The next semester， I had a chance to begin again. As I approached my mission to build the coffeehouse， I was much more humble. I wanted to show the campus and myself that I was worthy of my position. I had never built a coffeehouse before and didn’t really know what I was doing， so I asked everyone for help. I asked the students， my advisor， the governing board and the college president.
I used to think that I had to pretend to know what I was doing， that I had everything under control and that I was in charge. It was that kind of thinking that got me into trouble in the first place. Now， I was finding that the easiest way to gain other people’ s respect was to admit to them what I did not know. I was shocked. It was my not knowing， my humility， and my willingness to ask others for help that was making me win in my new endeavor.
I finished my term as president. In the end， the team that I had put together raised over $125， 000 and we built a coffeehouse that is still there 11 years later.
On graduation day， as I grabbed my diploma and walked past my college president， he whispered， “Son， what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
我簡直不敢相信自己的眼睛。一走進校園，我就看見海報貼得到處都是，上麵潦草地寫著：“傻瓜下台！”我是學生會主席，同學們卻要我下台。同學們陸陸續續地到了學校， 我看見他們圍到海報旁，然後朝我望過來。當時，我感覺自己的身心和人格就好像被置於奶酪擦上來回地磨著，我覺得自己都要崩潰了，然而仍拚命地試圖保持鎮靜。
當被同學們選舉為學生會主席時，校領導在選舉活動上對我的選舉成功表示祝賀，並說這是學校有史以來最精彩的一次競選活動。校園草地上的扔飛盤活動是我政治生涯的開端，我將飛盤扔給一些不認識的人，然後，他們又把飛盤拋給他們不認識的人。沒過多久，我們形成了一個小團體，每天的午餐時間聚在一起扔飛盤。