The day I met Hani Irmawati, she was a shy, seventeen-year-old girl standing alone in the parking lot of the international school in Indonesia, where I teach English. The school is expensive and does not accept Indonesian students. She walked up to me and asked if I could help her improve her English. I could tell it took great courage for the young Indonesian girl in worn clothing to ask for my help.

“Why do you want to improve your English?” I asked her, fully expecting her to talk about finding a job in a local hotel.

“I want to go to an American university,” she said with quiet confidence. Her idealistic dream made me want to cry.

I agreed to work with her after school each day on a volunteer basis. For the next several months, Hani woke each morning at five and caught the city bus to her public high school. Then at four o’clock in the afternoon, she arrived at my classroom, worn out but ready to work. With each passing day, I grew more fond of her. She worked harder than most of my wealthy students.

Her parents’ combined yearly income was 750 U. S. dollars. It wasn’t enough to meet the expenses of even one month in an American university. Hani’s enthusiasm was increasing with her language ability, but I was becoming more and more discouraged.

One morning in December 1998, I received the announcement of a scholarship opportunity for a major American university. I excitedly tore open the envelope and studied the requirements, but it wasn’t long before I dropped the form in depression. There was just no way, I thought, for Hani to meet these qualifications.

She did, however, have more determination than any student I’d ever seen. When Hani came into the classroom that day, I told her of the scholarship. I also told her that I believed there was no way for her to apply. I encouraged her to be realistic about her future and not to plan so strongly on coming to America. Even after my lecture, Hani remained firm.

“Will you send in my name?” she asked.

I jumped about the room excitedly, shocked.

Jake Stonehall was gifted. He had a passion for sports.

When he was five, his father took him to see the top two hockey (冰球) teams in the country play each other for a chance to lift the cup of victory. The boy could vividly remember how his heart pumped and how he wished to play there on the hockey ground with the players.

Since then, Jake became a hockey lover. With the company of his father, he spent most Saturdays skating in the ice rink (溜冰场).

When he got old enough, he joined his school’s hockey team. With the guidance of the coach, he progressed rapidly, which made the coach and his father really proud. Jake was soon appointed as captain of the team. He was a great team player and the whole team admired him.

Over time, his passion for hockey deepened. Beyond his own training, he would watch practices of his school’s disabled ice hockey team. These players worked together on specialized sleds (冰车), engaging in matches in an astonishingly incredible manner. Each game and practice became a passionate display of toughness and teamwork, setting off even more curiosity and admiration within him.

One day, he was on his way back home from training when a car crashed into him, throwing him several feet away.

The accident took away his ability to use his legs, which meant he could no longer play hockey. After he was out of hospital, he became a totally different person. Any talk about hockey would make him cry. He avoided seeing the coach and other players in his team. He even threw away the hockey sticks.

Jake sank into the world of hopelessness.

Jake began to practice hockey on the sled, like a kid learning to walk.

Eva spent the first week of high school trying to keep her head above water. One of the major headaches for her was finding her way in the huge school building. It was a six-story building. On each floor, hallways stretched in four directions, leading to classrooms, laboratories, and teachers’ offices. Somewhere in the building, there was also a library, a cafeteria, and a gym.

Having a poor sense of direction, Eva found it impossible to get around in such a huge building. All the different hallways and rooms were too much to think about, let alone commit to memory. She decided that she would memorize where her classes were and then pretend that the rest of the place didn’t exist.

In her first PE class, Eva was shocked when Coach Pitt announced that everyone had to run one mile around the track outside. She searched the faces of her classmates for signs of panic. There was nothing she feared more than having to run a whole mile. To Eva, “a mile” was used to describe long distances. It was ten miles from her home to her grandfather’s, and that always seemed like a long way, even in a car!

When Coach Pitt blew his whistle (哨子), Eva figured she would be left in the dust. However, while some of her classmates edged ahead, others actually fell behind. ” It’s just the beginning, “she thought.” I’ll come in last for sure. “

Soon Eva began to breathe hard, with her heart pounding and legs shaking. Feeling desperate, Eva started using a mind trick on herself. She stopped thinking about the word” mile. “Instead, she focused on reaching the shadow cast on the track by an oak tree up ahead. Then she concentrated on jogging to the spot where the track curved (拐弯). After that, she tried to see if she could complete her first lap. One lap turned into two, then three, then four.

When Coach Pitt said “Nice work!” to her at the finish line, Eva was surprised.

Eva decided to use the same trick to deal with the school building.

In 2017 I graduated from a medical school and started to train the seniors for recovery as a therapist in the Brookdale Lake Senior Living Center where I met Hoffner, who had lived there for roughly the past decade, for the first time.

Hoffner, a lady of 104 years old now, grew up in Chicago and worked as a telephone operator for Bell Company for more than four decades. She never married or had children, but she enjoyed beach vacations and driving her small blue car touring all over the country.

She loved sports and was kind to everyone she met. She watched every Chicago Cubs game on a TV in her room and also enjoyed watching “MASH” runs. She stayed active, walking several blocks to the grocery store multiple times a week and going on walks to have a look at the neighbor’s dogs. She was known for carrying candies — Heath bars, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and dark chocolate — in her walker.   She shared her candies with everyone she met, but she always kept some for me.

I remembered that afternoon I and one of my patients were figuring out when the meal was served when Hoffner invited us to eat supper with her in the dining area. Since then, we three ate dinner together almost every night and Hoffner started calling me grandson.

One night two months ago, I carelessly told Hoffner over dinner that I was going skydiving in Ottawa. When Hoffner said she wanted to go, too, I thought she meant as an observer. “No, no, no, I want to jump out of a plane,” Hoffner said. My heart sank because I knew clearly what it meant to jump from an airplane at about 13,500 feet high. It might injure her.

But she made up her mind and started to do everything to prepare for it. She went to the doctor to have a check and asked me to make a training plan. With her walker she kept training every day.   

One day, I went to the dining hall and saw her sitting in a corner, sad and alone.

“Jump,” with the order of the pilot, I jumped out of the plan e following her.

In a small town, there lived a young girl named Emily. She had a deep passion for table tennis and dreamed of becoming a professional player. Despite her young age, she was determined to work hard and make her dream come true.

From the moment when Emily picked up a table tennis paddle, she was impressed by the sport. She spent every spare moment practicing her shots, focusing on her footwork and mastering different techniques. Each time she stepped on the court, she was eager to improve and pushed herself to the limit. Unluckily, Emily faced a visual impairment (缺陷) that threatened to slow her progress. She was born with a condition that affected her sight. Some people doubted her ability to play table tennis and said, “Emily, your impairment is a disadvantage. It is impossible to play table tennis well!”

But Emily refused to let their doubts consume her. With solid determination, Emily turned her impairment into strength. She used her other heightened senses to her advantage, relying on touch and sound to anticipate her opponents’ moves. While others relied on sight, she developed an incredible sense of intuition (直觉) and strategy.

Emily finally excelled in table tennis, achieving incredible milestones and representing her town in many competitions. She became an advocate of the sport in her town. However, Emily decided not to settle for winning in her comfort zone but to challenge for something higher. She joined a training team guided by a world-class coach, which brought together the world’s top table tennis players.

In the training team, Emily went through a series of trials. She carried out high-intensity training. She needed to improve not only the batting skills but also perseverance and the sense of teamwork. Her coach often encouraged her and said, “Anyone, regardless of ability, could find success.”

A few years later, Emily’s efforts paid off. She got her chance. As a member of the national team, she took part in an important international competition. That was the stage for her to show her skills, and it was also the important moment for her to realize her dream.

In the competition, Emily found herself facing a strong opponent, Lily.

After the competition, Emily’s story spread throughout the table tennis community.

As my feet pound(咚咚地走) the pavement and my breath comes in shallow gasps, I pray that I won’t collapse(崩溃) and lie in a heap on the side of the road. I want to finish my first real race.

At 31, I am the oldest person in my running class. And I am the last to cross the finish line for every race.

My breathing is steady. My heartbeat establishes a rhythm(节奏) with the swinging of my arms and the pounding of my feet. I am no longer tired.The birds cheer me on with their song. The breeze ruffles my hair. This is why I love running. I am at the edge of my limits, but I am exhilarated.

I can sense the end getting closer. Then I see the finish line, surrounded by people cheering and waving their arms. My legs churn, and I imagine myself leaving a trail of smoke in my wake.

I cross the finish line, my husband hugs me tightly and wipes my tears.This is my fourth real race outside of my running class. This real race is an incredible challenge — one that I never thought I’d be up for.

When I was 17, I was in a car accident. The doctors told my parents I wouldn’t make it. I broke my collarbone(锁骨), pelvis, and both legs. Yet, I survived.

Then my parents were told I would never walk again. But I did. Every afternoon, I placed my hands on a walker and forced myself to put one foot in front of the other. I graduated to crutches(拐杖). And then to a cane. And finally to my own strength.

I spent months in physical therapy. Unluckily, I broke my leg again when I sat down hard at the bus stop one day. After six months of intense physical therapy, I was back to normal.

I was active from that point on. I walked, rode my bike, hiked with my husband, and worked out at gyms. And then, 13 years after the accident, I started running. And I loved it! I made a goal for myself of working up to running three miles. A girl at the gym encouraged me to enter a 5K race. I’d never run in a race, but I thought, Why not?

I started at the line with everyone else, but I was a slow runner.

Today, I’m running a 10K.

Sometimes, life just throws a huge curveball at you, and you have to deal with it. For this girl, she kept going even though that curveball took away most of her.

Kate, 17, was riding home from Bear Lake with her families when they were hit by a truck. It was not a very serious traffic accident.

It was just a crash without causing any deaths. But it brought misfortune to Kate. She suffered the worst out of anyone in the car. In other words, she was the worst injured in her family.

Kate was badly injured from the waist down. There was no blood flow in her legs, and things weren’t looking good. She needed both legs amputated(截肢) above the knee and spent two months in the hospital. At that age, most of her classmates would be getting ready for college. But fate wasn’t so kind to her.

It was not easy to get back on track after such a misfortune, but life was still worth living on. At this time, Kate knew that she must encourage herself to be even stronger and fight with every challenge more bravely than before. She had to gain more confidence to shoulder the burden that nobody in her age had ever faced.

She was a cheerleader(啦啦队队员) at school, after all. She knew better than anyone that some encouragement and hard work can really make a difference. As a to-be adult, she also showed her uncertainty about her own future. She sometimes asked her mum whether she would ever drive or swim again. Her mother answered yes to everything she asked.

However, one thing was for sure: Kate would need a wheelchair for the rest of her life. What would you do if you had to live on a wheelchair? What would you do if you wanted to return to your stage? Luckily, Kate didn’t feel or do as you did.

Kate had to relearn how to live on a wheelchair.

Then the last football game of the season arrived.

As an old saying goes, we make a living by what we get, but make a life by what we give.

I truly believe that a job is definitely not a job if you love what you are doing. Many years ago, I worked in an employment and insurance office, which helps people find jobs, apply for employment and insurance, and return to school for training. What could be more rewarding than to help someone find a job or change their career?

I have always said that people are at their worst when they are unemployed or sick. I must admit that some days were challenging. But I have one amazing story that I would like to share.

One day, a lady came to the office with a dream to become a registered nurse. According to my client, her family did not approve. She was a mother with young children, and her husband had returned to school for training. It was not economically practical for her to return to school.

It was clear that this lady had a passion for the nursing profession, so I encouraged her to realize her dream. I equipped her with the information necessary to apply for nursing school, and she left the office. She went on her way, and I never knew whether she followed her dream or not.

Many years later, I was diagnosed(诊断) with cancer of the stomach and was admitted to the hospital for an operation. I must admit I was scared. My mother had died of cancer at age forty. I had a husband and two beautiful children. I was only forty-eight years old. The surgery was successful. It was, however, very painful. Days flew smoothly as I recovered from the pain.

But one night the pain began growing stronger.

“You never know what impact your encouraging words had on me，”the nurse said.