As a young boy, I grew up with my eight siblings in a tin-roofed shack in Summerfield, Louisiana. I didn't see my circumstance as an obstacle, even though we didn't even have a real toilet in the house. I saw my life more as a card that had been dealt to me and I tried to make the most of it.

童年时代的我住在位于路易斯安那州萨墨菲尔德的一间简陋的以铁皮为屋顶的房子里，有8个兄弟姐妹，连一个像样的厕所都没有。但是，我并没有把这样的家庭环境看成是一个障碍，而是把它当作发到自己手里的一张牌，我所做的努力是要让这张牌发挥出它最大的用处。
 
I was the youngest of five boys and also had four sisters who had to pull together and take care of each other. Dad wasn't around, so I never knew him well. He committed suicide when I was three years old, leaving Mom with the job of raising and providing for nine kids. She worked at a sawmill running a forklift for fifty dollars a week and had another job at a poultry plant. She was a very hard worker, and in order to make ends meet, she hardly ever rested.      

我是家里5兄弟中最小的男孩子，还有4个相依为命的姐妹。父亲已经不在人世，他在我3岁的时候就自杀了，我对他几乎没有什么印象。父亲死后，抚养9个孩子的重担就落在了母亲的肩上。母亲是锯木厂里开叉车的工人，每星期有50美元的收入，此外，她在家禽加工厂还有一份差事。我母亲是个非常吃苦耐劳的女人，为了养家糊口，她拼命工作，从不休息。
 
My mom believed in doing all she could do to take care of her responsibilities, so no matter what, she never asked for a handout. You can imagine; we kids didn't get what we wanted, but we always got the things we needed. With my mom as my example, I learned that hard work is the best way to get what you want.
     
她坚信只要自己努力就一定能够养活全家，所以她从不接受任何施舍。你可以想象我们姊妹兄弟的生活状况：尽管从来买不起自己想要的东西，但是日常生活的必需品总是能够得到满足。从母亲身上，我懂得了勤奋是获得一切的最佳途径。
 
While growing up, I was surrounded with temptations to do negative things like drugs, alcohol and all that. I chose not to go there, even as a little boy, I knew I was going to be successful. Some people take that to be cocky or conceited, but I wasn't going to let anybody tell me that I couldn't do whatever I set out to do.
      
随着年龄的增长，我逐渐遇到各种不良行为的诱惑，比如吸毒、酗酒，凡此种种。我从不去那些地方，因为我从小就相信自己长大以后一定能大有作为。有些人将我的这种想法视为骄傲或自负，但我不这么认为。只要我确定了自己想做的事情，就不允许别人说我做不到。
 
Of course, I dreamed about what I wanted to be when I grew up. At first, I wanted be a state trooper, then I wanted to be in the Special Forces. After a while, I decided that I wanted to drive eighteen-wheelers. There was even a period of time that I wanted to be in construction. I wanted to play football in high school; in fact, I still do. But regardless of what I chose, I wanted to make my brothers, sisters and mom proud of me -- not only by being successful in what I chose to do, but also as a person who could be looked up to for the right reasons.

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