The skies were clear, not a cloud in sight. Although the calmness of the atmosphere should seem to ease my state of mind, my fear of heights overpowered any positive thoughts about the coming dive. Although I was terrified, I grew the courage to take a glance and was shocked by the breathtaking view that my eyes laid upon. The tops of the cloud gave forth a gold lining around them. “Oh, how beautiful!” I said to myself.

It was time to start preparing for my first dive. We rode into town and purchased some equipment such as a vest, a regulator and a tank. Everything seemed to be in good condition to dive with. All of my equipment was ready to see the waters.

We then ventured across the island to the spot where we were to begin our dive. Getting out of the car, I noticed that the air was quiet and misty. The wind was curiously strong and carried a cold chill(寒意)with it. “This is where we will get in,” the diving instructor said.

I was told that, in order to access the water, I had to jump. Now, this was not a simple “jump”. “There is little chance that I can do that. Do you even realize how high up we are?” I said to my mother. “Yes, you can! Just trust yourself. Just think of it as your chance to feel like you are flying,” my mother encouraged me.

My mother just could not seem to understand how fearful I was. My heart was beating violently. I was almost certain that the fish could even hear my heartbeat. Terrified and shaking uncontrollably, I could not make myself jump. The sound of the waves made me terrified. The waves were rhythmically pounding into the side of the bank, so violently that the water reached the same height that I stood.

Although terrified, I gathered courage and told myself that I could do it.

Once in the water, I opened my eyes to a whole new world.

One year ago, when we were in the fifth grade, a new classmate named Jack joined us. He was often late for class and had a strange smell on him, which made the girls not want to be “neighbours” with him, let alone sit next to him. It is said that once, a naughty boy curiously opened his backpack and many crushed soda cans and empty drink bottles that we usually throw into the trash fell out. Therefore, the boys in our class mocked (嘲笑) him as the “trash king”.

Later, during a class meeting, our teacher, Ms. Zhang, told us about his story of using garbage to make inventions. It turns out that Jack is not an ordinary elementary school student, but a “garbage-inspired inventor” who has won the city invention award. According to Ms. Zhang, most of his inventions were picked up from garbage dumps (堆). During that class meeting, Jack showed us his invention of a“domestic wastewater separation system”.

Afterwards, some of us became deeply interested in these small inventions and started to admire Jack’s way of “picking up trash”. We even joined him in picking up trash on weekends and during holidays. From then on, we no longer called him the “trash king“. Instead, we formed a group of five boys and actively searched for usable materials in various garbage dumps around the city. Under Jack’s guidance, we learned that there are many uses for seemingly useless trash. Once, we stayed at school to process the collected materials. Jack mentioned that he was facing a problem with his latest invention—a small cart for buying vegetables that needed to be lightweight. All other materials were solved except for the wheels. How could we find a suitable material for the wheels? We racked our brains (绞尽脑汁) and came up with different ideas, such as using soda cans or taking off the wheels from suitcases. However, Jack reminded us that our group should focus on making inventions from waste rather than causing damage to create them. We were all deep in thought.

Ryan Swift was a bright and thoughtful boy with a big heart. He lived in Adams County, Colorado, and attended a small primary school. His teacher, Mrs. Miranda Green, was a kind and dedicated educator who always spend extra time with the kids to help them.

At home, the Swifts often expressed gratitude for Mrs. Green’s daily emails, which provided them with ways to help Ryan improve. They sometimes mentioned that the teachers were not fully rewarded for the contributions they made in developing children into responsible adults. Kids were always listening to their conversations, and they were quick to model adults’ behaviour.

As Ryan’s birthday drew near, a sense of excitement grew inside him. He would get this year’s birthday money from his parents, but this time, he wanted to do something truly special rather than spend the money on toys or treats for himself. Ryan decided to give Mrs. Green, his beloved teacher, a well-deserved pay rise.

The next morning after his birthday, Ryan arrived at school with a big smile on his face. Holding his school bag to his chest, he had a secret of his own — he had carefully placed $15 in bills along with a heartfelt note inside a plastic zip-lock bag.

I don’t think that you get paid enough for what you’ve done for us, so will you accept this gift?

Ryan Swift

He was the first to arrive at the classroom and tiptoed up to Mrs. Green’s desk. With a bit of anxiety, he placed the zip-lock bag on her desk, making sure it was hidden under a pile of papers. His heart pounded wildly in his chest as he quickly returned to his seat, trying to act as usual.

Throughout the morning, Ryan stole glances at Mrs. Green, wondering when she would find the surprise. The anticipation was almost unbearable, but he knew that the joy on her face would be worth it. “Mrs. Green must be thrilled to have this pay rise!” Ryan couldn’t help smiling to himself when picturing the scene in his mind.

One of my leachers once asked my class what our favorite memory was. My leacher asked for the moment in which “you fell the best; you fell that you had the world in the palms of your hand.” Some described amazing awards; other described winning a tournament. My answer, however, invited giggles and hesitant smiles. Why? Because I felt the best when I first learned how to ride my bike at thirteen. I didn’t mind my classmates’ stares and mockery, because I knew there was more to the story.

My elder sister and I shared a typical sisterly relationship: we couldn’t stand each other. I was an annoyance to her. Any sort of conversation we had usually ended up fighting. Gradually, I started to learn to be totally indifferent; perhaps the silent treatment would get more approval. I was wrong. We soon fell into a sad pattern. I avoided her, and she ignored me.   Deep inside, it hurt. So that was how it was between us. She was only a sister in name. I truly believed that we would forever be apart, two housemates without conversation, two strangers without warmth.

I still remember the day I learned to ride a bike. I had received the bike that Christmas, which was great, until I realized that I had no idea how to ride it. My mom had long abandoned any attempt to teach me. I had proven to be a frustrating student. I took it upon myself to learn, a little bit each day. It was no different. I was coming to the end of my daily one-hour torture(折磨). I was so frustrated that I threw my bike aside and began to cry.

I guess that was what caused my sister to come outside.

“I made it,” I exclaimed with delight.

I heard about Matthew through my Aunt Mary. He was the son of Aunt Mary’s sister and she referred to him too often.

We were compared hundreds of times as we grew up. I remembered the first day I began school. I lay on the floor in the classroom, crying that I wanted to go home. At night, my mother said Aunt Mary told her that Matthew started school on the same day and enjoyed his school life like a duck to water.

And so it went on. What a genius (天オ), he knew his nine - times table (九九乘法表) like the back of his hand, while I was still hopelessly stuck in the fours ; I began to be afraid of Aunt Mary’s visits. She always brought chocolate for me, but as soon as she had gone, Mother was sure to say the words:

“Tom, Aunt Mary was telling me that Matthew…”

According to Aunt Mary, Matthew never took a math exam without getting a full mark and never took part in a football match without scoring a goal while I was bad at neither Math nor sports.

Aunt Mary kept saying we boys should meet each other and be good friends. Luckily, Matthew and I never got to meet each other.

When I was in high school, news about Matthew stopped after Aunt Mary stopped visiting us. She passed away. But Matthew was still a role model in my mind. I studied as hard as I could, minding nothing else. My hard work paid off and I was admitted to a key university. Personally speaking, I was really grateful to Aunt Mary and did want to meet Matthew in person. They both shaped my life.

One day, I was reading a book on campus when a fat short boy of my age with big glasses approached me, asking shyly whether I was Tom.

I had never seen the boy before, wondering who he was.

He was surprised, saying Aunt Mary told him

Sometimes, life just throws a huge curveball at you, and you have to deal with it. For this girl, she kept going even though that curveball took away most of her.

Kate, 17, was riding home from Bear Lake with her families when they were hit by a truck. It was not a very serious traffic accident.

It was just a crash without causing any deaths. But it brought misfortune to Kate. She suffered the worst out of anyone in the car. In other words, she was the worst injured in her family.

Kate was badly injured from the waist down. There was no blood flow in her legs, and things weren’t looking good. She needed both legs amputated(截肢) above the knee and spent two months in the hospital. At that age, most of her classmates would be getting ready for college. But fate wasn’t so kind to her.

It was not easy to get back on track after such a misfortune, but life was still worth living on. At this time, Kate knew that she must encourage herself to be even stronger and fight with every challenge more bravely than before. She had to gain more confidence to shoulder the burden that nobody in her age had ever faced.

She was a cheerleader(啦啦队队员) at school, after all. She knew better than anyone that some encouragement and hard work can really make a difference. As a to-be adult, she also showed her uncertainty about her own future. She sometimes asked her mum whether she would ever drive or swim again. Her mother answered yes to everything she asked.

However, one thing was for sure: Kate would need a wheelchair for the rest of her life. What would you do if you had to live on a wheelchair? What would you do if you wanted to return to your stage? Luckily, Kate didn’t feel or do as you did.

Kate had to relearn how to live on a wheelchair.

Then the last football game of the season arrived.