I will never forget the days when I met with my classmates. Early in the morning of our first school day, our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't know yet. I stood up look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.
She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. Can I give you a hug?”
I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.
“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked.
She jokingly replied, “I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…”
“No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!” she told me.
After class we shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized（迷住）listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us.
“There is only one secret to staying young. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking round who are dead and don't even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent of ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”
She concluded her speech by courageously singingThe Rose. She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
