Life hasn’t always been easy for Sareana Kimia, 16. Her parents split up when she was young, and she hasn’t seen her dad since she was l0. In June 2014, she and her mom, Shefali Gupta, found out that they would soon be evicted (逐出) from their home. Sareana knew that her mom had money problems.

Even before the eviction, Gupta had become very sad. Because she didn’t have health insurance, Gupta couldn’t get a doctor’s help for her emotional problems.

Sareana took charge of things at home. For example, she often cooked her family’s meals. When she and her mom were about to lose their home, it was Sareana who arranged a place for them to stay.

For years, Sareana had been an active volunteer with several organizations. She even started her own group, Youth for National Change. It works to support the rights of young people.

Sareana called a few adults she had worked with. After finding out about her situation, one couple opened their doors right away. But by August 2014, the couple no longer had room for Sareana and her mom. The two ended up living in their car. They didn’t want to go to a homeless shelter out of fear that they could be split up. Through it all, Sareana kept working on projects and studying. “At no point did I let what was going on change my daily routine,” she says.

Sareana is homeschooled online and goes to classes at a nearby college. Last fall, school bills began piling up. She had no way to pay them. A friend suggested that she try raising funds online. After a newspaper ran an article about Sareana, donations poured in-nearly $ 30,000! She paid for school and had enough money left to rent a small apartment. She and her mom moved into it in January 2015.

Earlier this year, my family experienced an unexpected tragedy. The kind of tragedy which knocks you out of yourself and turns your whole world upside down. A tragedy which also caused me to be out of work for three months. It was completely unforeseen and I had no time to put together an out-of-office plan.

I’ve worked at previous companies where this kind of tragedy would have been handled professionally; I would have been given the legally-required money and asked to leave. But at SAS Institute (an American developer of analytics software), my team stepped in and filled in with no questions or hesitations. My work was not left undone. My clients (客户) were patient when those picking up the pieces of projects unrelated to them needed some time to get familiar with the work. My management and colleagues checked on my family regularly. At last, my manager, my entire team and Human Resources Department helped me back to work at my own pace. They even changed my workspace over a weekend to better suit my personal needs before I even came back to work.

You see, SAS creates a family. The special attention to employee happiness and work/life balance makes that family possible. The flexible work environment enables most employees to create a schedule that best suits their personal needs — whether it’s attending a school play or taking an aging parent to the doctor. The Work/Life Office has a wealth of resources for college planning, anger management, sorrow, etc. But, as you can see, it doesn’t stop there. Most employees believe that SAS is their family. We rely on each other. We help each other succeed. We celebrate team successes. We hang out after work. Our kids play together. We laugh together and cry together.

Sure, we have a lot of convenience benefits at SAS. But, what really makes a difference to me is the SAS culture that the outside world doesn’t always see: The balance. The companionship. The management support. The family it allows me to have.

I’m so eager for others to see the side of SAS that I see every day.

I think adults are affected by media, songs, and the Internet, and that is hard enough. After looking in all of the magazines and at models, my friends and I agree that our least favorite day of the year is when we wear swimsuits! It affects your whole mood and self-image for the day. Think about how hard it is for young girls if they believe “how hot you look” is how valuable you are.

Here are some ways parents can be proactive in encouraging a healthy self-image in their children.

First, teach what real value is. I think kids sometimes are confused about values. How valuable you are is not measured by how pretty you are on the outside and success is not measured by how famous you are. We were watching the Oscars and my 6-year-old son said “She is so pretty,” and then quickly looked at me and said “You are prettier, Mom.” And I said, “It’s okay. There are many people prettier than me on the outside. I know that’s not why you love me.” It is important to teach children this from an early age.

Second, tell your kids about “the grass is always greener syndrome.” It is very easy for all of us to see the glamour (魅力), whether it be in a famous singer or the most popular girl in the school. Do not dehumanize and judge famous people. Talk about what problems they might have that are different from the problems your child has and maybe some of the same struggles, like maybe wanting acceptance from peers (同龄人).

At last, use your mouth. Don’t be afraid to have conversations with your child about how they’re feeling about ads, songs, etc... Boys too! You are the parent! Kids of all ages want and need boundaries whether they admit it or not. Take a stand and have confidence enough not to be followers and not to purchase clothing, music, or magazines that you don’t believe sends the right message to your children!

Safety is a huge concern whenever I run with my earphones in. But I need music to run. Otherwise all I hear is the sound of my own breathing. So I’ve found a compromise: I run with only one earphone in. The music sounds off. It’s an imperfect solution.

An updated pair of headphones, called AfterShokz, aim to do better. AfterShokz bills itself as using bone conducting technology to conduct music from the front of the ear, delivering sound through your cheekbone and inner ear. This keeps your eardrum (鼓膜) free to hear everything else.

“Earbuds (耳塞式耳机) are typically designed to block out all sound, which is fine when you’re inside. But when you’re outside, you need all your senses. It would be like sending you out cycling with a blindfold on,” says Rod Annet, managing director of AfterShokz.

Here’s where AfterShokz comes in. The headphones hook over the back of your head with the main “bud” resting high up against your cheek. This keeps your ear free to delight in other sounds.

So do they work? In a word, yes. During a 45-minute jog, they didn’t bounce or shift. I heard far more of my environment than I normally do: a nearby bike there; a runner passing me again to my left; and so forth.

What about the downsides? If you’re a huge fan of high-quality sound, you might find the headphones a bit tinny. One friend expressed concerns about missing the ability to get lost in the music as you might be distracted by other noises, although I personally didn’t find that an issue.

Yet those are all minor details. For me, probably the biggest problem is the price. Ranging between £ 49.96 to £ 83.29, AfterShokz headphones aren’t exactly cheap.

With all that considered, would I recommend them? Yes. AfterShokz headphones are quite useful. While out jogging, they were light, painless, and easy to use. They made me feel safer.