Severe plantar fasciitis (足底筋膜炎) meant I’d been a full-time wheelchair user since I was 12. By the time I was 16, I just wanted my leg off. It took six years for the doctors to operate as they insisted on waiting until I was older and in a good enough place mentally. I held off until I finished my degree. Afterward, with a prosthetic leg (假腿) fitted, the world felt like a different place. I’d not walked in years. Suddenly I was a lot taller and no longer in any pain.

When I was in a wheelchair, I discovered a real love for sports. I started to compete in wheelchair racing, and soon found I was good at javelin and discus throwing. I started competing in Tough Mudder (an endurance event series), progressing from walking to running. I now compete in sports internationally and have won the silver medal for adaptive judo at the World Judo Games.

At the time of the surgery, I worked as an accountant, but I soon realized I didn’t want to be sitting in an office all day as I’d been in a wheelchair for so long. Therefore, as soon as the revision surgery was complete, I handed in my notice.

My career took a different path after I was asked to be a guest presenter for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards. Now I speak to schools, colleges and organizations about a wide range of subjects such as disability, discrimination, disability in sport and perseverance. I share my own personal stories, whether that’s how I lost my leg and what I learned from it, my perseverance or how I followed my dream.

Now, most of my income comes from working as a motivational speaker, which I’ve been doing full time for a year. I love what I do, and if I continue to inspire others to do what they want to in life, then I’m happy.

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JOB WANTED

I’m Black, a 25 young man living in Shanghai and looking for a job in a variety offields, web designer, teaching Spanish or English or working as a waiter or bar tender. I have a friendly personality and I'm hard working. If you have any job that you thinkI could do, please do not hesitate about contacting me: Backerl896@126.com

JOB OFFERED

EL house is a well-known English learning center for primary and high schoolstudents. We are looking for native English teachers who can teach the following subject(s) to our students who are planning to study abroad. The incumbent should fulfill the following requirements：

—Experienced in exam preparations (TOEFL, IELTS，SAT)

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—Native English teachers or Bilingual teachers with native command of English

JGHTR@gmail. Com

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I'm Margaret, looking for a person with a positive outlook on life to share the bedroom in a wonderfully-located luxury apartment. That's near everything and haseverything, hard-wood floors, international TV, washer / dryer. Other two roomsalready occupied by a French and a Kiwi women, both professional.

Please contact me. MLCT@sina.com

FOR RENT

CNY 12,000 / lovely apartment near West Nanjing Road

Layout:3 bedrooms，2 bathrooms

Size:120sqm

Monthly rental: RMB 12,000

Compound: First Block

Facilities: gym, tennis court, indoor swimming pool，children's playground

LYG2560@sohu.com

When Meglan Enz was 10 years old, she decorated her bedroom walls with posters, stickers, and pages torn from magazines of anything tied to the military. Then one day there was a fire in her grandparents’ house on the family farm in Hollister, California. Among the firefighters, there was a woman. Her head was covered with a helmet and self-contained breathing apparatus (设备). And she carried different tools. Enz was shocked.

“They let you do that?” the young Enz asked as the female firefighter approached. “You’re actually a firefighter?” “Yes,” she responded. “And I hope one day, you’ll think about it because we need a lot more women in the fire service.” And with that, the woman planted a seed in Enz’s young mind. Enz is now in her third season with CAL FIRE (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection).

While the data about the number of women in CAL FIRE only dates back to 2019, they account for about 5.5 percent of the 8,300 workforce. The job is hard for everyone — male or female. Battling wildfires requires both physical and psychological (心理的) strength. Climate change has created increasingly dry conditions across California, which has led to a rise in the intensity (强度) and time of the fires spreading across the state. Fire season now runs for as long as 10 months out of the year.

When Enz thinks back to that interaction she had as a child with the female firefighter, she realizes that moment has never left her. Recently, Enz was coming off a fire line when she met a six-year-old girl, who was very excited about seeing a female firefighter. “This is so cool,” the girl said as she looked up at Enz. Enz realized she had grown into that stranger who changed the course of her own life.