My son has poliomyelitis (小儿麻痹)and he suffered from it a lot. When he was young, my wife and I took him to see so many doctors and got different kinds of treatments. But still, he couldn’t walk like a normal kid.

So he was laughed at by his peers for his walking style. His tears burnt our eyes like sulphuric acid (硫酸 ). Then, he became afraid of going to school. He wouldn’t go anymore.

One night, my wife had a breakdown and shouted at him, “I tell you, my kid, you might be like this forever. You are a freak in other people’s eyes, and perhaps it would never change. But in my eyes, in your dad’s eyes, you are not a freak! You are not! Even if you are, we love you and we will love you forever!” My son spoke nothing for two days. He didn’t eat or sleep. We could read he was hurt. We hoped something wonderful would fall in our family. On the third morning, he struggled to walk to my car, with his school bag in his hand of course. He raised his head high and hugged me, saying “want to go to school. Nothing will beat me.”

You know, from then on, he was never afraid of being mocked or despised anymore. If he couldn’t avoid these looks, he chose to look at them in the eyes. Later, something nice really happened and my son went to MIT. When he was asked how he managed to bear the pressure, he said, “Because of my parents.”

My dear fellows, if you care too much about how other people look at you or what their opinions are, you will never become what you want to be.

Sam and Joe were spacemen. There was once a very dangerous trip and the more experienced spacemen knew there was only a small chance of coming back alive Sam and Joe, however, thought it would be full of excitement though a little dangerous.

“We’re the best men for the job,” they said to the boss. “There may be problems, but we can find the answers.”

“They’re the last people I’d trust,” thought the boss. “But all the other spacemen have refused to go.”

Once they were in space, Joe had to go outside to make some repairs. When the repairs were done, he tried to get back inside the spaceship. But the door was locked. He knocked but there was no answer. He knocked again, louder this time, and again no answer came. Then he hit the door as hard as he could and finally a voice said. “Who’s there?” “It’s me! Who else could it be?” shouted Joe. Sam let him in but you can imagine that Joe never asked to go on a trip with Sam again!

Sam is not happy today. He doesn’t do well in his English test this time. Now he is sitting alone in his room.

Seeing this, his grandmother comes and talks to him to make him feel good. She sits down next to Sam and gives him a pencil. Sam looks at his grandmother and doesn’t take it. “Things like this are only for students who do well. I don’t do well!” Sam says.

Sam’s grandmother says, “It’s not a present for you. I want you to learn something from it. The pencil is just like you. It gets a painful sharpening(痛苦的削磨), just like how you get the pain of not doing well in your test.”

“But it will help you be a good student. See, all the good things coming from the pencil are from itself. And you too will find something good in yourself. Finally just as the pencil will make its mark (痕迹) on the paper, you will also leave your mark on anything you choose to do. Just ‘sharpen’ yourself and do well next time!”

Sam feels good right away. He plans to make a change as his grandmother says.