【推荐1】Why I Always Travel With a Paper Map in Hand

The first thing I do when I arrive in a foreign city is find a paper map. To me, it's the single most important task I have to accomplish upon arrival.

    1     I learn where I am in relation to the rest of the city, the names of neighborhoods and the major street. I figure out where the subway stations are, how I can get to the best walking routes.

Then I use that paper map to figure out which sights are closest to each other and how I can use my time most efficiently.     2     I note the neighborhoods I want to visit along the way.

No doubt you may wonder why I don5t just pull out my phone. I do own a smartphone with GPS.     3     It shows a specific destination and a precise route to get there. But it doesn’t put the journey into context, which I dislike. I always want to know where I am in relation to everything else.

My trusty map, on the other hand, is all about context. Ask me the nearest bridge, major market or landmark, and I'll be able to tell you in an instant. Besides, a paper map does not run out of battery.     4     It is easily replaceable.

For a traveler like myself, that paper map is like an entrance into another world. Staring at it transports me into a dreamlike state. I imagine all the places I'll go and the things I will do.     5    

【推荐2】When attending holiday parties, we are eager to help our hosts in the kitchen, with food and drink service, and with post-party cleanup, which sometimes causes more trouble and stress for a host.     1     Here’s what professional event planners recommend.

Be sure to respond in a timely manner.     2     If the invitation asks you to respond, do so well before the host has to reach out to confirm your attendance. Hosts who don’t want their guests to help out during the party can hint that all has been taken care of right on the invitation.

    3     Asking a host if you can assist on the event date can be overwhelming, but extending that offer while the host is still planning the party and putting the details together may prove more useful. If you are someone who loves to help, contact the host in advance and offer your assistance.     4    

Don’t show up early. Respect the event’s start time and arrive on time or 5 minutes later than the time on the invitation. If the invitation says 7:15 pm, guests should arrive between 7:15 and 7:20.

When the party is over, don’t stay. At the end of the evening, you can make one last offer to help the host tidy up the space. But if they refuse, don’t insist.     5     So it’s the guest’s responsibility to leave at an appropriate hour.

【推荐3】Three Most Common Regrets People Have Later in Life

If you follow Gary Vaynerchuk, then you’re probably aware of how much he talks about regret. This is a list of the most common regrets people have.     1    .

 Being afraid to say “I Love You”

I probably only said those words to three people in my entire life. Why are we so afraid to say “I love you”? Because it might make us vulnerable?     2    ?

Three words could make somebody’s day, their week, their month, their year, even their life! So don’t be so afraid to tell people you love them.

 Care too much about what other people think

    3    . I would be scared to do all the things I wanted to do, in case my friends or the people around me thought it was stupid.

Truth is, it’s your life, and you have to be happy with it. You cannot let the opinions of others dictate how you are going to live your life.     4    , “We spend money that we do not have, on things we do not need, to impress people who do not care.”

Stop worrying so much about what other people will think of you for the decisions you make.

     5    

Quite frankly, if you live your whole life without ever taking a big risk, you may have lived a very boring life.

Risks don’t always pay off, but they’re involved with all of life’s best experiences. Those who aren’t open to taking risks will never be able to see the most of what life has to offer.

【推荐1】As we grow up, it becomes natural for people around us to lose contact with the hobbies that once were dominant in their lives. While it’s painful to accept this, the new reality becomes normal for most of us as we face new academic, adult and job responsibilities.

I’ve been dancing since I was four and I plan to continue dancing in college. However, I’ve always feared that dancing will affect my study and eventually become a brilliant memory of my childhood. After learning about Sommer Gentry’s story, I had an answer.

Sommer Gentry, previously a professor of mathematics at the United States Naval Academy and a coach at the Naval Academy’s Swing Dance Club, is currently a teacher at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Gentry and her husband also started a swing dance community to introduce non-dancers to swing dance.

Through teaching, Gentry was inspired to view dancing from an engineering point of view. She said, “I realized it is an engineering question: how do you dance well with someone? It’d be great to give people mathematical and engineering proofs that they have to dance the way I say.” Gentry investigated the complex haptic (触觉的) communication behind the moves in swing dance and showed that two persons could move in coordination (协调) with pure haptic communication, She entered an exciting area of research which is about engineering, psychology and human motor control.

It’s incredibly inspiring that Gentry was able to intertwine her academic work with her passion for dancing. Gentry said, “It means that even when I’m dancing outside, I’m thinking about my research project.”

Gentry found that digging into her academic interest does not mean letting go of her other non-academic ones. Instead, she found a way to include both in her professional life. Just like me, Gentry is a mathematician and dancer, thus, her story resonates (引起共鸣) strongly with me, and I want to be like her in the future.

【推荐1】Being a teenager during a global pandemic (疫情) is difficult. We’re spending much of the time in our own homes, and most well-known places become hard to reach. I hope to find joy in nature and use it as an escape from too many online classes and screen time. When my friend Evan suggested that another friend, Philbert, and I join him on a socially distanced hike to Mount Baldy, the tallest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles, US, I eagerly accepted his offer.

As experienced hikers, Evan, Philbert and I were well-prepared. We first threw obvious necessities such as water and snacks into our backpacks, which were followed by less common emergency supplies: first aid kits (药箱), flashlights , compasses and maps. We had studied the paths that we would take.

Waking up at dawn, I was very excited, and the start of the hike began smoothly as the three of us enjoyed the fresh morning air. Over the course of our climbing, we stopped for short breaks man times and were even able to see the mountain’s ski hut when it was not in use. We took the long hike to the summit as a chance to chat freely. We discussed our favorite movie, computer game and the coming NBA season that was soon to start. The final climbing was the steepest (最陡峭的)—hikers such as ourselves were surprised when we were close to a steep cliff on the side that stood over the valley. Careful steps and determination finally brought us to the top—3,069-meter height, where we took a long break to catch our breath and enjoy the view with renewed confidence to overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic.