The first day of school our professor introduced a little old lady tous。
"Why are you in college at such a young age?" I asked later。 She jokinglyreplied， " I'm here to meet a rich husband， get married， have a couple ofchildren， and then retire and travel。"
"No seriously，" I asked。 I was curious what may have motivatedher to betaking on this challenge at her age。 "I always dreamed of having a collegeeducation and now I'm getting one!" she told me。
We became instant friends。 Every day for the next three months we wouldleave class together and tolk nonstop。 I was always listening to this "timemachine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with me。
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to make a speech to our footballteam。 I'll never forget what she taught us。 As she began to deliverher preparedspeech， she dropped her note card on the floor。 A little embarrassed she simplysaid， "I'm sorry。 This whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back inorder so let me just tell you what I know。" As we laughed she cleared her throatand began:" We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because westop playing。 There are only four secrets to staying young， being happy， andachieving success。 You have to laugh and find humor every day。 You've got tohave a dream。 When you lose your dreams， you die。 We have so many people walkingaround who are dead and don't even know it! There is a huge difference betweengrowing older and growing up。 If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed forone full year and don't do one productive thing， you will turn twenty years old。Anybody can grow older。 That doesn't take any talentor ab
ility。 The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change。Have no regrets。 The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did， butrather for things we did not do。 The only people who fear death are those withregrets。"
At the year's end Rose finished the college degree。 One week aftergraduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep。 Over two thousand college studentsattended her funeral to honorthe wonderful woman who taught by example that it'snever too late to be all you can possibly be。
开学第一天，教授把一位小个子老太太介绍给了我们。
随后我问道，“你为什么这么“年轻”还来读大学?”她开玩笑地回答：“我来这儿是为了认识一个有钱的丈夫，结婚，生几个孩子，然后退休去旅行。”
“不，认真点儿。”我问道。我很好奇，到底是什么东西让她在这个年纪还要理解这样一个挑战。“我一向梦想着上大学，此刻我就在读大学!”她告诉我。
我们立刻成了朋友。在随后的三个月里，我们每一天一齐离开教室，不停地交谈。我总是和历经了岁月沧桑的她一齐分享她的智慧和经验。
期末的时候，我们邀请罗斯给我们的橄榄球队讲话。我永远都不会忘记她教给我们的东西。就在她要开始进行她事先准备好的演讲时，她把写了要点的卡片掉在了地上。她有点儿尴尬，但只是说，“对不起。这酒可真要命!我没办法再准备好我的讲稿了，就让我把我明白的东西告诉你们吧。”我们笑了起来，她清了清嗓子，开始演讲：“我们并不是因为年老就不再玩耍;我们变老是因为我们不再玩耍。只有四个秘密能够让你持续年轻，快乐，获得成功。你务必每一天都开怀大笑，寻找幽默。你务必有一个梦想。失去了梦想，你就会虽生犹死。我们周围有很多人，他们已经‘死了’，自我却不明白。成长和长大之间有着巨大的差距。如果你此刻19岁，躺在床上整整一年什么都不做，你也还会变成20岁。每一个人都会长大，这不需要任何天赋和潜力。要不断地在变化中寻找机遇，这样才是成长。
不要留有遗憾。老年人通常不会为做过的事遗憾，而是为还没有做过的事情感到遗憾。只有那些有遗憾的人才会怕死。”
年底的时候，罗斯获得了大学学位。毕业一星期后，她在梦中安详地离开了人世。两千多名大学生参加了她的葬礼，来纪念这位透过自我的亲身经历来告诉我们永远都能够成就自我的理想的了不起的老人。