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发表于 2012-4-30 23:23
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One day Mrs. Slaton gave the class an assignment. "What do you think you'll be doing 10 years from now?" Jean thought about the assignment. Pilot? No way. Flight attendant? I'm not pretty enough-they'd never accept me. Wife? What guy would want me? Waitress? I could do that. That felt safe, so she wrote it down.
有一天,斯莱顿夫人给全班同学布置了一项作业。“你想10年后从事什么工作?”琼思考着怎样写这项作业。做一名飞行员?那根本行不通。做一名空中小姐?可我又不够漂亮--航空公司不会接纳我的。做个妻子?可有谁会娶我呢?做一个服务员呢?嗯,这我能做。这没有问题,于是,就把这个想法写了下来。
Mrs. Slaton collected the papers and nothing more was said. Two weeks later, the teacher handed back the assignments, face down on each desk, and asked this question: "If you had unlimited finances, unlimited access to the finest schools, unlimited talents and abilities, what would you do?"
斯莱顿夫人收齐了同学们的作文,也没有再说什么。两个星期以后,老师把作文发给了同学们,正面朝下放在课桌上。然后,她问道:“同学们,如果你们有足够的金钱,有充分的机会到最好的学校去上学,并且你们本身又具有足够的天分和才能,那么,你们将会干什么呢?”
Jean felt a rush of the old enthusiasm, and with excitement she wrote down all her old dreams. When the students stopped writing, the teacher asked, "How many students wrote the same thing on both sides of the paper?" Not one hand went up.
琼的心中涌起了以往的热情;她感到激动、兴奋,把多年的梦想全都写下来。当同学们都写完之后,老师又问道:“同学们,你们中间有多少同学的作文两次写得都一样?”没有一个同学举手。
The next thing that Mrs. Slaton said changed the course of Jean's life. The teacher leaned forward over her desk and said, "I have a little secret for you all. You do have unlimited abilities and talents. You do have access to the finest schools, and you can arrange unlimited finances if you want something badly enough. This is it! When you leave school, if you don't go for your dreams, no one will do it for you. You can have what you want if you want it enough."
斯莱顿夫人接着说的一番话改变了琼的生活道路。她在讲台前稍稍俯身向前地对同学们说:“我有一个小秘密想告诉你们大家,这就是,你们每一个人的确都有足够的才能和天分,都有机会去上最好的学校;而且,只要你们这种愿望特别强烈的话,你们就能够筹划足够的金钱。事实就是这样!你们离开学校之后,如果自己不去追求梦想,那么,没有人会来帮你忙。只要有强烈的愿望,就能够实现你的梦想。”
The hurt and fear of years of discouragement crumbled in the face of the truth of what Mrs. Slaton had said. Jean felt exhilarated and a little scared. She stayed after class and went up to the teacher's desk. Jean thanked Mrs. Slaton and told her about her dream of becoming a pilot. Mrs. Slaton half rose and slapped the desk top. "Then do it!" she said.
多年的沮丧和气馁带给她的伤害和畏惧,在斯莱顿夫人这番真情实话面前消失了,琼感到振奋,也有一点害怕。下课之后,她走到讲台前,感谢斯莱顿夫人,并且告诉斯莱顿夫人她的梦想是成为一名飞行员。斯莱顿夫人微微地站起身子,拍了一下桌子,说道:“那好啊,努力去实现它吧!”
So Jean did. It didn't happen overnight. It took l0 years of hard work, facing opposition that ranged from quiet skepticism to outright hostility. It wasn't in Jean's nature to stand up for herself when someone refused or humiliated her; instead, she would quietly try to find another way.
琼这样做了,但这不是一朝一夕能实现的。琼为之苦苦奋斗了10年。在这10年里,她面对着种种阻力和压力,有沉默的怀疑,也有断然的反对。有人反对或羞辱她时,琼都默默地承受着,并且悄悄地努力寻求另外的门路。
She became a private pilot and then got the necessary ratings to fly air freight and even commuter planes, but always as a copilot. Her employers were openly hesitant about promoting her-because she was a woman. Even her father advised her to try something else. "It's impossible," he said. "Stop banging your head against the wall!"
终于,她成了一名私人飞机的驾驶员,并且,还获得了,驾驶货运飞机甚至短途客机所必需的资格证书,但是,始终只能做一位副驾驶。她的老板毫不隐瞒地表示,之所以没有晋升她的职务,只是因为她是一位女性。甚至她的父亲也曾建议她去尝试干别的工作,“做飞行员,你是不会有出路的,”他说。“别拿自己的脑袋往墙上撞了!”
But Jean answered, "Dad, I disagree. I believe that things are going to change, and I want to be at the head of the pack when they do."
但是,琼回答道:“爸爸,我不同意你的说法。我相信事情会改变的,到时候,我要成为这帮人的头头。”
Jean went on to do everything her third-grade teacher said Was a fairy tale-she did some crop dusting, made a few hundred parachute jumps and even seeded clouds for a summer Season as a weather modification pilot. In 1978, she became one of the first three female pilot trainees ever accepted by United Airlines and one of only 50 women airline pilots in the nation at the time. Today, Jean Harper is a Boeing 737 captain for United.
琼继续做着她三年级老师所说的神话--她驾驶着飞机给作物喷洒农药,进行了数百次的跳伞,甚至是在夏季驾驶着飞机去实施人工降雨。1978年,她成为联合航空公司首批录取的三位女性实习飞行员之一,而当时,整个美国也只有50名女性飞行员。今天,琼-哈珀是联合航空公司波音737客机的机长。
It was the power of one well-placed positive word, one spark of encouragement from a woman Jean respected, that gave that uncertain young girl the strength and faith to pursue her dream.
这是那位琼所敬重的斯莱顿夫人适时说出的那句积极肯定的话语所产生出的力量,催人向上的火花!正是这种力量,才使得这个拿不定主意的小女孩重新有了追求梦想的力量和信念。 |
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