Ruth Simmons was born in a very poor family. Today, she’s the president of a famous American university. How did she do it?
The story begins on a farm in Grapeland, Texas, in 1945. Ruth was born that year. Her parents were farmworkers, and she was the youngest of their twelve children. They weren’t able to give the children many things, and Ruth never had any toys. For Christmas, she didn’t receive any presents at all except a shoebox with an apple, an orange, and some nuts. However, in Grapeland, Ruth wasn’t really aware of being poor. Then the family moved into the city, Huston. In the city, being poor was much harder. And at that time, life was dangerous for African Americans, especially in the South.
At the age of five, Ruth fell in love with school. She was a clever child, and she was lucky to have some excellent teacher. No one in Ruth’s family had much education, but her teachers encouraged her to go to college, and Ruth was brave enough to try. They also gave her money and even a coat to wear.
At first, Ruth studied theater. Then she studied language. Later she married, had two children, and began to work as a college teacher and administrator. Soon people began to notice her and respect her abilities.
In 1995, Ruth became president of Smith College, a famous American college for women. Ruth was the first African American to lead a college like this one. Six years later, she accepted another challenge. She became the president of Brown University.
Ruth believes in the power of education. “Learning can be the same for a poor farm kid like me as it is for the richest child in the country. It’s all about cultivating one’s mind, and anybody can do that. So it doesn’t matter what color your skin is, it doesn’t matter how much money your father has, it doesn’t matter what kind of house you live in. Every learner can experience the same thing.”
故事开始于1945年，在德克萨斯州的格雷普兰的一个牧场。Ruth就是那年出生的。她的父母都是农民，她是家中十二个孩子中最小的。他们不可能给与孩子们很多东西，Ruth从没有任何玩具。除了盒子里的一个苹果，一个橘子还有一些坚果，圣诞节她从来没有收到过任何礼物。然而在格雷普兰Ruth从来没有意识到贫穷。后来他们搬家到休斯顿城。在城里，贫穷的生活更难过。而且那时非裔美国人的生活是危险的，尤其是在南方。
在五岁时，Ruth喜欢上了学校。她是聪敏的，而且幸运的遇到很多好老师。Ruth家没有几个受过很多教育，但是她的那些老师鼓励她去上大学，而她也勇敢的去尝试。他们还给了她钱，甚至还有一件外套。
起初Ruth学的是戏剧，后来学的语言。之后她结了婚，有了两个孩子，开始在一所大学里当老师还有行政人员。很快人们开始注意到她也开始敬佩她的能力。
在1995年，Ruth成为了史密斯学院的校长，这是美国一所著名的女子学校。Ruth是第一个能这样管理一个这种学校的非裔美国人。六年后，她又迎来了新的挑战——成为了布朗大学的校长。
Ruth相信教育的力量。“学习对像我这样一个贫穷的农民孩子还有城里最富有的孩子都是一样的。都是磨炼思想的，任何人都可以的。所以无关你的肤色，无关你父亲有多少钱，无关你住在何种房子中。每个学习者都可以经历同样的事情。”
有些地方可能不太合意，希望有所帮助对你，
