The adolescent girl from Tennessee is standing on the stage of a drama summer camp in upstate New York. It’s a beautiful day. But the girl doesn’t feel beautiful. She’s not the leggy, glamorous Hollywood type. In fact, she describes herself as dorky。

Since she was six years old, Reese Witherspoon has wanted to be a country singer. And Dolly Parton is her idol. But this flat-chested wisp of a girl is no Dolly Parton.Nevertheless, all of this summer she’s been acting, dancing and singing---giving it her best。

Play to your strengths. If you’re going to make it in this business, it’s not going to be on sexy—that’s not who you are. Better focus on what you’re good at. Celebrate yourself。

Despite three years of lessons, at the end of camp her coaches tell her to forget about singing. They suggest she think about another career. If Reese did have talent, it was hiding under her skinny, mousy frame and her Coke-bottle glasses。

Still, she takes their words to heart. After all, why shouldn’t she believe the professionals?

But back at home in Nashville, her mother — a funny, happy, upbeatperson — wouldn’t let her mope. Her father, a physician, encouraged her to achieve in school. So she worked hard at everything and was accepted at Stanford University。

And at age 19, she got a part in a low-budget movie called Freeway. That led to a substantial role in the movie Pleasantville. But her big break came with Legally Blonde。

Well, she decided, "if you can’t sing and you aren’t glamorous, play to your strengths. If you’re going to make it in this business, it’s not going to be on sexy — that’s not who you are. Better focus on what you’ve good at. Celebrate yourself." And then came the offer that took her back to her Nashville roots — playing the wife of tormented country star Johnny Cash. A singing role。

All of a sudden the old fears were back. She was so nervous on the set, a reporter wrote, she "kept a sick bucket" nearby and admitted she "would go backstage after a singing scene and shake." But she didn’t give up on the movie or herself。

The humor and drive she learned at home overcame the self-doubt learned on that summer stage. She spent 6 months taking singing lessons again. She learned to play the Autoharp. And the hard work built up her confidence。

Last March, Reese Witherspoon walked up on another stage, the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, and accepted the Oscar as Best Actress for her heartbreaking, heartwarming singing role as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line。

Finally, as you read thse accounts of Reese Witherspoon, consider the obstacles she met. The lesson of the strory, I suppose, is that instead of making dozen excuses why you can not realize your dreams, think about this story, just hold to your dream and never give up。

【中文译文】：

一名少女由田纳西州来到纽约北部，她站在戏剧夏令营的舞台上，虽然天气是那么好，她的心情却一点也不好。因为她不是那种身材颀长、丰腴美艳的好莱坞式美女，实际上她形容自己是“土里土气，还有点傻”。

从六岁开始，里斯•威瑟斯庞就梦想着成为一名乡村歌手，多莉•帕顿是她心中的偶像。但她可一点都不像多莉•帕顿，她胸部扁平，身材纤细。然而，整个夏天她都在尽全力地表演，跳舞和唱歌。

发挥长处。如果想在这一行发展，不要走自己不擅长的性感路线。更好地专注于自己的特长，为自己喝彩。

她已经上了三年的声乐课程，但夏令营结束时，老师们还是告诉她应该忘掉唱歌这件事儿，另谋出路。如果里斯确实有天分的话，那也是给她纤细的身材和厚如可乐瓶底儿的眼镜遮盖住了。

虽然心有不甘，可她还是听从了建议，毕竟，她有什么理由怀疑专业人士呢?

但回到位于纳什维尔的家里，她的妈妈—— 一名风趣、快乐、乐观的儿科护士——可不会让里斯感到丝毫的沮丧。她的爸爸是一名医生，他鼓励女儿在学业上有所成就。于是，她凡事努力，终于被斯坦福大学录取。

19岁那年，她出演了一部低成本电影《极速惊魂》。这为她后来在《欢乐谷》中争取到真正重要的角色奠定了基础。而她真正的破冰之作是影片《律政俏佳人》。

她暗下决心：“既然自己没有歌唱天分，又不是光彩照人，那就尽力演出。要想在这行做下去，就不要在性感上做文章了——自己不是那种类型的。最好在自己擅长 的方面下功夫。要展示自己。”这时，她接到片约，邀她出演约翰尼•卡什——一个饱受折磨的乡村歌手——的妻子，这是个需要演员有唱功的角色，该片约又把她 带回到纳什维尔的家乡。

突然，旧时所有的恐惧感又回来了，一名记者报道说，她在台上实在是太紧张了，甚至在一边“准备了呕吐时要用的痰盂”，她自己也承认“每唱完一幕回到后台，自己都在发抖”。但她没放弃那部电影，也没放弃自己。

她用六个月的时间重新开始学习声乐。她还学会了演奏竖琴。不懈的努力让她重拾信心。

2006年3月，里斯•威瑟斯庞走上了另一个舞台——好莱坞的柯达剧院。凭借在影片《一往无前》里饰演的琼•卡特•卡什这一歌唱角色，她获得了奥斯卡最佳女演员奖，她在片中饰演的角色令人心碎，但也让人心暖。

最后，当你读瑞茜威瑟彭斯的故事时，想想她遇到的挫折。我认为，这个故事告诉我们，与其找借口解释梦想为什么不能实现，不如想想这个故事，坚持你的梦想，永不放弃。