【推荐1】During my first year in college, I was silent. I was too afraid of saying something wrong.

I declared a religion major as a sophomore and took a class from Barbara, a young theologian. My mind was split open by a range of new thinkers and writers and by the quality of Barbara’s questions, I finally had something to say and the energy to say it. I was a frequent visitor during Barbara’s office hours, a rocket of words. She listened and calmly responded, a perfect contrast to my feverish ramblings. I loved what she saw in me, which was a range of abilities I had never seen in myself. In the following years, our relationship gradually deepened, but I was always conscious of a teacher-student dynamic.

This changed fundamentally when I became a parent. I had my son in March 2010, and Barbara was one of the first to congratulate me. When, nine months later, my child was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease, a rare and always terminal illness with no treatment and no cure, she sent me a letter-handwritten on a white legal pad. For the next two and a half years, Barbara wrote me regular, sometimes weekly, letters, remarkable letters that are revealing, loving, and kind.

The letter written right before my son died, when he was three, was the most personal and perhaps the most profound. “I think he’s made you better by opening up the great fire of your love,” she wrote, “with his small but magnificent existence.” I have never in my life read a more deeply comforting sentence, one that spoke to my grandest hopes, my deepest fears, and the only faith that remains to me, which is a belief in chaos. Our love had bloomed and deepened from a guarded mutual respect to a richer, deeper friendship.

Mentors are meant to lead those in their charge into fresh understanding, help them sort and filter new experiences, assist in the project of making sense out of the chaos that is human life. Mentors observe and accompany the darkest despair, the wildest sorrow, and the most unexpected joy.

【推荐1】Like every gym class I have ever taken, I felt like the odd one out. Opening the door and glancing around the room, I seemed to be the only girl struggling. Everyone else, in their fitted tank tops and leggings, not a hair out of place, looked as if they belonged. I on the other hand, with my curly hair now wildly unleashed, oversized shirt, wondered why I had ever bothered to subject myself to a gym class.

Earlier that year, with a healthy dose of encouragement from my family, I decided to give fitness a real shot. I showed up to my university gym for spin class with my stomach in a bundle of nerves. The first time I tried to stand on the bike pedals, I felt my legs shake and immediately sat down. All the muscles I hadn’t used before creaked as they suddenly engaged in rapid movement. It wasn’t until the third class, when I smoothly transitioned to standing up on the bike, that I started to gain some confidence.

Eventually, as my comfort on the bike grew, I became less focused on how I looked and the exact movements my legs and arms were to engage in and more focused on looking inward. I had never considered myself athletic. But now, rather than agonize (感到痛苦) over my weight, I started to reflect in amazement at my body’s ability to lift groceries, move apartments and all the other countless tasks it did to keep my life moving forward.

Somewhere between being yelled at to squat lower, jump higher and push harder, gym class made me realize that while I was wrong about many things when it came to fitness, I was right about one important thing: What truly matters is showing up, not what you wear or your fitness abilities. Because once you show up, the rest gets easier, one sweaty adventure at a time.

Nathan and Madison Donovan were in the market for a car to drive so she could begin working at a downtown call center. Nathan has been unable to work since breaking his back in a car accident several years ago, and since the bus system in Moncton, New Brunswick doesn't run at night, Madison needed the car to go back to work and get the small family out of social assistance.

When they found an online loan company, they applied for a car loan of $7,000. The company required $600 as collateral (抵押品), and the couple spent all their savings in the hope of being one step closer to getting an automobile.

Days after they made the $600 payment, however, the company’ website was taken down. and the couple’s calls went unanswered. Heartbroken, they contacted CBC News telling their story as a means of preventing other families from making the same mistake. Fortunately, their willingness to save others from the scam (骗局) ended up paying off; A man named Denis LeBlanc had been in the middle of trying to sell his 2007 Volkswagen Jetta when he heard Nathan’s story on the radio.

Denis and his wife had been trying to sell the car for at least $3,700, but they had only received several lowball (低报价) offers from online buyers. By that time, they had already been considering simply giving the car away to charity — so when they heard about Nathan’s situation, they knew just what to do.

Nathan was hesitant to visit a stranger giving away a perfectly good car, but when he showed up, the LeBlancs were true to their word. With great gratitude, Nathan simply got in the Jetta and drove away. The good deed had entirely changed his family’s fortunes for the better. LeBlanc, meanwhile, was able to teach his kids a valuable lesson about helping others who are less fortunate.

【推荐3】In America, men and women are allowed to learn to drive at the age of 16. It’s a turning point in any young person’s life. Being able to drive offers newfound freedom. It can also provide independence. So 16-year-oldAllan Gieger III was especially pleased when his mother and father bought a car for him when he passed his driving test.

His parents had intended him to use the car to drive to school and to work once he found a job. They thought it would give Allan a good start in life. Sadly, Allan did not see it quite the same way as his parents. He could not wait to pick up his friends and drive around the neighbourhood showing off his good luck. His parents felt that he let them down. They tried to speak to him about it, but the 16-year-old chose to ignore(不理会) their protests.

So not long after Allan received the car he was very surprised to see that its picture appeared on a website that sold cars. Next to the photo was the following message: “I have put my son’s car up for sale. I bought it for him as his first car. He thinks it’s cool to drive around with his friends. I don’t think he shows my wife and me enough respect(尊重). My son chose to throw all that away because he’d rather his friends had a stronger influence over him than me.”

Allan could hardly believe what he saw or read. It was reported that his father was able to sell the car within two hours. Now, Allan is carless. The father also received a number of phone calls from other parents congratulating him on what he had done. Allan was very upset at first, but when he saw how many phone calls his father received from other parents he began to consider his own actions.