破碎的翅膀

——You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life? ——你生來就有一雙翅膀。為什么要在生活中匍匐前進呢？

Some people are just doomed to be failures. That's the way some adults look at troubled kids. Maybe you've heard the saying，\"A bird with a broken wing will never fly as high.\" I'm sure that T.J. Ware was made to feel this way almost everyday in school.

一些人命中注定會成為失敗者。這是一些成年人對問題兒童們的看法。也許你們也聽過這種說法：“一只擁有破碎翅膀的鳥兒不可能高飛。”我確信T.J.威爾在幾乎每一天的學校生活里都有這樣類似的感覺。

By high school Ware was the most celebrated troublemaker in his town. Teachers literally cringed when they saw his name posted on their classroom lists for the next semester. He wasn't very talkative， didn't answer questions and got into lots of fights. He had flunked almost every class by the time he entered his senior year， yet was being passed on each year to a higher grade level. Teachers didn't want to have him again the following year. Ware was moving on， but definitely not moving up.

在威爾上高中以前，他是鎮上最出名的問題兒童。每當老師們看到他的名字出現在他們下學期的教室名單中時，都會感到毛骨悚然。他不太愛說話，從不回答問題還總喜歡打架。上高中之前他幾乎門門不及格，卻總是可以繼續下一年級的學習。老師們不想再讓他進入下一學年。威爾繼續向前，但絕對沒有任何提升。

I met Ware for the first time at a weekend Leadership Retreat. All the students at school had been invited to sign up for ACE training， a program designed to have students become more involved in their communities. Ware was one of 450 students who signed up. When I showed up to lead their first retreat， the community leaders gave me this overview of the attending students. \"We have a total spectrum represented today， from the student body president to Ware， the boy with the longest arrest record in the history of town.\" Somehow， I knew that I wasn't the first to hear about Ware's darker side as the first words of introduction.

我第一次看到威爾是在一個周末的“領導撤退活動”中。所有的在校學生都被邀請簽約ACE訓練，這是一個使學生更能融入社區的活動。威爾是簽約的450個學生之一。當我出現并領導他們第一次撤退時，社區領導給了我以下這段對參加學生的總體看法：“今天各個層次的學生都有代表，從學生會主席到我們小鎮史上有著最長拘留記錄的威爾。”說不出為什么，但我知道我肯定不是第一個聽到將威爾的不光彩一面作為第一介紹的人。

At the start of the retreat， Ware was literally standing outside the circle of students， against the back wall， with that \"go ahead， impress me\" look on his face. He didn't readily join the discussion groups，didn't seem to have much to say. But slowly， the interactive games drew him in. The ice really melted when the groups started building a list of positive and negative things that had occurred at school that year. Ware had some definite thoughts on those situations. The other students in Ware's group welcomed his comments. All of a sudden Ware felt like a leader. He was saying things that made a lot of sense， and everyone was listening. Ware was a smart guy and he had some great ideas.

撤退游戲一開始，威爾就明確地站到學生們圍成的圈外面，斜靠在后面的墻上，臉上分明寫著“玩你們的去吧，把我記清楚了”。他一點也不情愿地加入了討論小組，似乎沒什么想說的。但漸漸地，這些互動游戲把他吸引了過來。當小組們開始把這一年當中學校發生的積極和消極的事一一列出時，冰山才真正融化了！威爾對那些情形有著明確的想法。他的組員很歡迎他的評論。一時間威爾好像成了一個領導者。他說得條條是道，每個人都細心聆聽。威爾是個聰明的家伙，有著一些很不錯的想法。

The next day， Ware was very active in all the sessions. By the end of the retreat， he had joined the Homeless Project team. He knew something about poverty， hunger and hopelessness. The other students on the team were impressed with his passionate concern and ideas. They elected Ware co-chairman of the team. The student council president would be taking his instruction from Ware.

第二天，威爾在所有環節中都表現得非常積極。在撤退活動結束前他已經加入了“流浪者”策劃隊。他知道什么是貧窮、饑餓和沒有希望。隊員們都對他的熱切的關懷和想出的解決問題的辦法印象深刻。他們選舉威爾為團隊的聯合主席。連學生會主席也要接受威爾的指導。

When Ware showed up at school on Monday morning， he arrived to a firestorm. A group of teachers were protesting to the school principal about his being elected co-chairman. The very first communitywide service project was to be against food drive， organized by the Homeless Project team. These teachers reminded the principal，\" He has an arrest record as long as your arm. He'll probably steal half the food.\" Mr. Green reminded them that the purpose of the ACE program was to uncover any positive passion that a student had and reinforce its practice until true change can take place. The teachers left the meeting shaking their heads in disgust， firmly convinced that failure was imminent.

星期一早晨，當威爾出現在學校時，他卷入了一場大爆發中。一群老師集體反對學校負責人選舉他為聯合主席。首席社區服務工程組也要拒絕由“流浪者”策劃隊組織的食物籌集活動。這些老師們提醒校方負責人：“ 他被拘捕的記錄比你們的手臂還長。他很可能會偷走一半的食物。”格林先生提醒他們，ACE活動的目的就是為了挖掘學生身上一切積極的愛好并對其加以訓練直至發生真正質的飛躍。老師們厭惡地搖著頭離開了會議室，堅信失敗就在眼前。

Two weeks later， Ware and his friends led a group of 70 students in a drive to collect food. They collected a school record: 2，854 cans of food in just two hours. It was enough to fill the empty shelves in two neighborhood centers， and the food took care of needy families in the area for 75 days. The local newspaper covered the event with a full-page article the next day. That newspaper story was posted on the main bulletin board at school， where everyone could see it. Ware's picture was up there for doing something great， for leading a record-setting food drive. Every day he was reminded about what he did. He was being acknowledged as leadership material.

兩星期后，威爾和他的朋友們領導了70多個有意向的人幫忙籌集食物。他們打破了學校記錄：僅僅兩小時就籌到了2 854罐食物。這足夠填滿鄰近的兩個社區空空的貨架了，這些食物照顧了這個地區的貧困家庭75天的糧食需要。次日，當地報紙用了整整一個篇幅來報道這件事。記錄了這件事的報紙被張貼到學校各個主要的布告牌上，人人都能看到。威爾的照片也因他做了一件偉大的事，領導了一次破紀錄的食物籌集而貼在上面。每一天都提醒著他自己做了什么。他作為領導人被大家認可了。

Ware started showing up at school every day and answered questions from teachers for the first time. He led a second project， collecting 300 blankets and 1，000 pairs of shoes for the homeless shelter. The event he started now yields 9，000 cans of food in one day， taking care of 70 percent of the need for food for one year.

威爾開始每天都到學校上課，并且第一次回答了老師的提問。他又領導了第二次籌集策劃，為流浪者避難所籌集到300張毯子和1 000雙鞋子。他現在能在一天中籌到9 000罐食物，照顧到一年中70%需要食物的人們。

T.J.Ware reminds us that a bird with a broken wing only needs mending. But once it has healed， it can fly higher than the rest. Ware got a job. He became productive. He is flying quite nicely these days.

T.J.威爾提醒了我們，一只擁有破碎翅膀的鳥兒需要的只是修復。一旦它痊愈了，它將會飛得比其他的鳥兒更高。威爾得到了一個工作。他變得有價值了。現在的他可以自由翱翔了。

◆編輯：譚添夏