1 . Walking into the on-campus barbershop, the student customers will be greeted by Alexander Garcia with clippers in hand, a harber chair, a full professional clipping set, and customers chatting about Ozzy’s latest DJ set in the background

Garcia started cutting hair during his junior year of high school. He spent his time learning from barber videos by 360Jeery on YouTube about different hair styles. That learning took trial and error, and he spent his time practicing on his younger cousin, but he never intended it to be a business.

He came into college as an Electrical and Computer Engineering major and spent his time in the students’ associations, working as a part-time DJ. His journey of cutting hair on campus began in the second year, with mainly roommates and close friends coming in for a cut and a chat, but his hobby fully developed into CutzbyOzzy earlier this year. Barbers in the city are expensive, he noticed, especially for college students, which pushed him to expand his hobby to a private business.

Garcia is busy, with appointments made usually a week in advance. Customers can pay $18 for a full haircut and $5 for a line-up. His business grows mostly through the word-of-mouth of his customers, who are mainly first-years. “Seeing that most of the customers are freshmen, I like to give them advice, try to expiain my own experience and promote student organizations because I feel that enhances my experience,” he said. “I lead them through things I encounter on the way—internships (实习), scholarships, job opportunities, and questions.”

To Garcia, it’s about creating the feel of walking into an actual barbershop; it’s about offering instructions and friendship to his customers. He’s found over time that these students start breaking out of their shells and coming to him with their problems.

“I can just never stay put,” he said. “ I always like to try different things in different fields. Apart from being an engineer, the barbershop is truly my life.”

The man was kind of small, but to a five-year-old, he was a giant. Cherry-scented smoke from Grandpa’s pipe kept the hungry mosquitoes at bay. Now and again, he blew a smoke ring and laughed as I tried to target the hole with my finger.

We sat side by side on the old wooden stairs that hot summer evening, watching the traffic, counting cars and trying to guess the color of the next one to turn the corner. We watched the sun go down behind the old Texaco service station across the busy street, which I was never allowed to cross unless accompanied by an adult.

My grandfather was baby-sitting while my mother, father and grandmother went out. While my two baby brothers slept inside the house, my three older siblings (兄弟姐妹) played with friends around the corner, where I was not allowed to go. I stayed with Grandpa, and that was okay with me. “Thirsty?” Grandpa asked, never removing the pipe from his mouth. “Yes,” was my reply. “How would you like to run over to the gas station there and get yourself a bottle of Coke?” I couldn’t believe my ears. On my family’s modest income, Coke was not a part of our budget or diet. “Okay,” I replied shyly, already wondering how I would get across the street.

He stretched his long leg out straight and reached his huge hand deep into the pocket. Opening his fist, he exposed several silver coins. He instructed me to pick out one. After he deposited the rest of the change back into his pocket, he stood up. “Okay,” he said, helping me down the stairs and to the curb (马路沿儿).

“I’m going to stay here and keep an ear out for the babies. I’ll tell you when it’s safe to cross. You go over to the Coke machine, get your Coke out and come back. Wait for me to tell you when it’s safe to cross back.” My heart pounded. Excitement took my breath away.

Grandpa held my hand tightly.

My heart pounded wildly as I approached the Coke machine.

3 . Some people travel because they want to go to warm places for winter vacations or because they want to visit art museums in Europe. But other people travel simply because they have a passion for it.

Luisa Yu, a 79-year-old woman, fell in love with travel as a young girl in the province of Leyte in the Philippines when she watched movies. “I saw the beautiful scenery, the rivers and the mountains, and that fascinated me,” Yu said. “That’s why I always thought someday I would go to these places and travel.”

At 23, as an exchange student studying medical technologies in the US, Yu decided that she wanted to visit all of the countries in the world, but visa restrictions (限制) didn’t allow her to travel outside of the country.

It took Yu 15years to get her admission allowing her to travel internationally and there were times when she worked three jobs to save money to travel. She eventually took a part-time job as a travel agent, which gave her many more opportunities to travel to new places around the globe.

For the past 50 years, Yu has been visiting countries across the world, even some that are very difficult to get into. She has tried dog meat when she visited the DPRK, explored the beaches of Somalia, and even skydived in Dubai when she was 73. “Everyone said, ‘Don’t go to Somalia, that’s dangerous,’” Yu said. “If I want to go somewhere, nobody can stop me. I want to do everything.”

Yu achieved her goal to visit all of the 193 countries that are recognized by the UN, in November 2023. To date, there have only been around 400 people who have set out to achieve this amazing cause.

Yu’s advice to people who love to travel is to just do it. “Don’t wait for anybody. If I keep on waiting, it will never happen, because the opportunity sometimes comes only once,” she said.

My mother influenced me a lot. When I made a mistake, she never turned a blind eye to it. She also helped me develop many good hobbies. In my childhood, reading books was one of my favorite hobbies. Especially during holidays, I often went to the library to borrow books.

One Saturday morning after breakfast, I told my mother that I’d go and borrow one or two books in the local public library. Then, I set out, expecting what wonderful books I’d come across. After cycling there, I was amazed to notice a new children’s book that I had expected for long. The book was from abroad and was beautifully designed.

Eager to go through it, I quickly took the book out of the shelf and hurried to a chair nearby. Once seated, I opened the book and turned pages. Suddenly, a terrible thing happened. Because of my finger’s too much force, one page was torn (撕破) by accident, which produced a clear sound. It made me immediately shocked and anxious. “If the librarians find I have made the book damaged, they may ask me to buy a new one, which can be expensive. And they may angrily blame me for my carelessness,” I thought. Soon, my face turned pale and my heart pounded fast. Just then, I noticed a librarian was walking in the direction of me. “Is she coming for me?” I wondered, with my legs shaking with fear. Afraid she’d notice the broken page, I hurried to close the book.

Finding something wrong with me, the librarian was concerned and asked gently, “Do you feel uncomfortable?” I shook my head, replying, “No, I’m fine. Thank you!” The librarian smiled |and then left. When she was out of my sight, I quickly stood up and put the book back. I had no intention of reading other books, so I left the library in a hurry, without borrowing any book.

Once reaching home, I breathed a sigh of relief. However, my mother, who was doing housework, stopped.

She came to check what books I borrowed.

Then, I carried glue and headed towards the library.

10 . I was expecting to have a quiet day, but it turned out(结果是) to be just the opposite. It was Saturday morning _______ I was reading on the sofa when the phone rang. “Come quickly, Sam, I need your _______!” It was my best friend George, so I couldn't_______. “Where are you?” I asked. “I'm _______home, watching the house opposite. Come quickly, through the back garden.”

I_______there. George told me two men were stealing things from Simon's house. They were moving the TV and the computers onto their van(客货车).

“But George, it's clear,” I said impatiently(不耐烦地). “They _______ be moving house.”

“That's impossible! You know Simon's in our class, but he has said _______about it！” said George.

I realized he was right. So we phoned the_______. They soon arrived and took the two men _______. “You are so brave！” said one policeman. Later, Simon's parents learned what we had done and they were so ________. They took us out for dinner that night.

Sometimes, a small act can mean a lot to others.