She was seventeen years old and always wore a bright smile. This may not seem that unusual except that Tina suffered from cerebral palsy, a condition that left her muscles stiff. Because she had trouble speaking, it was this bright smile that reflected her true personality — a great kid. A lot of times people didn't speak to her because she looked different and the rest of the students didn't know how to approach her. The assignment was to memorize three stanzas of the poem "Don't Quit." I only made the assignment worth ten points since I figured most of my students wouldn't do it anyway. Tina was in the class, and she looked worried. The day the assignment came due arrived and one by one each student failed to recite the poem. Finally, I proclaimed that the next person who didn't recite the poem perfectly had to drop on the floor and give me ten push-ups. To my surprise, Tina was next. Tina made it to the end of the first stanza when she made a mistake. Before I could say a word, she threw her walker to the side, fell to the floor and started doing push-ups. Then she crawled back up, stood in front of the class and continued the poem. She finished all three stanzas perfectly. A girl student spoke up and asked, “Tina, why did you do that?” Tina took her time forming the words and said, “Because I want to be like you guys — normal.” Tina got her ten points that day. She also got the love and respect of her classmates.