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我有个朋友叫蒙提•罗伯兹，他在圣思多罗有个牧马场。我常借用他的房子举办募捐活动，以便为青少年冒险计划筹备基金。 上次募捐活动时，他在致辞中提到：“我让杰克借用住宅是有原因的。这故事跟一个小男孩有关,他的父亲是位驯马师，为了驯马，他从小就跟着父亲东奔西跑，从一个马厩到另一个马厩，从一条赛道到另一条赛道，从一家农场到另一家农场，从一个牧场到另一个牧场。结果，男孩的高中求学过程经常中断。高中毕业那年，有次老师叫全班同学写作文，话题是关于长大后的志愿。 "那晚他洋洋洒洒写了 7页纸，详细描述他的宏大志愿，那就是想有朝一日拥有自己的牧马场,并且画了一张200英亩牧马场的示意图，上面标有楼宇、马厩、跑道等的位置，然后在 这一大片牧场中央，还要建造一栋占地4000平方英尺的巨宅。 “他花了好大心血完成了这篇作文，第二天交给了老师。两天后他拿回了作文，第一页上 打了一个又红又大的‘F’，旁边还写了一行字‘下课后来见我。’ "满怀梦想的男孩下课后带着作文去找老师：‘为什么给我打了个"F”？’（意思是"不及格’) “老师回答道：‘你小小年纪,不要老做白日梦。你没钱，居无定所，什么都没有。拥有一家牧马场可是个花钱的大工程:你要花钱买地，花钱买纯种马匹，花钱照顾它们。你别太好高骛远了。’他接着又说：‘如果你肯重写一篇作文，里面的志愿比较实际，我会重新给你打分。’ "这男孩回家后反复思量了很久，然后征询父亲的意见。父亲告诉他：‘儿子，你必须自己拿定主意。’ “再三考虑了一周，他决定交回原稿，一个字都不改。他告诉老师：‘即使拿个“F"，我也不愿放弃梦想。 蒙提面向众人说道："我提起这故事，是因为各位现在就坐在我200英亩牧马场上占地 4000平方英尺的住宅内。"他顿了一下又说，“有意思的是，两年前的夏天，那位老师带了 30 个学生来我的牧场露营一星期。离开之前，他对我说：“蒙提，说来有些惭愧。你读高中时，我曾给你的梦想泼冷水。这些年来，我毁了不少学生的梦想。幸亏你有这个毅力坚持自己的梦想。” 不论做什么事，相信你自己，别让别人偷走你的梦想。 Follow Your Dream I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money for youth at risk programs. The last time I was there he introduced me by saying，”I want to tell you why I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up. “That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great details and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch. “He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, ‘See me after class. ’ “The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, * Why did I receive an F?’ “The teacher said, ‘This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you，II have to pay large stud fees. There's no way you could ever do it. ’ Then the teacher added，If you rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade. ’ “The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, ‘Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. “Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He stated, ‘ You can keep the F and I ’ II keep my dream. ’” Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4, 000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch.” He added, “The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week. When the teacher was leaving, he said, ‘Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up yours. ’” Don't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what. |
