I used to watch her from my kitchen window. She seemed so 1as she struggled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground. The school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids as they2during breaks. I remember the first day I saw her playing3. She was the only girl playing with a group of boys. I watched 4as she ran circles around the other kids. She managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net. The boys always tried to 5her but no one could. I began to6her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone.
One day I asked her7she practiced so much. Without a moment of hesitation (犹豫), she said "I want to go to college. The only way I can go is to get a scholarship (奖学金). I like basketball. I think that if I were good enough, I would get a scholarship. I am going to play college basketball. I want to be 8. My daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don't 9. " Then she smiled and ran back to the playground to continue the training. I watched her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week she led her school team to victory.
One day in her senior year, I saw her10in the grass, head in her arms. I walked across the street and also sat down in the cool grass beside her. 11I asked what was wrong. "Oh, nothing, " came a soft reply. "I am just too short. " The coaches told her that she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team —12offered a scholarship. So she should stop dreaming about 13. It's out of reach for her. She was14 and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. But I didn't know how to cheer her up. After both keep silent for quite a while, I asked her if she had15her dad about it yet. She didn't say anything for another few minutes but then she16her head with tears in her eyes and she told me firmly that her father said those coaches were 17. They just did not understand the power of the18. He told her that if she truly wanted a scholarship and then nothing could stop her 19one thing—her own attitude. Then she dried her eyes, stood up and ran towards the playground to repeat the routine.
The next year, 20she was still not tall enough, she was offered a full scholarship and on the college team as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game. She was going to get the college education that she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years for free.
Just have a big dream and keep on chasing it. Maybe it will come true one day.
