I went to a small charter school for middle school. Our English/literature teacher was brand new to teaching, if I remember correctly she was only 22 which seemed odd at the time. She always did her best to be so cheerful and make learning fun. But the thing that truly solidified¹ her spot as my favorite teacher was that for every student’s birthday she would give you a personalized mini notebook.

我中学在一所小型特许学校读书。我们的英文文学老师是新来的，如果我没记错的话，她当时只有22岁，这在那时是不常见的。她总是很阳光，也尽力让学习变得有趣。但真正让她成为我最喜欢的老师的原因是，在每个学生的生日那天，她都会送给那个学生一个专属的小笔记本。

 

It was just a simple small composition notebook but she had filled the first couple pages telling me how much she loved having me as a student, how far she knew I would go, and other affirmations. It seems small but as a 13 year old who had a crappy home life it made all the difference in how I acted the rest of the year.

这只是一个简简单单的笔记本，但她在前面几页写满了字，表达她对我的喜欢，告诉我她知道我会走多远，以及其他一些肯定的话。这个本子很小，但对于一个生活在糟糕家庭的13岁孩子来说，它影响了我这一年剩下的时间里的表现。

 

Junior year of high school, English class. We were discussing a story we had read. One student (let's call him Carl,) made a point. The teacher was dismissive and basically said Carl was wrong.

高三的英语课上，我们在讨论一个读过的故事。一名学生（化名卡尔）提出了一个观点。老师不以为然，大意就是说卡尔的观点错了。

 

The next day, after we took our seats the teacher said, "Before we begin, I was thinking about what Carl said yesterday. I was wrong to dismiss it so quickly. Let's take a look at that again."

第二天，我们就座后，这位老师说：“在我们开始之前，我在思考卡尔昨天说的话。我这么快就否定它是不对的。让我们再看看这个观点。”

 

He then went on to repeat Carl's point and initiate² a conversation with the entire class. After the conversation, it became apparent Carl's point was indeed off base, but I was impressed the teacher publicly owned his mistake and went down the path he should have.

接着他复述了卡尔的观点，并开始和全班同学讨论。经过一番讨论，卡尔的观点显然是站不住脚的，但令我印象深刻的是，这位老师公开承认了自己的错误，做了他应该做的。

 

When I was in the 1st grade my mother gave me one of MANY really awful haircuts. The first day back at school afterward³ the kids picked on me horribly. So much that I ran out and hid. The principal found me and we went back to the classroom and he asked me to wait outside for a minute while he talked to the class. He then walked me to his office and bought me a Coke.

一年级的时候，妈妈给我剪了个非常丑的发型。回到学校后的第一天，同学们狠狠地捉弄我，我跑出去藏了起来。校长找到了我，把我带回教室，他让我在外面等一分钟，先进去和全班同学讲话。然后他带我来到办公室，给我买了一瓶可乐。

 

The next day - first thing in the morning - we had an assembly with the entire school and he walked up on stage with his head shaved completely bald and talked about bullying⁴ and the like.

第二天，早上一到学校我们就召开了一次全校大会，校长走上台，他剃了个光头。他说了霸凌以及相关的话题。

 

Some twenty years down the road he had retired⁵ and I ran into him at the local college. I shook his hand and said, "You probably don't remember me, but,"

大约二十年后，他退休了，我在当地的大学里遇到了他。握手之后，我说，“你可能不记得我了，但是……”

 

"yes I do," he interrupted and said my name and the event.

“不，我记得你，”他打断了我的话，说出了我的名字和那件事。

 

The man was and is a hero in my eyes.

对我来说，他过去是个英雄，现在也是。

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