I will always remember the time when my friend Jeff Holstrom told me about his family. His father, a successful physician, cold and strict in Jeff's words, had firm beliefs that a person would never make a valuable contribution to the world unless they attended and graduated from college by the age of twenty-three. His father had even paved the way for Jeff to attend the same college from which he had graduated.
Jeff was twenty-seven and a successful business planner at a company—without a degree. His passion was skiing. When he graduated from high school, he decided to decline his father's offer and, instead, to work with a ski patrol (滑雪巡逻队) . With pain in his eyes, Jeff told me he still remembered the day when he told his father he was going to give up college and take a job at a ski resort. Hearing Jeff's decision, his father looked off into the distance. Then came the words that still echoed in Jeff's mind："You lazy kid. No son of mine is going to work with a ski patrol and does not attend college. Don't come back in this house until you have enough self-respect to use the brains Cod gave you and go to school！"The two had not spoken since that conversation.
Later, he was back in the area near where he grew up and he certainly did not want his father to know he was attending college. He was doing this for himself, not for his father. Jeff's sister had always remained supportive of Jeff's decisions. She stayed in contact with their father, but Jeff had made her promise that she would not share any information about his life with him.
The day of the graduation ceremony came, I walked around talking to people before it started. I noticed a man with a confused expression.
"Excuse me," he said as he politely approached me. "What is happening here today? "
"It's graduation day, " I replied, smiling. "Well, that's odd, " he said, "my daughter asked me to meet her al this address." His eyes sparkled and he smiled.
"Maybe she completed her associate's degree (副学士学位) and wanted to surprise me!"
I helped him find a scat.
注意：
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As I left him, he said, "Thank you. By the way, my name's Dr. Holstrom. "
Jeff was the last person to step onto the stage.
