When I was eighteen, I couldn't wait to get my first job, which meant I made the first step toward adulthood.

    But it was difficult to get a work permit. One day I was dropped off by my parents at the1, where applicants took their physical tests for work permits. Although I had night blindness, my vision was clearer during the day, which helped me walk 2 by myself. Then the doctor began the 3. He looked into my eyes with a bright light. “I suggest your parents take you to an eye specialist,” he said, “I  4 you have a retinal(视网膜)disease. If you do, you will never 5a day in your life… ”

    My parents did take me to specialists. After much time and money spent seeking an6result，it was determined that I had an eye disease that slowly 7a person of sight. But still, during daylight, I could walk without 8. I could read, but not for hours. My eyes began to 9 and words slipped off the page when I read more than a few pages. However, no matter how tired my eyes became, I never gave up reading. I knew the 10of great writers as well as the most popular music stars. Their words were powerful, which 11 me to try writing. Soon writing brought me a lot of 12each time I completed a paper.

    Then an important phone call from an editor changed my life．An article I 13 appeared in a local newspaper. The newspaper, to my 14, continued to print my work. Next, a book series published several of my essays. I got interested in writing and 15 up with each acceptance. On the pages, readers never knew of my blindness 16I chose to present it. For me, finding my voice through writing gave me the pride and satisfaction I 17 so many years ago. Now, I have numerous essays and articles in 18.

    Should I be thanking that misguided doctor? By falsely predicting that I could never work a day, he fueled my 19 into success. He set the bar too 20 and focused on what I wouldn't be able to do. Yet I proved what I could do.

    One day, while I was walking to work, I decided to bring some flowers that I had picked from my garden that morning. On the way, I 1 a stranger and presented the bunch to him with a smile card. 2 by the sense of joy I felt from giving flowers to another person, and may be 3 his day, I wanted to do it again.

    When I got to my office, I had the 4 of anonymously(匿名地) leaving flowers around the workplace. The impersonal(无人情味的) 5 of the building where I work makes me 6 . It just feels a little boring sometimes, 7 it's a nice building with great light. I 8 lots of people might feel the same way, so why not put a little 9 there, and throw in an inspirational10 while I'm at it? After all, who doesn't like flowers?

    So, for the past month, I've been 11 flowers in a little cup on the sink in the bathroom.

    Each week, I 12 the flowers and the quote. It always feels 13 for me to read quotes like Henry David Thoreau's “If one advances 14 in the direction of his dreams, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” and Gandhi's “The fragrance(香味) always 15 on the hand that gives the rose.” If anything, I figured, it at least makes me 16 each time I visit the bathroom.

    Then today, when I walked in, I noticed 17 flowers in the cup, and a quote that someone else had written! It 18 , “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”—Gandhi. This little act 19 me that, at the end of the day, we're all just people with hearts 20 the various roles and different hats we may wear in the workplace.

    I did a little dance and I am smiling wide for the rest of the day!

    When I look at myself in the mirror, I see a person that has not only changed physically, but mentally as well. In the three years of high school， my second year was the most1one because I had to do what most teenagers would never want to do.

    It all2 in the middle of my second year in high school. One day， my dad asked me if I had ever3going to Holy Family Catholic High School which was good at preparing students for4. After many nights of careful thinking, I5to go to Holy Family. Transferring schools in the6of high school was the hardest thing for me to do,7 , it was the best decision I could have ever made.

    I was one of the8 people at my school who had had to 9transferring to a new high school as a junior. On my 10day of school at Holy Family, I didn't know what to expect. My 11kept thinking about finding all my classes, making new friends, and wondering if people could like me. To be honest, I hated uncomfortable situations, and12I would just sit there and be quiet. But this time was13for me. I thought that now that I was in a place where no one14 me， I could be whoever I wanted to be. I decided to15the schools' soccer and track teams to try to meet more people.

    The experience of transferring schools has 16affected my life in a dramatic way. It has shaped me into a more outgoing person and a harder worker,17me to achieve more than I could have imagined. The18I have gained by attending Holy Family will 19 me throughout my life. I will have to use these skills in the next couple of years while I try to further my20by going to college.

    Steve was a seventh grader, a big boy, looking more like a teenager than a 12-year-old. Yet, he went unnoticed-- he had been 1every examination since first grade—until Miss Wilma.

    In the middle of the first semester of school, the entire seventh grade was2for basic skills.

    “You all did pretty well," Miss Wilma told the class after going over the3 "except for one boy. And it4my heart to tell you this, but…" she5 ， “the smartest boy in the seventh grade is failing my class." Steve6his eyes an carefully examined his fingertips.

    After that, Steve still wouldn't do his homework. Even if Miss Wilma7punished him, he remained8.

    “Steve, please! I care about you!” 9, Steve got it! “Someone CARES ABOUT ME?!”

    One Monday a couple of weeks later, Miss Wilma gave a10on the weekend homework. Steve11through the test and was the first to hand in his paper. With a look of12 ， Miss Wilma 1ook his paper and began to look it over.

    Miss Wilma's face was in13shock! She glanced up at Steve, then14, then up. The smartest boy in the seventh grade had just passed his first test!

    From that moment, nothing was the same for Steve. He discovered that not only could he remember and understand15, but he could translate what he learned into his life. He became16.

    After high school, Steve enlisted in the Navy, and he had a(n)17military career. During his naval years, he inspired many young people who might not have 18 themselves without him. A19took place within the heart of a boy all because of one teacher, who 20 .

    Flying on a plane for the first time can be frightening. It can be extra 1 for children who have autism (自闭症). When Linda Diaz was 2 a vacation to Disney World four years ago, she wanted to make flying a 3 experience for her son, Andy, who has autism.

    She called Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport (MSP) to see what could be done. 4, the airport didn't have programs to help Andy. So Diaz 5 the family's flights and 6 drove 1, 500 miles to Orlando, Florida.

    Soon after that drive to Disney World, a program started at MSP. It is to help make flying 7 for kids like Andy. The program is called Navigating MSP. It holds 8 every month for anyone who has 9 about flying. The program is not 10 for people with autism. Airline workers help 11 get used to the airport and planes. It helps them to be less frightened of flying. When they 12 fly, they are not as worried.

    When Andy was 13 years old, his first 13 ride was planned. He went through a practice with his family. George Callow, an officer at the airport, helped the family through the safety checks. Callow said the visiting families got on a plane, 14 it was not going anywhere. It was just for them to 15.

    After the last family arrived, the pilot greeted the families over the speaker, "Welcome aboard our flight to 16." After greeting the pilot and flight attendants, passengers went to their 17. But Andy had other plans. Frightened by his new surroundings, he ran down the aisle (走廊) of the plane, 18 a way out. Volunteers suggested that Andy might be most 19 in the front row. They were 20. Once seated, Andy was quiet and kissed his mother on the face. He felt better about flying now.

    I remember the first day when I saw Sally playing basketball. I watched in wonder as she struggled her way through the crowed of boys on the playground. She seemed so

    1 but she managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net. The boys always tried to stop her 2 nobody could.

    I began to notice Sally at other times, basketball in hand, playing 3. She practiced dribbling(运球) and 4 over and over.

    One day I asked Sally why she 5 so much. Without a moment of hesitation she said, "I want to go to college. The only way I can go is to get a 6. I'm going to play college basketball and I want to be the best one. I believe if I am 7 enough, I will get one. My father has told me that if the dream is big enough, the facts don't8. "

    I 9 her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her team to 10. One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting on the grass, her head

    11 in her arms. Slowly and quietly, I walk 12 and sat down beside her. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Oh, nothing," came a soft reply, "I am just too short. " The 13 told her that at 165 cm she would probably never play for a top team -- still less she would be 14 a scholarship -- so she should stop dreaming about college.

    I felt she was extremely 15. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were 16. They didn't understand the17 of a dream.

    The next year, Sally was seen by a college basketball coach after a big game. She was 18 offered a scholarship and 19 to the college education that she had 20and worked toward for all those years.

    It's true: if the dream is big enough, the facts don't count.