The first day of school our professor introduced himself to our chemistry class and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.
She said, "Hi, handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?"
I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may!" and she gave me a giantsqueeze(挤,紧握).
"Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" I asked.
She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel."
"No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
"I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one !" she told me.
After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolatemilkshake(奶昔). We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
Over the course of the school year, Rose became a campus icon and easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attentionbestowed(使用,授予)upon her from the other students. She was living it up.
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet and I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three-by-five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a bit embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, "I'm sorry I'm sojittery(神经过敏的). I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order to let me just tell you what I know." As we laughed, she cleared her throat and began:
"We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success.
"You have to laugh and find humor each and every day.
"You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and they don't even know it!
"There is a giant difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.
"Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."
She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose." She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
At year's end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.
考生参加雅思阅读考试容易遇到的问题
雅思阅读考试的方法与技巧
雅思阅读实力提升的方法
浅谈雅思阅读中的词汇教学
雅思阅读考试拿高分的关键点
雅思阅读“完成句子题”要点分析
雅思阅读与雅思写作的关系
雅思阅读是非题讲解
雅思阅读八大题型高分全攻略
雅思阅读考试妙解分析
雅思阅读填空类题的解题技巧
雅思阅读备考:分阶段复习计划
雅思阅读题型解读:判断题的把握
雅思阅读“简短回答”解题指南
雅思阅读难题:语法词该如何处理?
雅思阅读中的相关词介绍
雅思阅读练习的捷径与方法
雅思阅读考试中的不良习惯
雅思阅读高分必备的“软硬件”
如何攻克雅思阅读单词和句子?
雅思阅读考试遇见生词不用愁
雅思阅读最具杀伤力的题型
雅思阅读的巅峰境界
雅思阅读分词难句讲解
如何定位雅思阅读信号词
雅思阅读考试的巅峰境界大解析
详解雅思阅读应具备的技能
如何提高雅思阅读完成句子准确性
雅思阅读高分的五大法则
雅思阅读真题文章:做决定的研究
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