A college professor had his sociology class go into the Baltimore slums to get case histories of 200 young boys. They were asked to write an evaluation of each boy’s future. In every case the students wrote, “He hasn’t got a chance. Twenty-five years later another sociology professor came across the earlier study. He had his students follow up on the project to see what had happened to these boys. With the exception of 20 boys who had moved away or died, the students learned that 176 of the remaining 180 had achieved more than ordinary success as lawyers, doctors and businessmen.
The professor was astounded and decided to pursue the matter further.
Fortunately, all the men were in the area and he was able to ask each one, “How do you account for your success? In each case the reply came with feeling, “There was a teacher.
The teacher was still alive, so he sought her out and asked the old but still alert lady what magic formula she had used to pull these boys out of the slums into successful achievement.
The teacher’s eyes sparkled and her lips broke into a gentle smile. “It’s really very simple, she said. “I loved those boys.
有位教社会学的大学教授曾让自己的学生到巴尔的摩的贫民窟，调查200名男孩的成长背景和生活环境， 并对他们未来的发展做一评估，每个学生的结论都是：“他毫无出头的机会。 25年后，另一位社会学教授发现了这份研究，他叫学生做后续调查，看昔日这些男孩今天是何状况。结果根据调查，除了有20名男孩搬离或过世，剩下的180名中有176名成就非凡，其中担任律师、医生或商人的比比皆是。
这位教授在惊讶之余，决定深入调查此事。他拜访了当年曾接受调查的年轻人。
幸运的是，这些人都在同一个地区。他跟他们请教同一个问题，“你今日会成功的最大原因是什么？结果他们都不约而同地回答：“因为我遇到了一位好老师。
这位老师目前仍健在，虽然年迈，但还是耳聪目明，教授找到她后，问她到底有何绝招，能让这些在贫民窟长大的孩子个个出人头地？
这位老太太眼中闪着慈祥的光芒，嘴角带着微笑回答道：“其实也没什么，我爱这些孩子。