Showing posts with label inspirational stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspirational stories. Show all posts
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Friday, November 1, 2013
Admirable grit...she had the support of strangers who rallied to help her
Dawn Loggins overcame abandonment and homelessness and still made straight As.
Class of 2016
Loggins is attending Harvard on a full scholarship after overcoming poverty and homelessness.
She was abandoned by her parents when she was in high school and found herself homeless and helpless. The people in her community rallied around her, offering her food, shelter, and support.
During this time, she channeled her energy into her schoolwork and activities: she participated in her high school's band club, photography club, cross-country team, and National Honor Society. She also scrubbed floors as a janitor at Burns to earn extra money—all while making straight A's.
Now a freshman at Harvard, Loggins has started her own non-profit to help other students in disadvantaged situations find success. Her organization has so far raised over $35,000 to give others the opportunities to which they might not otherwise have access.
Loggins is attending Harvard on a full scholarship after overcoming poverty and homelessness.
She was abandoned by her parents when she was in high school and found herself homeless and helpless. The people in her community rallied around her, offering her food, shelter, and support.
During this time, she channeled her energy into her schoolwork and activities: she participated in her high school's band club, photography club, cross-country team, and National Honor Society. She also scrubbed floors as a janitor at Burns to earn extra money—all while making straight A's.
Now a freshman at Harvard, Loggins has started her own non-profit to help other students in disadvantaged situations find success. Her organization has so far raised over $35,000 to give others the opportunities to which they might not otherwise have access.
Everything happens for a reason
Shree Bose is making breakthroughs in cancer research.
Shree Bose
Bose made a breakthrough in cancer research when she was still in high school — and it earned her national acclaim and praise from President Obama, who twice publicly recognized her achievements.
After watching her grandfather struggle with liver cancer, Bose was determined to help out in any way she could. So she chose to study the protein AMP kinase and its reaction with the chemotherapy drug Cisplatin. She noticed that when she inhibited this protein, Cisplatin was allowed to begin destroying cancer cells.
Her work with the cancer drug Cisplatin won her first prize at the Google Science Fair last year and recognition as one of Glamour magazine's Young Amazing Women of the Year.
Now a freshman at Harvard, Bose is planning to study molecular biology. Eventually, she would like to go to medical school to become a physician.
So what's stopping you?
David Boone overcame homelessness and gang violence for a full scholarship to Harvard.
Courtesy of Minds Matter of Cleveland
Boone overcame difficult obstacles — including homelessness and gang violence — to get to Harvard.
The freshman from Cleveland said that gang members burned down his home when he refused to join them. While homeless, Boone devoted himself to his studies and to productive extracurricular activities, which earned him a spot in Harvard.
Boone is attending Harvard on a full Gates Millennial Scholarship.
This semester Boone is taking courses in Mandarin Chinese, expository writing, computer science, history and calculus. He said that he sometimes spends up to 40 hours a week on work for his computer science class alone.
Boone has applied for summer jobs at Google, Microsoft and the Eaton Corp, and before he graduates wants to study abroad in Shanghai or Beijing to learn about Chinese culture and economy.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
if not now, sometime in the future - u can make your dreams come true,,,believe in yourself
Here's some inspiration for dejected O-level students, courtesy of a man whose teacher once told him he was hopeless.
You're too naughty, his English teacher in Changkat Changi Secondary School told him 30 years ago. You're not good enough for this school.
Go to a vocational institute (the forerunner to the Institute of Technical Education) instead.
Instead of being demoralised and feeling inferior, homegrown entrepreneur Jason Sim, 45, became even more determined to prove that teacher wrong.
Today, through hard work, foresight and some luck, his company - Jason Parquet - is one of the leaders in timber flooring here, with an annual revenue of between $28 million to $30 million.
You're too naughty, his English teacher in Changkat Changi Secondary School told him 30 years ago. You're not good enough for this school.
Go to a vocational institute (the forerunner to the Institute of Technical Education) instead.
Instead of being demoralised and feeling inferior, homegrown entrepreneur Jason Sim, 45, became even more determined to prove that teacher wrong.
Today, through hard work, foresight and some luck, his company - Jason Parquet - is one of the leaders in timber flooring here, with an annual revenue of between $28 million to $30 million.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
love them, not FOR who they are, but DESPITE who they are
Michelle came from a poor family. Her mother was struggling, working in several homes. They had to go to bed on an empty stomach many times in a week. Her brother worked but barely made enough for himself. Michelle’s greatest wish was to study so that she could get out of the rut and lift her mum out of the daily grind and misery that she had grown accustomed to.
When Michelle did well in her ‘O’ Levels, her mother was overjoyed. She was not educated but she had always dreamt of seeing Michelle through to University. Michelle’s aunts, though well-meaning, were not too pleased. They were unhappy when she went on to do her ‘A’ levels and livid when she said she was going to the University. They felt she was being selfish. Her oldest aunt, the most vocal and brutally blunt of the sisters told Michelle, in no uncertain terms, that she ought to work and ease her mother’s burden.
Michelle had no doubt in her mind that her aunt wanted the best for her sister- Michelle’s mum- but was looking at short term solutions. She assured her aunt that her mother will live like a queen, when she completes her studies.
Of course, Michelle went on to excel and earn more than any of her relatives did. And she kept her word where her mother was concerned.
But she still harboured some ill-feeling about her aunts who did not want her to continue her studies and made no bones of the fact that they felt she was being selfish. Michelle’s mum – in her quiet wisdom merely had this to say…
They meant well. They wanted me to be happy. Don’t be angry with them. Show them love; show them they were wrong but by doing for them what their own children do not do for them. So Michelle, not only showed them her respect and love; she gave them some money each time she saw them- they never said much; but she could see from their eyes, that she had proved her point…not through harsh words and “one-upmanship”….through love and kindness.
Her aunts have passed on now…and she often thinks about them…very sure that they are pleased to see their sister living like a queen.
moral of the story - our elders may not always be right - but they mean well , in their limited wisdom...be kind to them
When Michelle did well in her ‘O’ Levels, her mother was overjoyed. She was not educated but she had always dreamt of seeing Michelle through to University. Michelle’s aunts, though well-meaning, were not too pleased. They were unhappy when she went on to do her ‘A’ levels and livid when she said she was going to the University. They felt she was being selfish. Her oldest aunt, the most vocal and brutally blunt of the sisters told Michelle, in no uncertain terms, that she ought to work and ease her mother’s burden.
Michelle had no doubt in her mind that her aunt wanted the best for her sister- Michelle’s mum- but was looking at short term solutions. She assured her aunt that her mother will live like a queen, when she completes her studies.
Of course, Michelle went on to excel and earn more than any of her relatives did. And she kept her word where her mother was concerned.
But she still harboured some ill-feeling about her aunts who did not want her to continue her studies and made no bones of the fact that they felt she was being selfish. Michelle’s mum – in her quiet wisdom merely had this to say…
They meant well. They wanted me to be happy. Don’t be angry with them. Show them love; show them they were wrong but by doing for them what their own children do not do for them. So Michelle, not only showed them her respect and love; she gave them some money each time she saw them- they never said much; but she could see from their eyes, that she had proved her point…not through harsh words and “one-upmanship”….through love and kindness.
Her aunts have passed on now…and she often thinks about them…very sure that they are pleased to see their sister living like a queen.
moral of the story - our elders may not always be right - but they mean well , in their limited wisdom...be kind to them
Monday, August 9, 2010
find that gift within you...
The story of Ben Carson…
Benjamin Solomon Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan. His mother, Sonya Carson, one of 24 children, had dropped out of school in the third grade. She later married Robert Solomon Carson, a much older Baptist minister from Tennessee, when she was only thirteen.
As a result of having only a third grade education, Sonya Carson never learned how to read and could not help Ben and his older brother, Curtis, with their schoolwork. When Carson was only eight, his parents divorced, and Mrs. Carson was left to raise Benjamin and Curtis on her own. She worked at two, sometimes three, jobs at a time to provide for her boys.
Later, Ben Carson experienced difficulty in school, eventually falling to the bottom of his class. He became the object of name-calling and subsequently developed a violent, uncontrollable temper.
Determined to turn her son's life around, Carson's mother limited his television-watching and refused to let him go outside to play until he had finished his homework each day. She required him to read two library books a week and to give her written reports on his reading, even though, with her own poor education, she could barely read what he had written. Carson soon amazed his instructors and classmates with his improvement.
"It was at that moment that I realized I wasn't stupid," he recalled later. Carson continued to amaze his classmates with his new-found knowledge and within a year he was at the top of his class.
After determining that he wanted to be a psychiatrist, Carson graduated with honors from high school and attended Yale University, where he earned a degree in Psychology. From Yale, he went to the Medical School of the University of Michigan, where his interest shifted from psychiatry to neurosurgery.
His excellent hand-eye coordination and three-dimensional reasoning skills made him a superior surgeon. After medical school, he became a neurosurgery resident at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. At the age of 33, he became director of Pediatric Neurosurgery
believe you can..
Benjamin Solomon Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan. His mother, Sonya Carson, one of 24 children, had dropped out of school in the third grade. She later married Robert Solomon Carson, a much older Baptist minister from Tennessee, when she was only thirteen.
As a result of having only a third grade education, Sonya Carson never learned how to read and could not help Ben and his older brother, Curtis, with their schoolwork. When Carson was only eight, his parents divorced, and Mrs. Carson was left to raise Benjamin and Curtis on her own. She worked at two, sometimes three, jobs at a time to provide for her boys.
Later, Ben Carson experienced difficulty in school, eventually falling to the bottom of his class. He became the object of name-calling and subsequently developed a violent, uncontrollable temper.
Determined to turn her son's life around, Carson's mother limited his television-watching and refused to let him go outside to play until he had finished his homework each day. She required him to read two library books a week and to give her written reports on his reading, even though, with her own poor education, she could barely read what he had written. Carson soon amazed his instructors and classmates with his improvement.
"It was at that moment that I realized I wasn't stupid," he recalled later. Carson continued to amaze his classmates with his new-found knowledge and within a year he was at the top of his class.
After determining that he wanted to be a psychiatrist, Carson graduated with honors from high school and attended Yale University, where he earned a degree in Psychology. From Yale, he went to the Medical School of the University of Michigan, where his interest shifted from psychiatry to neurosurgery.
His excellent hand-eye coordination and three-dimensional reasoning skills made him a superior surgeon. After medical school, he became a neurosurgery resident at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. At the age of 33, he became director of Pediatric Neurosurgery
believe you can..
Saturday, August 7, 2010
6 BELIEVE YOU CAN
Try It a Different Way
Bobby Moresco grew up in New York's Hell's Kitchen, a tough working-class neighborhood on Manhattan's West Side. But Hell's Kitchen lies right next door to Broadway, and the bright lights attracted Bobby from the time he was a teen. Being stagestruck was hardly what a street kid could admit to his buddies. Fearing their ridicule, he told no one, not even his girlfriend, when he started taking acting lessons at age 17. If you were a kid from the neighborhood, you became a cop, construction worker, longshoreman or criminal. Not an actor. Moresco struggled to make that long walk a few blocks east. He studied acting, turned out for all the cattle calls -- and during the decade of the 1970s made a total of $2,000. "I wasn't a good actor, but I had a driving need to do something different with my life," he says.
He moved to Hollywood, where he drove a cab and worked as a bartender. "My father said, 'Stop this craziness and get a job; you have a wife and daughter.' " But Moresco kept working at his chosen craft. Then in 1983 his younger brother Thomas was murdered in a mob-linked killing. Moresco moved back to his old neighborhood and started writing as a way to explore the pain and the patrimony of Hell's Kitchen. Half-Deserted Streets, based on his brother's killing, opened at a small Off-Broadway theater in 1988. A Hollywood producer saw it and asked him to work on a screenplay.
His reputation grew, and he got enough assignments to move back to Hollywood. By 2003, he was again out of work and out of cash when he got a call from Paul Haggis, a director who had befriended him. Haggis wanted help writing a film about the country after September 11. The two worked on the script, but every studio in town turned it down. They kept pitching it. Studio execs, however, thought no one wanted to see a stark, honest vision of race and fear and lives in collision in modern America. Moresco believed so strongly in the script that he borrowed money, sold his house. He and Haggis kept pushing. At last the writers found an independent film producer who would take a chance, but the upfront money was so meager, Moresco deferred his salary.
Crash slipped into the theaters in May 2005, and quietly became both a smash hit and a critical success. It was nominated for six Academy Awards and won three -- Best Picture, Best Film Editing and Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Paul Haggis and the kid from Hell's Kitchen. At age 54, Bobby Moresco became an overnight success. "If you have something you want to do in life, don't think about the problems," he says, "think about the ways to get it done."
Bobby Moresco grew up in New York's Hell's Kitchen, a tough working-class neighborhood on Manhattan's West Side. But Hell's Kitchen lies right next door to Broadway, and the bright lights attracted Bobby from the time he was a teen. Being stagestruck was hardly what a street kid could admit to his buddies. Fearing their ridicule, he told no one, not even his girlfriend, when he started taking acting lessons at age 17. If you were a kid from the neighborhood, you became a cop, construction worker, longshoreman or criminal. Not an actor. Moresco struggled to make that long walk a few blocks east. He studied acting, turned out for all the cattle calls -- and during the decade of the 1970s made a total of $2,000. "I wasn't a good actor, but I had a driving need to do something different with my life," he says.
He moved to Hollywood, where he drove a cab and worked as a bartender. "My father said, 'Stop this craziness and get a job; you have a wife and daughter.' " But Moresco kept working at his chosen craft. Then in 1983 his younger brother Thomas was murdered in a mob-linked killing. Moresco moved back to his old neighborhood and started writing as a way to explore the pain and the patrimony of Hell's Kitchen. Half-Deserted Streets, based on his brother's killing, opened at a small Off-Broadway theater in 1988. A Hollywood producer saw it and asked him to work on a screenplay.
His reputation grew, and he got enough assignments to move back to Hollywood. By 2003, he was again out of work and out of cash when he got a call from Paul Haggis, a director who had befriended him. Haggis wanted help writing a film about the country after September 11. The two worked on the script, but every studio in town turned it down. They kept pitching it. Studio execs, however, thought no one wanted to see a stark, honest vision of race and fear and lives in collision in modern America. Moresco believed so strongly in the script that he borrowed money, sold his house. He and Haggis kept pushing. At last the writers found an independent film producer who would take a chance, but the upfront money was so meager, Moresco deferred his salary.
Crash slipped into the theaters in May 2005, and quietly became both a smash hit and a critical success. It was nominated for six Academy Awards and won three -- Best Picture, Best Film Editing and Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Paul Haggis and the kid from Hell's Kitchen. At age 54, Bobby Moresco became an overnight success. "If you have something you want to do in life, don't think about the problems," he says, "think about the ways to get it done."
5 BELIEVE YOU CAN
Forget It -- Do Something Practical
The 16-year-old schoolgirl dreamed of a profession studying wildlife in Africa, but the school's career counselor was "horrified" at this impractical idea. She thought taking pictures of people's pets would "make a nice little career." But Jane's mother said, "If you really want something, you work hard enough, you take advantage of opportunities, you never give up and you will find a way."
Never giving up meant traveling to the other side of the earth. It meant enduring physical hardship in the mountains of Tanzania. And it meant surviving a raid in which rebels captured people who worked with her and held them for ransom. All survived, and so did Jane Goodall's dream.
Her research documented the complex social behavior of chimpanzees -- animals that greet one another with a kiss or a hug, and make and use tools. Dr. Jane Goodall became known worldwide, and she changed the way we think about these remarkable creatures, all by doing the impractical.
The 16-year-old schoolgirl dreamed of a profession studying wildlife in Africa, but the school's career counselor was "horrified" at this impractical idea. She thought taking pictures of people's pets would "make a nice little career." But Jane's mother said, "If you really want something, you work hard enough, you take advantage of opportunities, you never give up and you will find a way."
Never giving up meant traveling to the other side of the earth. It meant enduring physical hardship in the mountains of Tanzania. And it meant surviving a raid in which rebels captured people who worked with her and held them for ransom. All survived, and so did Jane Goodall's dream.
Her research documented the complex social behavior of chimpanzees -- animals that greet one another with a kiss or a hug, and make and use tools. Dr. Jane Goodall became known worldwide, and she changed the way we think about these remarkable creatures, all by doing the impractical.
5 BELIEVE YOU CAN
Forget It -- Do Something Practical
The 16-year-old schoolgirl dreamed of a profession studying wildlife in Africa, but the school's career counselor was "horrified" at this impractical idea. She thought taking pictures of people's pets would "make a nice little career." But Jane's mother said, "If you really want something, you work hard enough, you take advantage of opportunities, you never give up and you will find a way."
Never giving up meant traveling to the other side of the earth. It meant enduring physical hardship in the mountains of Tanzania. And it meant surviving a raid in which rebels captured people who worked with her and held them for ransom. All survived, and so did Jane Goodall's dream.
Her research documented the complex social behavior of chimpanzees -- animals that greet one another with a kiss or a hug, and make and use tools. Dr. Jane Goodall became known worldwide, and she changed the way we think about these remarkable creatures, all by doing the impractical.
The 16-year-old schoolgirl dreamed of a profession studying wildlife in Africa, but the school's career counselor was "horrified" at this impractical idea. She thought taking pictures of people's pets would "make a nice little career." But Jane's mother said, "If you really want something, you work hard enough, you take advantage of opportunities, you never give up and you will find a way."
Never giving up meant traveling to the other side of the earth. It meant enduring physical hardship in the mountains of Tanzania. And it meant surviving a raid in which rebels captured people who worked with her and held them for ransom. All survived, and so did Jane Goodall's dream.
Her research documented the complex social behavior of chimpanzees -- animals that greet one another with a kiss or a hug, and make and use tools. Dr. Jane Goodall became known worldwide, and she changed the way we think about these remarkable creatures, all by doing the impractical.
4 BELIEVE YOU CAN
If You're Not Dead, You Can Get Better
Randy Kraus was paralyzed. His left side was useless. But his right hand was good enough to lift the barrel of a .38 to his temple. Once, he'd been a police officer in Fresno, California, and owned a private-eye agency. Once, he'd been strong and able. Now, he felt he was nothing. His trouble started with Parkinson's disease, but it didn't end there. In July 2002, the 60-year-old Kraus went into the hospital for an operation that implanted electrodes in his brain to control the shaking. But during the operation, he had a stroke. He was paralyzed. The cop, the tough guy, the man who loved golf, "could think, but couldn't move."
Transferred to a rehab hospital, Kraus wanted the therapists to give it to him straight. "You may never walk again," they told him. "Maybe you won't even be able to talk." Once home, he found he couldn't lift a fork or take a drink by himself. Physical therapy was so painful and slow. What did he have to live for? So now Kraus held the gun against his head. Feeling the cold metal on his skin, he began to consider not his pain, but the pain he would cause his wife, daughters and grandchildren. He didn't pull the trigger. And his exercise physiologist, Andrew Garud, didn't pull any punches with him. You are where you are, he told him. The pace would be slow; the pain would be real. "But as long as you are alive, you have the ability to get better."
After three months of working with Garud, Kraus wanted to see if he could stand. He could. Then he took three steps, sat down and cried like a baby. One step, as they say, led to another. Next he managed a short walk along the edge of a boxing ring in the health club where they worked out. It was the hardest fight of Kraus's life
People at the gym cheered him on. Garud kept saying he could do more. Now, Kraus can brush his teeth and shave himself, get around the house with a walker. Little triumphs only the paralyzed can fully understand.
Randy Kraus was paralyzed. His left side was useless. But his right hand was good enough to lift the barrel of a .38 to his temple. Once, he'd been a police officer in Fresno, California, and owned a private-eye agency. Once, he'd been strong and able. Now, he felt he was nothing. His trouble started with Parkinson's disease, but it didn't end there. In July 2002, the 60-year-old Kraus went into the hospital for an operation that implanted electrodes in his brain to control the shaking. But during the operation, he had a stroke. He was paralyzed. The cop, the tough guy, the man who loved golf, "could think, but couldn't move."
Transferred to a rehab hospital, Kraus wanted the therapists to give it to him straight. "You may never walk again," they told him. "Maybe you won't even be able to talk." Once home, he found he couldn't lift a fork or take a drink by himself. Physical therapy was so painful and slow. What did he have to live for? So now Kraus held the gun against his head. Feeling the cold metal on his skin, he began to consider not his pain, but the pain he would cause his wife, daughters and grandchildren. He didn't pull the trigger. And his exercise physiologist, Andrew Garud, didn't pull any punches with him. You are where you are, he told him. The pace would be slow; the pain would be real. "But as long as you are alive, you have the ability to get better."
After three months of working with Garud, Kraus wanted to see if he could stand. He could. Then he took three steps, sat down and cried like a baby. One step, as they say, led to another. Next he managed a short walk along the edge of a boxing ring in the health club where they worked out. It was the hardest fight of Kraus's life
People at the gym cheered him on. Garud kept saying he could do more. Now, Kraus can brush his teeth and shave himself, get around the house with a walker. Little triumphs only the paralyzed can fully understand.
3 BELIEVE YOU CAN
"There's Gotta Be a Better Way"
Joy Mangano was 33 and divorced, had three kids under age 7, and was barely keeping up payments on her small two-bedroom home by working extra weekend hours as a waitress. "There were times when I would lie in bed and think, I don't know how I'm going to pay that bill," Mangano says. But she had a knack for seeing the obvious. She knew firsthand how hard it was to mop the floor. "I was tired of bending down, putting my hands in dirty water, wringing out a mop," Mangano says. "So, I said, 'There's gotta be a better way.' "
How about a "self-wringing" mop? She designed a distinctive tool you could twist in two directions at once, and still keep your hands clean and dry. She set out to sell it, first a few at flea markets. Then Mangano met with the media. But would couch potatoes buy a mop? The experts on shopping TV were less than certain. They gave it a try, and it failed. Mangano was sure it would sell if they'd let her do the on-camera demonstration. "Brave little me. I said, 'Get me on that stage, and I will sell this mop because it's a great item.' "
So QVC took a chance on her. "I got onstage and the phones went crazy. We sold every mop in minutes." Today she's president of Ingenious Designs, a multimillion-dollar company, and one of the stars of HSN, the Home Shopping Network. Talking about her household inventions is "as natural for me as it is for a parent to talk about their child," Mangano says. Today one of her favorite products is Huggable Hangers. The thin, space-saving implements are the most successful gadget ever sold on HSN, with 100 million hanging out there in closets across the country. Of course, you couldn't possibly sell hangers on TV.
Joy Mangano was 33 and divorced, had three kids under age 7, and was barely keeping up payments on her small two-bedroom home by working extra weekend hours as a waitress. "There were times when I would lie in bed and think, I don't know how I'm going to pay that bill," Mangano says. But she had a knack for seeing the obvious. She knew firsthand how hard it was to mop the floor. "I was tired of bending down, putting my hands in dirty water, wringing out a mop," Mangano says. "So, I said, 'There's gotta be a better way.' "
How about a "self-wringing" mop? She designed a distinctive tool you could twist in two directions at once, and still keep your hands clean and dry. She set out to sell it, first a few at flea markets. Then Mangano met with the media. But would couch potatoes buy a mop? The experts on shopping TV were less than certain. They gave it a try, and it failed. Mangano was sure it would sell if they'd let her do the on-camera demonstration. "Brave little me. I said, 'Get me on that stage, and I will sell this mop because it's a great item.' "
So QVC took a chance on her. "I got onstage and the phones went crazy. We sold every mop in minutes." Today she's president of Ingenious Designs, a multimillion-dollar company, and one of the stars of HSN, the Home Shopping Network. Talking about her household inventions is "as natural for me as it is for a parent to talk about their child," Mangano says. Today one of her favorite products is Huggable Hangers. The thin, space-saving implements are the most successful gadget ever sold on HSN, with 100 million hanging out there in closets across the country. Of course, you couldn't possibly sell hangers on TV.
2 BELIEVE YOU CAN
Dumb Kids Can't Jump
"Too dumb. You'll never graduate from high school," his elementary school teacher told seven-year-old Adam Zimmerman. Sure enough, he "failed" and was held back a grade. Being left behind by friends made him feel like "trash." But his teacher's cutting comment changed his life. It transformed a kid with dyslexia into a person driven to succeed. "Just because one person says something, don't take their word," his mother told him. "Go out and prove them wrong. It's not about the disability; it's what you do about it." Zimmerman did graduate from high school, and at 5'7" he excelled in two sports he was considered too small for: basketball and volleyball. He was MVP and All Conference in both.
That still wasn't enough to earn him a big-time college scholarship. So he went to a Division II school and worked on his game. And though a coach told him he'd never be a Division I basketball player, in his sophomore year he transferred to Marshall University in West Virginia, a Division I school. And he practiced and practiced. The following year he made the team as a walk-on player. This May, the dumb kid who was too short graduated with a degree in sports management and marketing.
When he thinks back to that grade school teacher, he says, "I thank her for saying that. It's unbelievable how a person's words can stick in the back of your mind and push you to be more than what they say you can be."
"Too dumb. You'll never graduate from high school," his elementary school teacher told seven-year-old Adam Zimmerman. Sure enough, he "failed" and was held back a grade. Being left behind by friends made him feel like "trash." But his teacher's cutting comment changed his life. It transformed a kid with dyslexia into a person driven to succeed. "Just because one person says something, don't take their word," his mother told him. "Go out and prove them wrong. It's not about the disability; it's what you do about it." Zimmerman did graduate from high school, and at 5'7" he excelled in two sports he was considered too small for: basketball and volleyball. He was MVP and All Conference in both.
That still wasn't enough to earn him a big-time college scholarship. So he went to a Division II school and worked on his game. And though a coach told him he'd never be a Division I basketball player, in his sophomore year he transferred to Marshall University in West Virginia, a Division I school. And he practiced and practiced. The following year he made the team as a walk-on player. This May, the dumb kid who was too short graduated with a degree in sports management and marketing.
When he thinks back to that grade school teacher, he says, "I thank her for saying that. It's unbelievable how a person's words can stick in the back of your mind and push you to be more than what they say you can be."
1 BELIEVE YOU CAN
Too Short, Can't Sing
The adolescent girl from Tennessee is standing on the stage of a drama summer camp in upstate New York. It's a beautiful day. But the girl doesn't feel beautiful. She's not the leggy, glamorous Hollywood type. In fact, she describes herself as dorky. Since she was six years old, Reese Witherspoon has wanted to be a country singer. And Dolly Parton is her idol. But this flat-chested wisp of a girl is no Dolly Parton.
Nevertheless, all of this summer she's been acting, dancing and singing -- giving it her best. Despite three years of lessons, at the end of camp her coaches tell her to forget about singing. They suggest she think about another career. If Reese did have talent, it was hiding under her skinny, mousy frame and her Coke-bottle glasses. Still, she takes their words to heart. After all, why shouldn't she believe the professionals?
But back at home in Nashville, her mother, a pediatric nurse -- a funny, happy, upbeat person -- wouldn't let her mope. Her father, a physician, encouraged her to achieve in school. So she worked hard at everything and was accepted at Stanford University. And at age 19, she got a part in a low-budget movie called Freeway. That led to a substantial role in the movie Pleasantville. But her big break came with Legally Blonde.
Well, she decided, if you can't sing and you aren't glamorous, "play to your strengths. If you're going to make it in this business, it's not going to be on sexy -- that's not who you are. Better focus on what you're good at. Celebrate yourself." And then came the offer that took her back to her Nashville roots -- playing the wife of tormented country star Johnny Cash. A singing role. All of a sudden the old fears were back. She was so nervous on the set, a reporter wrote, she "kept a sick bucket" nearby and admitted she "would go backstage after a singing scene and shake." But she didn't give up on the movie or herself.
The humor and drive she learned at home overcame the self-doubt learned on that summer stage. She spent six months taking singing lessons again. She learned to play the Autoharp. And the hard work built up her confidence. Last March, Reese Witherspoon walked up on another stage, the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, and accepted the Oscar as Best Actress for her heartbreaking, heartwarming singing role as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line.
The adolescent girl from Tennessee is standing on the stage of a drama summer camp in upstate New York. It's a beautiful day. But the girl doesn't feel beautiful. She's not the leggy, glamorous Hollywood type. In fact, she describes herself as dorky. Since she was six years old, Reese Witherspoon has wanted to be a country singer. And Dolly Parton is her idol. But this flat-chested wisp of a girl is no Dolly Parton.
Nevertheless, all of this summer she's been acting, dancing and singing -- giving it her best. Despite three years of lessons, at the end of camp her coaches tell her to forget about singing. They suggest she think about another career. If Reese did have talent, it was hiding under her skinny, mousy frame and her Coke-bottle glasses. Still, she takes their words to heart. After all, why shouldn't she believe the professionals?
But back at home in Nashville, her mother, a pediatric nurse -- a funny, happy, upbeat person -- wouldn't let her mope. Her father, a physician, encouraged her to achieve in school. So she worked hard at everything and was accepted at Stanford University. And at age 19, she got a part in a low-budget movie called Freeway. That led to a substantial role in the movie Pleasantville. But her big break came with Legally Blonde.
Well, she decided, if you can't sing and you aren't glamorous, "play to your strengths. If you're going to make it in this business, it's not going to be on sexy -- that's not who you are. Better focus on what you're good at. Celebrate yourself." And then came the offer that took her back to her Nashville roots -- playing the wife of tormented country star Johnny Cash. A singing role. All of a sudden the old fears were back. She was so nervous on the set, a reporter wrote, she "kept a sick bucket" nearby and admitted she "would go backstage after a singing scene and shake." But she didn't give up on the movie or herself.
The humor and drive she learned at home overcame the self-doubt learned on that summer stage. She spent six months taking singing lessons again. She learned to play the Autoharp. And the hard work built up her confidence. Last March, Reese Witherspoon walked up on another stage, the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, and accepted the Oscar as Best Actress for her heartbreaking, heartwarming singing role as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
just something i read
Crisis. “Crisis” in Chinese is one word. “Crisis” in Chinese means, on the one side, a real crisis problems etc., but the other side means great opportunity.
well...
some very wiseman...had to be chinese of course...saw opportunity in problems
think some of you are feeling down abt your block test results...
not crisis level of course, but ...well...THERE IS TIME
how hard you work will determine how well you do....do you agree?
yes..but not always - there is luck, connections, having a lenient or drunk examiner, easy paper....
but folks - you dont want to depend on these factors...
so - pl - you could work smart
but i advice you to
BE SMART AND WORK HARD...
there is a malay saying
cant remember what it is...but it means
suffer now and enjoy later...
well...
some very wiseman...had to be chinese of course...saw opportunity in problems
think some of you are feeling down abt your block test results...
not crisis level of course, but ...well...THERE IS TIME
how hard you work will determine how well you do....do you agree?
yes..but not always - there is luck, connections, having a lenient or drunk examiner, easy paper....
but folks - you dont want to depend on these factors...
so - pl - you could work smart
but i advice you to
BE SMART AND WORK HARD...
there is a malay saying
cant remember what it is...but it means
suffer now and enjoy later...
Sunday, April 4, 2010
the secret is out
so i thought you better hear this from me
click on the link
http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1270142907469RA37
click on the link
http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1270142907469RA37
Thursday, April 1, 2010
YOUR THOUGHTS YOUR BELIEFS YOUR ACTIONS ...HELP CREATE YOUR REALITY
By at least one measure England’s Jamie Oliver is the most popular chef in the world. Such an accomplishment is no small feat for a dyslexic 34-year-old son of publicans nor for someone who dropped out of school at 16 to attend catering college. Today Oliver can boast of having launched several restaurants, authored at least a dozen cookbooks, created the O-like magazine Jamie, starred in countless TV series, served as a pitchman for British grocery giant Sainsbury’s, and amassed a personal fortune estimated at more than $60 million.
WARNING...LOGANISM
THIS IS WHAT I MEAN BY...
1 LIVING YOUR DREAM...DOING WHAT YOU LIKE
2 NEVER GIVE UP ON YOURSELF AND NEVER LOSE HOPE...FOR WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES, LOOK FOR ANOTHER DOOR THAT IS GOING TO MAKE YOU HAPPIER
WARNING...LOGANISM
THIS IS WHAT I MEAN BY...
1 LIVING YOUR DREAM...DOING WHAT YOU LIKE
2 NEVER GIVE UP ON YOURSELF AND NEVER LOSE HOPE...FOR WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES, LOOK FOR ANOTHER DOOR THAT IS GOING TO MAKE YOU HAPPIER
Thursday, March 25, 2010
LOGANISM
TODAY IS TOMORROW’S YESTERDAY
SO MAKE TODAY AS BEAUTIFUL AS YOU CAN
SO THAT YOUR YESTERDAYS ARE WORTH REMINISCING
AND YOUR TOMORROWS WILL BE SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO
SO MAKE TODAY AS BEAUTIFUL AS YOU CAN
SO THAT YOUR YESTERDAYS ARE WORTH REMINISCING
AND YOUR TOMORROWS WILL BE SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
thought for today
strength is measured
not by how fast we can run
or how much we can lift
it is measured by how we handle ourselves in adversity
when i saw my neighbour's two year old
lose her hair and become stick thin from chemotherapy
i couldnt bear to look at her
but there was something about this tiny toddler that i admired so much
- that we all can learn from...
she never stopped smiling...even at her weakest, WHEN SHE COULD HARDLY LIFT HER HEAD UP, she mustered a faint smile
when i see students groan and moan and sulk
i think - "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, MAN?"
AND I AM USUALLY RIGHT...THERE IS NO PROBLEM - THAT'S THE PROBLEM
it makes me wonder how they would react to a problem as big as the one the little girl went through
well...back to the quote...when you do have a problem
you have two choices (a lot more, actually...according to your compre passage)
to wallow in self-pity, give others problems and cop out
OR
to face it, overcome it and be a better person who has learnt from life's experiences so that you can enrich others
well, my neighbour's little girl is now 5
with beautiful curly hair
and the same beautiful smile
and after what she has gone through..AND TRIUMPHED
i can only say to you
WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, MAN?
AND IN COMMON PARLANCE, NS LINGO...
WAKE UP YOUR IDEAS
not by how fast we can run
or how much we can lift
it is measured by how we handle ourselves in adversity
when i saw my neighbour's two year old
lose her hair and become stick thin from chemotherapy
i couldnt bear to look at her
but there was something about this tiny toddler that i admired so much
- that we all can learn from...
she never stopped smiling...even at her weakest, WHEN SHE COULD HARDLY LIFT HER HEAD UP, she mustered a faint smile
when i see students groan and moan and sulk
i think - "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, MAN?"
AND I AM USUALLY RIGHT...THERE IS NO PROBLEM - THAT'S THE PROBLEM
it makes me wonder how they would react to a problem as big as the one the little girl went through
well...back to the quote...when you do have a problem
you have two choices (a lot more, actually...according to your compre passage)
to wallow in self-pity, give others problems and cop out
OR
to face it, overcome it and be a better person who has learnt from life's experiences so that you can enrich others
well, my neighbour's little girl is now 5
with beautiful curly hair
and the same beautiful smile
and after what she has gone through..AND TRIUMPHED
i can only say to you
WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, MAN?
AND IN COMMON PARLANCE, NS LINGO...
WAKE UP YOUR IDEAS
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
FOR A MORE BALANCED VIEW OF THE "ALLAH ISSUE"
Dr Mohamed Rafick Khan Abdul Rahman, 45, decided to help the Metro Tabernacle Church after learning about the attack early last Friday. The ground floor of the church was gutted by the fire.
He said the response had been good, with donations coming from as far away as Britain and Europe, The Star reported yesterday. Most of the donors were his blog readers and their friends.
'People from all walks of life responded to this call to help the church, and 33 per cent were Muslim Malays,' he said.
Among them was a Malay farmer who wanted to sell his goat to donate money to the fund, Dr Mohamed said, after handing a cheque for RM8,467 to the church on Tuesday.
Dr Mohamed said he wanted to send a strong message that there were many level-headed Muslims who could differentiate between right and wrong.
'As a Muslim, I was taught to respect the rights of others and their religion. We are supposed to protect the weak, the poor and even the interests of non-Muslims,' he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times (NST).
He said the response had been good, with donations coming from as far away as Britain and Europe, The Star reported yesterday. Most of the donors were his blog readers and their friends.
'People from all walks of life responded to this call to help the church, and 33 per cent were Muslim Malays,' he said.
Among them was a Malay farmer who wanted to sell his goat to donate money to the fund, Dr Mohamed said, after handing a cheque for RM8,467 to the church on Tuesday.
Dr Mohamed said he wanted to send a strong message that there were many level-headed Muslims who could differentiate between right and wrong.
'As a Muslim, I was taught to respect the rights of others and their religion. We are supposed to protect the weak, the poor and even the interests of non-Muslims,' he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times (NST).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
