她对我的要求远远超出了学校所要求的读、写、算的三项基本技能。在州里举办的演讲比赛中，我两次获奖。我参加了学校的活动，并获得了地方电台播音员资格证书。
在我上高中时，母亲患上了慢性偏头疼，她说是压力过大所致。有时头疼得厉害，她不得不卧床休息，晚上她还是照旧穿着睡袍来到我的房间，手上攥着一包冰块，陪我学习。
我顺利地通过了高中毕业考试，我们激动得又哭又笑。毕业前两天，我向父母提到想去基督教神学院，我说我想去那所学院读书，可又怕进不去。
妈妈说：“申请我们镇里那所神学院吧，你还可以住家里，我仍能陪你一起学习。”
我激动得说不出话来，紧紧地拥抱了她。
毕业后的一星期，妈妈的头疼得更厉害了，如刀割一般。有一小会儿她有些失常，但似乎不是什么大问题，她以为是偏头疼又发作，就上床休息了。那天晚上，父亲努力想把她唤醒，她却完全失去了知觉。
几个小时后，一位穿白大褂的医生对我们说，母亲是动脉瘤恶化，出现了大出血。我们已骗无法挽回她的生命，两天后，母亲便去世了。
我几乎难以承受失去母亲的巨大悲痛，接连几个星期，我整夜在地板上踱来踱去，时而哭泣，时而发愣。没有了母亲，我的未来将会怎样？她是我的双眼、我的生命，是我最知心的人。我是否还要去神学院呢？一想到未来的一切都要靠我自己，一种莫名的恐惧袭上心头。但是，在我的内心深处，我坚定了要走好下一步的信念，为了我的母亲，我要走下去。
我把第一学期的教材和大纲带回了家，坐在小书桌前，我用颤抖的双手打开历史课本，开始读第一课。突然，我看了一眼母亲常坐的那把椅子，上面空空的，我的心却十分踏实。
母亲的祈祷时刻伴随着我，我能感觉到她就在我左右，并能感受到她对我的信心。
在大学毕业典礼发言时，我讲道：“在神学院的求学生涯中，我得到过许多人的帮助，得以顺利地读完大学。对我给予帮助和鼓励最大的人此刻正在天堂遥望着我，我要对她说:‘感谢您，妈妈！是您对上帝的信仰和对我的信心，才使我能有今天的成就。您将永远驻留在我的心间。’”
如果梦想足够大
If the Dream Is Big Enough
辛西娅·斯图尔特·卡贝尔 / Cynthia Stewart Copier
I used to watch her from my kitchen window, she seemed so small as she muscled 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 they played during recess. A sea of children, and yet to me, she stood out from them all.
I remember the first day I saw her playing basketball. I watched in wonder as 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 stop her but no one could.
I began to notice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone. She would practice dribbling and shooting over and over again, sometimes until dark. One day I asked her why she practiced so much. She looked directly in my eyes and without a moment of hesitation she said, "I want to go to college. The only way I can go is if I get a scholarship. I like basketball. I decided that if I were good enough, I would get a scholarship. I am going to play college basketball. I want to be the best. My daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don' t count." Then she smiled and ran towards the court to recap the routine I had seen over and over again.
Well, I had to give it to her—she was determined. I watched her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her varsity team to victory.
One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head cradled in her arms. I walked across the street and sat down in the cool grass beside her. Quietly I asked what was wrong. "Oh，nothing." came a soft reply. "I am just too short." The coach told her that at 5' 5" she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team—much less offered a scholarship—so she should stop dreaming about college.
She was heartbroken and l felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet.
She lifted her head from her hands and told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They just did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to play for a good college, if she truly wanted a scholarship, that nothing could stop her except one thing—her own attitude. He told her again, "If the dream is big enough, the facts don' t count."
The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was seen by a college recruiter. She was indeed offered a scholarship, a full ride, to a Division I, NCAA women' s basketball team. She was going to get the college education that she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years.
It' s true: If the dream is big enough, the facts don' t count.
透过厨房的窗户，我骗常看见她穿梭于操场上，挤在一群男孩子中间，显得格外瘦小。学校就在我家街对面，课间休息时，我骗常能看见孩子们在操场上打球。在很多孩子中，我总觉得，她与众不同。
我还记得第一天看到她打篮球的情景，看着她在其他孩子身边兜来转去，我感到非常惊奇。她总是设法在他们头顶跳投，使球命中篮筐。那些男孩子拼命阻止，但没人做得到。
我开始在其他时候注意到她，她一个人打篮球，反复地练习运球和投篮，有时一直练到天黑。一天，我问她为什么这样刻苦地练习。她直视我的眼睛，不假思索地说：“我想上大学，唯一方法就是获得奖学金。我喜欢打篮球，我想只要我打得好，到大学里打篮球了，就能获得奖学金，我还想成为最优秀的球员。父亲告诉我，如果梦想足够大，什么也难不倒。”说完，她笑着跑向篮球场，又开始了我见过无数次的练习。
我很佩服她这么有决心，我看着她从初中升到高中，每星期，她带领的校篮球队都能取得胜利。
她读高中的一天，我见她坐在草地上，头埋在臂弯里。我穿过街道，坐在她身旁的草地上，轻声问她发生了什么事。“噢，没什么，”她轻轻地回答我，“只是我个子太矮了。”教练告诉她，5.5英尺的身高绝对达不到一流球队的标准——更别说拿奖学金了——所以，她应该放弃大学梦了。
她沮丧极了，见她如此失望，我也很难过，我问她是否和父亲谈过此事。
她把头从臂弯里抬起来，告诉我，父亲说教练的想法是错误的，他们根本不懂梦想的力量。他告诉她，如果她真想去一个好大学打球并获得奖学金，除了自己的态度，没有什么能阻止她。他一再说：“如果梦想足够大，什么也难不倒。”
第二年，当她和她的球队去参加北加利福尼亚州冠军赛时，她被一位大学的招生人员看中。她真的获得了奖学金，并且是全额，同时进入了全国大学体育D会中的一支女子甲组篮球队。她将接受梦寐以求并为之奋斗了多年的大学教育。
的确，如果梦想足够大，什么也难不倒。