to her no matter what. Her letters soon became a highlight for me, giving me the same excitement I’d felt as a 13-year-old.

One day, when Paul was using the saw (锯子) to cut some wood, a splinter (尖细条) flew into the center of my right eye and I lost my sight permanently. Paul felt terrible and while it was a huge blow (打击) for me, I tried to carry on as best I could. Soon, I needed an artificial eye (义眼, 假眼) and received financial compensation (赔偿) as a result of the accident in our yard.

One day, Paul advised “Gayel, you should use the money to do something for yourself.” “Maybe I should use it to meet Kathy,” I joked, thinking it would take a very long time and couldn’t really happen. I expected Paul to be against it, but he was all for it. “That’s exactly what you should do,” he insisted, knowing how much this friendship meant to me. I struggled so much inside that I tossed and turned at night. But I finally made up my mind to visit Kathy, a friend I knew well but hadn’t seen in years.

So I left Paul and the kids to travel 30 hours to reach Kathy.

9 . The old man walked slowly into the restaurant. With head tilted(倾斜), and shoulders bent forward he leaned on his trusty(可信赖的) stick with each unhurried step. His torn cloth jacket, patched(打补丁的) trousers, worn-out shoes, and warm personality made him stand out from the usual Saturday morning breakfast crowd. He stopped, turned with his whole body, and winked(眨眼) at a little girl seated by the door. She flashed a big smile right back at him.

A young waitress named Mary watched him walk toward a table by the window. She ran over to him, and said, “Here, Sir. Let me give you a hand with that chair.” She pulled the chair away from the table. Steadying him with one arm, she helped him move in front of the chair, and get comfortably seated. Then she moved the table up close to him, and leaned his stick against the table where he could reach it.

In a soft, clear voice he said, “Thank you, Miss. And bless you for your kind gestures.”

“You’re welcome, Sir.” She replied. “And my name is Mary. I’ll be back in a moment, and if you need anything at all in the meantime, just wave at me!”

After he had finished a hearty meal, Mary brought him the change. He left it on the table. She helped him and walked with him to the front door. Holding the door open for him, she said, “Come back and see us, Sir!” He turned and nodded a thank-you. “You are very kind,” he said softly, smiling

When Mary went to clean his table, she almost fainted(昏厥). Under his plate she found a business card, and a note scribbled on a napkin(餐巾纸). Under the napkin was a one-hundred-dollar bill.

The note on the napkin read, “Dear Mary, I respect you very much, and you respect yourself too. It shows by the way you treat others. You have found the secret of happiness. Your kind gestures will shine through those who meet you.”

The man she had waited on was the owner of the restaurant where she worked. This was the first time that she, or any of his employees had ever seen him in person.