When he was a boy, Marco was so shy. He always hid behind his hair, which he wore long around his face and cars. To make it worse, Marco was naturally shorter than the other kids. And because his good marks had allowed him to skip to the higher grade, he was younger than everyone else. This added nothing to his already low self-confidence.

Except for his demands for excellent performances in school, communication didn’t exist. It seemed to Marco the only time his dad ever spoke to him was to be demanding or critical. Therefore, Marco sank further into his low self-confidence and felt unappreciated, depressed and confused.

One day his father, already tired after a long day, tripped over (被绊倒) Marco’s bike in the garage. He put the blame on Marco’s not placing the bike in the right way. Hearing this, Marco couldn’t bear and shouted to his father: “No matter how hard I tried, I could never do anything right!”Marco ran to his room angrily and sadly, leaving his father standing frozen there for a long time.

Two days later, his aunt called him. She said she had just seen some young teenagers participate in a public speaking contest. She thought he should give it a try. She told him she firmly believed he could perform on stage like the other kids, since she had seen his humorous performance for the family at Christmas.

Marco was extremely shocked. Him? On stage? In a public speaking contest? To agree would be contrary to his entire shy personality. But Aunt Ginette was so confident and seemed really serious. Feeling her strong belief, Marco went against everything he had ever done or felt, and agreed to enter the contest. All that winter, Marco tried his best to practice. He was taken by an energy he never felt before. However, all this seemed to bring no changes to his father. His father just feared it would take away from his homework time and impact his marks.

Four months later, the speaking contest arrived.

When Marco saw his father’s face, he found his father’s eyes shining with joy.

Sports Meeting Held in Our School

Last weekend, we joined in our first sports meeting in high school.

I believe this sports meeting will remain a precious memory for all of us.

Have you ever heard of the position “sometimes backup catcher (替补接球手)?” I hadn’t either. Until this spring.

Since childhood, I have always liked watching baseball match. I especially loved the thrill of watching the catchers grab that game-winning grand slam (大满贯球) at the final moment. I sometimes pictured myself as the catcher, with body moving as swift as a leopard to the outfield and with eyes as sharp as an eagle’s, ready to catch the ball from the pitcher(投球手) with the glove and secure those decisive points.

This spring, my parents brought me to the Centerville Youth Baseball tryouts (选拔). When it was my turn, I ran out on to the field. My parents were surprised at how quickly I returned. “How’d you do?” Dad asked. “I don’t know,” I said. “I’m not sure I’ll make the team.” “Let’s wait and see.” Mom said.

After tryouts, Coach Bull yard announced, “Positions are posted in the clubhouse.” Parents and kids stampeded to check the results.

Dad stared at the lineup list for a long time. I couldn’t get myself to look. “So, did I make the team?” I asked him finally.

“You did,” Dad replied. “It says ‘Mike Davis: sometimes backup catcher.’” What does that mean? It didn’t sound great.

We had three practices before the first game. The first day, Is at on the bench beside my friend Emily, and Coach pointed to the outfield. “Mike Davis and Emily Hall—out there. And practice!” Emily and I headed for the outfield.

During our first practice, everything seemed to be in a mess. At the second practice, I showed some improvement, but still missed several catches. I even slipped and fell as it started to rain. I heard Emily chuckle. Coach Bull yard noticed this, and came close to me, comforting, “It’s important for a catcher to catch every ball, especially the grand-slam ball. If you do your best, you’ll see the result in the game.

At home, I asked my older brother James. “Do you think Coach will ever put me in a game as a catcher?” James wrote down and calculated some numbers. Finally, he said “The likelihood that you’ll play in a game before the end of the season is as slim as finding a needle in a haystack.” He looked at me. “In other words, it probably won’t happen.”