【推荐1】I grew up with a four-year gap（差距）between myself and my younger brother. It was an enough distance in age to keep us close as we got older, but also enough of an age gap to make sure we lived our own lives in completely different ways. Having a younger brother while I was a girl was a lot of work for there was a lot of fighting.

However, as we've got older, we've become closer, and I've learned several things in life from my younger brother that I didn't realize I needed before.

My younger brother is one of the most talented and creative souls I've known. He's constantly feeding his creativity with new art forms, new instruments. He always seeks to understand and learn more about the world around him. He's helped remind me through his actions and words that giving up on creativity is something a person should never do.

My younger brother has always been a more introverted type, and if you speak to him, you're lucky to get over three words out of him at a time. Because of this, he's certainly learned the whole “actions speak louder than words”thing. But, I've realized from my brother that I needn't speak to fill the silence. Sometimes, it's necessary to spend some of your time in silence and reflect in it.        My younger brother has also been through hard times, but he's able to focus on learning from the hard times, unlike me, who tends to hold on to every little thing from my life. It's always been difficult for me to let things go and move on, but my younger brother has been an inspiration for me to try harder at letting go.

【推荐2】My father really dislikes my stepfather, Mike, and is always calling him names, saying what a “good-for-nothing” guy he is.

Mike knows about his name-calling because sometimes when my father comes to pick me up, he’ll say inconsiderate things right in front of my stepdad like, “Is what’s-his-name going to pick you up after the game, or am I supposed to bring you home?”

Even though it’s rude that my father doesn’t call Mike by his name, my stepdad doesn’t hold it against my father. “Sure, I’ll pick up BeShawn at 3:30, ” he’ll answer. Nor does Mike make a big deal about my father’s inconsiderate attitude towards him. He lets the comments go.

I asked my stepfather if the way my father treats him bothers or upsets him.“Oh，not really, ” he said. “You don’t always have to be right, as long as you do what’s right.” I like it that Mike is secure with himself. My father’s taunts (嘲弄,奚落)don’t bother Mike because he likes himself. My dad’s opinion of my stepdad doesn’t change the way Mike feels about himself.

I really admire Mike. I especially like how he’s good to my mother. And I really like what a good father he is to me. I appreciate all the things he does for me, like teaching me to throw a fastball and helping me with my homework without becoming impatient like my father does. Mike even volunteered at my school’s carnival (狂欢节)this year. No other stepdads were there.

Though I would never tell my real father that I think my stepfather is one of the nicest guys I know, he is. I’m happy to have Mike as my stepfather. Sometimes, I even call Mike “Dad” because he acts like a dad to me. In my eyes, my stepfather is a really great guy.

【推荐2】Van Gogh painted sunflowers for the first time in the summer of 1886. Two years later, his interest appeared again after he settled in Arles. After he had invited the French artist Paul Gauguin, whom he admired, to join his Studio of the South, he began painting sunflowers to brighten up the whitewashed walls of the yellow house he was living in, not far from the town’s railway station.

Gauguin accepted Van Gogh’s invitation. When he began dragging his heels, Van Gogh painted the last two of the four original Sunflowers for the modest bedroom where his guest would sleep following his arrival that autumn. “Van Gogh saw the Sunflowers for Gauguin’s bedroom as a way of attracting his friend to come from Brittany,” says Bailey.

According to Martin Gayford, “Gauguin was very surprised by the Sunflowers, which he repeatedly praised and asked for as a gift. Years later, Gauguin himself painted some sunflower pictures.”

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers stand for his relationship with Gauguin. “I think he painted them for the joy of it,” says Jansen. “Van Gogh was at the height of his powers in the summer of 1888,” explains Bailey. “He painted the Sunflowers quickly and with great energy and confidence.” Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo in late August, “I’m painting quickly now, which won’t surprise you when it’s a question of painting large Sunflowers.”

Van Gogh recognized at once that he had created something important and that his sunflowers were so different. As he told Theo in January 1889, while other artists were known for painting other flowers, “The sunflower is mine.” This, in fact, explains the reason for the popularity of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers today.

【推荐3】Fifteen-year-old Isabella was in fifth grade when a classmate pulled her chair out from under her. As a result of the 2013 incident, Isabella suffered a serious brain injury. The once-active tennis player was banned from participating in all physical activities. Isabella never received an apology from the boy who pulled the chair out from under her. The boy continued to bully her, and Isabella had to be moved to a different class. Unfortunately, her health did not improve with time. By eighth grade, her headaches were so severe that she was no longer able to attend school.

Despite all her struggles, Isabella has managed to remain positive. “I choose not to sit around doing nothing and feeling sorry for myself,” she says. In 2014, she began baking cookies she calls Iznettes. The cookies were so good that she began selling them at her father's Italian restaurant. Isabella donates all of the proceeds from them to anti-bullying and brain injury charities.

In 2017, she won an award from the Brain Injury Association of New York State (BIANYS). According to Eileen Reardon, BIANYS executive director, "Isabella is a leader as a youth advocate, raising awareness of both brain injury and bullying. She truly is an inspiration for so many teens who face similar situations.” By sharing her story, Isabella hopes to make a difference in the lives of others. It is her hope that no one else will suffer in the way that she has. “If I could help just one person, that xkw would be amazing.” she says.

【推荐3】Like most foreigners from English-speaking countries, Holt’s first job in China was teaching English in training centers and middle schools. Since November, 2021, he has been a teacher at New Channel, a Beijing-based language training institute. “I teach them theater,” he said.

Holt was very shy as a kid. In the first grade, he was invited to “star” in Romeo and Juliet. He declined. But his teacher insisted on giving him the biggest part. “He gave me the power to empower(给予力量) myself,” Holt explained. He intended to pass on that same feeling. So he studied theater and education at the Evergreen State College in the US, and then went to Asia, first the Republic of Korea, then China.

“Teaching theater and public speaking in China is wonderful,” he said. Training aside, he and his colleagues also adapt Chinese stories, like The Monkey King, into English screenplays for students. “Children literally want to be as dramatic as possible instead of just reciting words,” he said.

But teaching is not all it’s cracked up to be. “The biggest challenge is to get the introverted (内向的) kids—or adults—to speak up,” Holt added. Making the shyest kid the director is one of his methods to build them up. And the change with them is noticeable: students who’d barely utter a word before end up being the loudest person in the room. “I love to see that turnaround,” Holt said.

His future plan is to get as many children as possible to feel more empowered, and “make theater a little bridge” between China and other countries.

Art makes for a universal conversation start. Despite disagreements among different countries, people from different countries can get along well through art. “I think it’s a really powerful thing that we can all share,” he said.