改变一生的承诺.docVIP

改变一生的承诺 　　True heroes never seek accolades1. When they see a need， they simply do what needs to be done， often at a substantial2 cost to themselves. One such hero is Oral Lee Brown of Oakland， California. 　　Oral： It was one morning that I was headed to the store and a little girl asked me for a quarter， and I had a five dollar bill， so I asked her to come and go to the store with me， and when I got to the store I just told her to get whatever she wanted， and she ended up getting baloney3， cheese， bread. And so， as we left the store I began to talk to her， and asked her did she go to school， she just stated， “sometimes，”and I asked， “Well， where is your mother？” and so she said， “She’s at home.” It shoulda been the end of the story， but it wasn’t because I could not sleep. 　　The image of this little girl stayed with Oral Lee Brown， and the next day she asked around the neighborhood what school this girl might be attending. Brown went to the school and met with the principal， but was unable to locate the girl. What she did find were classes of inner-city first-graders who were obviously at risk. Without knowing what prompted4 her， Brown turned to the school’s principal and set into motion a process that would change lives. 　　Oral： I don’t know， I just looked up at her and said，“May I adopt a class？”， and then she， you know， at that point， you know， she said， “Well， who are you？” 　　What Brown proposed is that every year she would save $10，000 out of her $45，000 salary as a real estate agent for the students’ college education. The students， in turn， were to stay in school and graduate with good enough grades to qualify for acceptance into a college. And， after a month and a half of background checks and reviews， Oral Lee Brown was given permission to adopt a class. She was given a class of 23 students， all of whom came from poverty， and many of whom lived in broken homes， spent their young lives surrounded by violence and had little chance of ever finishing high s