고1 동아 이 7과 본문 Small Decisions, Big Changes

Lesson 7 A Step Forward

Small Decisions, Big Changes

 

We make decisions every day.

 

Should I take the bus or walk?

 

Should I help the homeless person or pass him by?

 

These decisions are mostly personal, and they seem insignificant at the time.

 

But small decisions can bring about big changes in your life and the world.

 

Here are three people who made great differences through their small decisions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ed Roberts

 

Ed Roberts became disabled due to polio at the age of fourteen, in 1953.

 

Paralyzed from the neck down, he could only move two fingers and several toes.

 

He attended high school by telephone because he was afraid that people would stare at him.

 

One day during his senior year, Roberts asked himself a question,

 

"Should I stay home or get out and go to school like other people?"

 

Instead of being a prisoner to his disabilities,

 

he decided to think of himself as a "celebrity" and go out into the world.

 

After graduating from high school in 1959, Roberts wanted to study at the University of California, Berkeley,

 

but they would not admit him because of his disabilities.

 

Even the California Department of Vocational Rehabilitation refused to help him attend college.

 

The Department's conclusion was that Roberts was too disabled to ever get a job.

 

Despite the obstacles he faced,

 

Roberts became the first student with severe disabilities to attend Berkeley.

 

His brave decision led many other disabled students to follow suit.

 

Roberts started a disabled student organization and led campus projects that provided services like wheelchair repairs.

 

In 1976, Ed Roberts was appointed Director of the California Department of Vocational Rehabilitation,

 

which was the same agency that had considered him unfit for any job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rosa Parks

 

It was a cold December evening in 1955.

 

Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old African American woman, boarded a bus in Montgomery, Alabama to go home after a long day at work.

 

She sat just behind the ten seats reserved for whites.

 

At that time, the law separated people of color from whites in schools, housing, jobs, and even on buses.

 

When all the seats for whites were filled, the driver insisted that the blacks give up their seats to white passengers.

 

Ms. Parks had two choices.

 

She could either stand up to give up her seat or stand up to injustice.

 

She quietly refused to give up her seat.

 

She was arrested for her action.

 

Four days after her arrest, a boycott of the Montgomery bus system began.

 

The boycott lasted 381 days and ended on December 20, 1956 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the segregation law was unconstitutional.

 

The ruling sparked many successful non-violent civil rights protests,

 

and everything began with Rosa Parks‘ small decision on the bus.

 

 

Nicholas Winton

 

It was a few days before Christmas in 1938.

 

The Nazis were taking over Europe, and Nicholas Winton was in London getting prepared for a skiing trip to Switzerland.

 

He received a letter from his friend, Martin Blake, who was helping refugees in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

 

It read, "I’m on an assignment and I need your help.

 

Don't bother bringing your skis."

 

Winton thought for a moment,

 

"What should I put first, having fun or helping my friend?"

 

He decided to head to Prague.

 

In Prague, Winton was struck by the harsh conditions in the refugee camps.

 

They were overcrowded and there was a shortage of food and water.

 

Winton became especially concerned for the children there and set up an office in his hotel to aid them.

 

He came back to London to arrange the relocation of the children to England.

 

Winton persuaded complete strangers to take the children in.

 

It was no easy task, but Winton stuck to his motto,

 

"If something is not impossible, then there must be a way to do it.“

 

Thanks to Winton's efforts, on March 14, 1939,

 

the first train carrying young refugees left Prague, crossed Germany and the Netherlands,

 

and arrived in England after a journey of 1,120 km.

 

Seven more trains followed and 669 lives were saved in total.

 

As you can see, the decisions you make today can go a long way.

 

So, think twice before you make your next decision.

 

The future you and possibly the entire world may thank you someday.

 

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