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第13章 人在旅途中 3（第2页）

ItishingtohaveabarefieldinJanuaryandinJuly。Theseasohedifference。

&hedifference：区别对待；起（重要）作用；有影响

&ioivepoleofamagieedleisjustasrealastheaofthepositivepole。

justas：同样地；正如

我们为学习而来

We'reAllHeretoLearn

佚名Anonymous

"Sixteen，"Isaid。Ihavefottehquestionmysed-gradeteacher，JoyceCooper，askedthatday，butIwillmyanswer。Assoonasthemymouth，thewholeclassatSmallwoodElementarySorfinia，startedlaughihestupidestpersonintheworld。

Mrs。Cooperfixedthemwithasternlook。Thenshesaid，"We'reallheretolearn。"

Aime，Mrs。Cooperaskedustoortaboutedtodowithourlives。Iwrote，"IwaeacherlikeMrs。Cooper。"

&eo，"Youwouldmakeanoutstandingteacherbecauseyouaredeterminedandyoutryhard。"Iwastocarrythosewordsihe27years。

AfterIgraduatedfromhighs1976，Imarriedawonderfulman，Ben，ameic。Bef，Latonyawasborn。

Weneededeverydimejusttogetby。dteagwasoutofthequestion。Idid，hoithajobinaschool—asajanitor'sassistant。Ied17satLarrymoreElmentarySchooleagMrs。Cooper's。ShehadtraoLarrymoreafterSmallwoodcloseddown。

IwouldtellMrs。CooperthatIstillwaeadshewouldrepeatthewordsshehadwritteyearsearlier。Butbillsalwaysseemedtogetinthe>

Thenonedayin1986Ithoughtofmydream，ofhowbadlyIwaohelp。ButtodothatIoarriveinthemsasateaotiomopup。

ItalkeditoverwithBenandLatonya，anditwassettled：IwouldenrollatOldDomiy。Forseveendedthemsbeforework。WhenIgothomefromwork，Istudied。OndaysIhadend，IworkedasateagassistantforMrs。Cooper。

&imesIwoherIhadthestrengthtomakeit。WhenIgotmyfirstfailialkedaboutquitting。MyyouerHeleohearit。"Youwaeacher，"shesaid。"Ifyoustop，you'llneverrea。"

Helenotgivingup—she'dbeenfighties。Wheherofusgotdown，shewouldsay，"Ytomakeit。We&#tomakeit。"

In1987，Helen，only24，diedofkidneyfailurerelatedtodiabetes。Ittometomakeitforbothofus。

OnMay8，1993，mydreamdayarrived—graduatioingmycollegedegreeaeagliseofficiallyqualifiedmetobeateacher。

Iihreeschools。AtaarySchool，priomlinsonsaid，"Yourfailiar。"ShehadworkedatLarrymoremorethan10yearsearlier。Ihadedherroom，andsherememberedme。

Still，Ihadeoffers。ThecallIhadjustsightractasajanitor'sassistant。anPlacehadajobformeteagfifthgrade。

Notloed，somethibroughtthepastrushingback。Ihadwritteenaticalerrorsontheblackboard。Thestoeahemistakes。