【推荐3】Leaving India for the United Kingdom to continue my research career, I felt more out of place than before. At work, I shied away from discussions, let alone putting forward my opinions. I was afraid my colleagues would see me through and realize how weak I really felt. Some mornings, just stepping out of my room and going into the lab seemed a challenging task.

That began to change after a quiet breakdown in the lab urged me to contact the university’s mental health services. I was advised to attend a concert by a famous singer from my motherland. There I was in the packed concert hall, surrounded by strangers — all of us clapping and singing along to the familiar songs. It was a complete victory. I’ve changed a lot since then.

Soon, I planned a day trip to a picturesque city a few hours away. As I took pictures of the beautiful surroundings, and enjoyed a lemonade there, I realized nobody was really paying any attention to me. My confidence and self-recognition grew as I enjoyed more local day trips. My growing self-confidence carried over to work, where I started to speak up and put forward my opinions. I began to ask questions during departmental discussions.

So, when an important conference relevant to our research came around, I felt comfortable registering to attend on my own even if my colleagues weren’t interested in it. Not only did I meet the speakers, but I also introduced myself to other attendees and industry representatives, chatting about their products. The experience inspired me to evaluate my own professional interests.

Since then, I have had confidence to move to other countries, enthusiastic about new opportunities. Traveling alone did not give me any magical power, but taught me that I have the competence to grow and succeed, just like everyone around me, and it helped me get rid of the self-doubt that used to hold me back.

【推荐1】Before she was crowned (加冕) Miss Amazing National in Chicago, US, Vanessa Cleary had never thought of herself as a beauty pageant (选美) competitor.

Yet the way in which Vanessa told the story of her birth mother’s struggle to help her with her disabilities and the positive impact her adoption had on her life helped her win over the judges last month. After the pageant, in which she took top honors in the junior teen division, the 15- year-old girl said she’s looking forward to telling her friends about her experience so they can join in as well. “I want everyone to have the experience I had,” Vanessa said. “It was really fun and I really enjoyed it.”

Miss Amazing is a pageant for girls with learning disabilities. In the ten years since it began, 1700 girls with disabilities have benefited from it. The pageant is designed to help the girls who participate to build sisterhoods, develop life skills, and increase visibility for those in the disabled community.

The main event of the pageant is the stage performance, in which participants get to showcase a talent of their choice. When Vanessa’s mother first heard about Miss Amazing, she thought the pageant would be a great opportunity for Vanessa to showcase her skill for public speaking. Vanessa wants to be a teacher to teach other students who have disabilities like her.

Vanessa’s vision and hearing is impaired, and she has a disability that makes reading difficult for her. Despite this, she is very active and loves public speaking. For Vanessa, it wasn’t about winning the pageant. It was about the opportunity for her to participate and feel supported.

【推荐2】Last Thursday, Michael and Linda stood behind large food trucks distributing meals to 4,000 homeless people for their wedding reception on the border town of Kilis. The couple had decided that instead of hosting their friends and family for a traditional feast reception, they would feed the victims from an earthquake-stricken area.

The idea came from the bridegroom's father, Ted, who volunteers for a Turkish relief organization. For the past few years, the organization has distributed daily meals to thousands of people who've suffered from natural disasters. He approached a representative of the organization and suggested that the family cover part of the costs of feeding them for the day.

Then he told his son, who was surprised by the suggestion, but soon won over. When he told that to the bride, she was really shocked but finally accepted because in southeastern Turkey there is a real culture of sharing with people in need. They love to share their food, their table and everything they have. And afterwards she was quite amazed about it. So, they arrived at the distribution center on Thursday to spend the day serving food and taking photographs with their grateful recipients (接受者).

On Tuesday evening, the newly married couple were still pleased with their decision to quit a personal celebration for one with a greater good. “It's like sharing a dinner with your friends and family who have this kind of thing on a daily basis or sharing something with people who don't even have the most basic things,” Michael said. “Hopefully, this will also give the start for other wedding dinners to be held here with our brothers and sisters in need.”

【推荐3】Former Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz grew up in a New York City housing project. His early options were limited and he could hardly dream about starting an international business. In 1961, the whole family was left with no income because his father broke an ankle working as a truck driver. Watching his father lying on the bed with his leg in a cast, Schultz decided to do something different in life. Schultz played football in high school and managed to get an athletic scholarship to Northern Michigan University. He became the first college graduate in his family.

Schultz’s first job after finishing school was in sales at Xerox, where he was supposed to sell word processors. Then he took another job in sales at Hammarplast, a housewares (家居用品) business. However, he grew impatient with these two jobs soon. Schultz first came across Starbucks while still working for Hammarplast. He was struck by the passion (热情) of the founders Gerald Baldwin and Gordon Bowker and their courage in selling the product that would appeal only to a specific niche (市场定位) of coffee enthusiasts. It took a whole year for Schultz to persuade Baldwin and Bowker to hire him as the head of marketing. The new position meant that Schultz was going to travel around the world and represent Starbucks.

His fate changed when the company sent him to an international housewares exhibition in Milan. Schultz had an epiphany (顿悟) when he saw the Italian espresso tradition. The people in Italy had a personal relationship with coffee.

Schultz came back to America with new ideas. He wanted to replicate the Italian tradition in Starbucks. The founders felt differently. He then decided to leave Starbucks to start his own coffee company. The new company caught on quickly. Eventually, it managed to buy Starbucks. Schultz became the CEO of Starbucks Corporation and he is one of the wealthiest people on the planet.