【推荐1】Types Of Students You Will Meet In College

There are thousands of universities around the world, and each school boasts its own traditions and slogans. Some schools pride themselves on sports, while others emphasize their research facilities. While there are a myriad of differences among each and every school, there will always be these three types of students in class.

The one who sits in the front row

There’s at least one of these people in every single class,whether it’s a required General Education class or an upper division major course. These students always sit in the front row and ask at least five questions every lecture.

They attend all the discussions and office hours, and try to turn in homework at least a week in advance. These are also the people who remind professors about assigned homework and upcoming exams. Nothing bad about being studious, but are they even human?

The one who never studies (but still aces the class)

Standing as probably the most frustrating category of people in this list, these students won’t know about a midterm until two days before. They go to class every once in a while when the class time doesn’t clash with one of their many elaborate social plans, but never pay attention. Somehow, they still ace all their exams and end up with the top grade in the class.

The one who always falls asleep

This person comes to class every day, but somehow never stays awake for more than 20 minutes. You can sometimes hear the occasional snore from a corner of a large lecture hall, or catch their heads nodding like a pendulum near the front of the class if they’re the studious type. But let’s be real here: we’ve all been one of those students at some point.

【推荐2】Two weeks ago, I had an amazing trip to my friend's house in Serawai. Serawai is the name of a sub-district in Sintang Regency, Indonesia.

At that time, I was warmly welcomed by peaceful green yard. My trip was full of unforgettable moments: great people, delicious food, new cultures. However, what left a remarkable impression on me was meeting up with my friend's dad, Fx. Ngawan. He is now working as an education supervisor in Sintang Regency.

At our first encounter, he looks like a typical Dayaknese man with dark skin. As he mentioned that he used to be an English teacher, we discovered we were a match! I am an English teacher myself. More importantly, he is a language enthusiast and a hyperpolyglot(超级多语者). During the talk, we often switched from one language to the other such as Indonesian, English, Javanese to Ahe. He is now fluent in at least 15 languages and most of them are local languages.

When he was assigned to be a teacher and education supervisor, he had to go all the way rom Serawai sub-district to Sintang Regency by motorcycle, riding about 170 km by motorcycle. The trip can take six hours if the day is bright and sunny. However, it is not uncommon for him to spend three to seven days for the journey if the raining season comes. Therefore, he has to stop at some villages if he can't continue the trip and meet up with people with so many different languages along the way. So, whenever he stops in a particular village, he learns a different language. For him, learning languages helps him to connect with people.

In our last talk, he highlighted(强调) the importance of learning languages. He hopes hat the younger generation in Indonesia start realizing that language is the gate to open up so many opportunities. Local languages are facing disappearance because more people are leaving it behind. When people stop speaking the languages, the knowledge and culture from that language will also disappear.

【推荐3】Located in the Bahamas, Andros Island is also known as “The Sleeping Giant”，yet with only about 8.000 people living on it. Now the island has a new luxury resort Caerula Mar Club- which opened this February. The once-abandoned property was discovered by a well- known HGTV reality star couple who transformed it into a hotel. The Canadian design duo Bryan and Sarah Baeumler were vacationing in the Bahamas in the summer of 2017 when they discovered a once-abandoned resort. They instantly decided to purchase it with hopes to transform the 10-acre beachfront property into a luxury hotel.

However, they had no idea how much the investment would end up costing them. Here most supplies had to be shipped in, and the property was in bad shape. The budget for the remodelling should be around $ 4 million, but they've spent well over $ 10 million. What's worse, in the fall of 2019, category 5 Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas, and their employees and friends were affected.

Finally, several months later, as they prepared to open the resort to the public, the Coronavirus pandemic （大流行病）struck. They'd just been fully booked throughout the fall and winter months when the new disaster stopped everything as the Bahamas were put on lockdown.

With tourism opening up again, new plans are now for an October launch, but they're just taking things one day at a time. "I think at the end of this pandemic, well find many people are searching for a different experience，” says Bryan. "Instead of crowding into large resorts, they'll be going to properties where they can meet people, connect with the locals and experience nature. Our hotel is just such a place.”

Now the couple is focusing on the future while creating new development for visitors. “We certainly have plans to responsibly and sustainably develop the island that will help support the local economy says Bryan.

【推荐2】Tash was waiting in line at the supermarket when she noticed the young mum in front of her struggling to pay her bill. Tash knew it was only a matter of time before the woman’s young child became fussy (难缠的), and she felt for the mum, who appeared upset and embarrassed.

Having been in a similar position in the past, Tash didn’t hesitate to jump in and pay for her shopping. Her reasoning was simple: “Pay it forward.” “It was just really nice to help her out,” Tash says. “It was only $ 50 or something like that, it wasn’t a huge amount. But afterwards, the woman gave me a hug and had tears in her eyes... and I got a bit emotional as well.”

“In today’s day and age, with what we’re all going through, just to get that feeling of, ‘Oh wow, there is good out there’... it’s nice to hear there is a bit of humanity,” Tash says.

People start to help others by doing things for other people. But you don’t have to break the bank, or even open your wallet, to give paying it forward a go. Psychologist Dr Lishman says offering compliments or praise to strangers, or hand-making items or food for those in need, can serve the same purpose. Alternatively, donating clothes or books to a charity or mentoring (指导) a student can also be considered ways to get involved. All you need is to set out with the intention of helping someone you don’t know, without any expectation of reward, acknowledgement or payback.

That can lead to an increased sense of connection and a rise in feel— good hormones, which floods us with positive emotions. Knowing that our good deeds can make a “massive difference” to someone else’s mental health and mood can also boost our own wellbeing.

【推荐3】It was hard not to notice the 8-year-old boy Brooke across the street who stormed in and out of his own house. He did it so often that a neighbor, Chris, wondered what was going on in his life. So Chris asked him.

“He told me that he didn’t have a father,” says Chris, now 58, “and I realized there might be something I could do for him.”

That something was fishing, and Chris’s father taught him how to fish. “Fishing always brought me peace and it taught me how to be patient. When you’re on the water, you can forget about your problems and just appreciate the moment,” Chris said.

One Saturday afternoon on the water led to another, and soon he was teaching other kids in their neighborhood, Lakeland, Florida, how to fix a line, hold a pole, and roll in a big catch. That was 16 years ago.

Since then, Chris has taken groups of kids out almost every weekend to fish. Then, in 2018 he started the nonprofit Take a Kid Fishing Inc. He and a small group of volunteers have introduced more than 2, 500 kids — most without fathers around — to the calming peace found on the water and the excitement of catching a fish.

One of those kids was Jayden, who struggled emotionally when his father died in a car accident in January 2020.

“He was really close to his dad,” says Jayden’s mother, Terra. “And with two younger sisters, he felt he needed to take over the man-of-the-house role. He was trying to be strong for everyone and didn’t show his emotion. I was wondering what to do to help him, and then I learned about Take a Kid Fishing Inc.”

Jayden, now 13, has become a devoted fisherman and credits Chris with helping him mature.

“There’s nothing like feeling that first tug (猛拉) on the line and seeing a kid light up with a smile,” Chris says. “I feel lucky to witness that every weekend.”