I grew up poor — living with six brother...

I grew up poor — living with six brothers, three sisters and my mother. We had little money, but plenty of love and   36  . I was happy and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still   37   a dream.

My dream was   38  . By the time I was sixteen, I could throw a ninety-mile-per-hour baseball and   39   anything that moved on the field. I was also   40  : my high school coach was John, who not only   41   me, but also taught me how to believe in myself. He   42   me the difference between having a dream and showing conviction (信念). One particular incident with coach John changed my life forever.

A friend   43   me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket — money for a new bike, new clothes and the   44   of savings for a house for my mother. Then I realized I would have to   45   up summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell John I wouldn’t be playing.

When I told John, he was as   46   as I expected him to be. “You have your whole life to work,” he said, “Your   47   days are limited. You can’t afford to waste them.” I stood before him with my head   48  , trying to think of the words that would   49   to him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his   50   in me.

“Well,” he asked, “is $3.5 an hour the   51   of a dream?”

That simple question made   52   to me the difference between   53   something right now and having a goal. I devoted myself in sports that summer and   54   the year I was chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball, and   55   a $ 20,000 contract（合同）. Later, I bought my mother the house of my dream!