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.”
我简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。一走进校园，我就看见海报贴得到处都是，上面潦草地写着：“傻瓜下台！”我是学生会主席，同学们却要我下台。同学们陆陆续续地到了学校， 我看见他们围到海报旁，然后朝我望过来。当时，我感觉自己的身心和人格就好像被置于奶酪擦上来回地磨着，我觉得自己都要崩溃了，然而仍拼命地试图保持镇静。
当被同学们选举为学生会主席时，校领导在选举活动上对我的选举成功表示祝贺，并说这是学校有史以来最精彩的一次竞选活动。校园草地上的扔飞盘活动是我政治生涯的开端，我将飞盘扔给一些不认识的人，然后，他们又把飞盘抛给他们不认识的人。没过多久，我们形成了一个小团体，每天的午餐时间聚在一起扔飞盘。