【推荐1】School bus driver was not Michael Mason’s first job. In fact, he had retired from the FBI. “About half of the FBI fell under me,” Mason said. “And I was fourth on the FBI’s food chain.” But unlike many retirees, Mason was not sitting at home and relaxing. He started a new job — as a bus driver.

The shortage of bus drivers had impacted countless families nationwide. One single mother in Baltimore said she was forced to call a taxi three to four times a week just to get her kids to school. In Massachusetts, National Guard members were sent to drive buses. Pennsylvania was considering doing the same.

Mason found out about the school bus driver shortage in his area while watching TV, and decided to do something to help. “When COVID-19 struck, there were so many people that were doing so many extra things,” he said.

“People like convenience store workers; people like telecommunications workers. All kinds of people who still had to do their job,” Mason continued. “And I felt like I could be doing something to help in this post-COVID recovery.”

He hoped to inspire others to take part. “I believed if all of us gave a little something, we could greatly impact this world and change this world,” he said.

It might not be his first job, but Mason took his job seriously. “Before we start up the bus each morning, we do what’s called a pre-examination,” he said, making his rounds on the bus. “The thing that we want to primarily make sure of is that every kid is going to be safe on this bus.”

“I’ve done some important things, but guess what? This is important, too,” Mason said.

【推荐2】In my whole life I was frightened by doctors. So when I recently launched a series of writing and publishing courses, I was shocked to find among my students several physicians, the same profession as my father. And they all wanted to be writers. Whenever someone mentioned their medical background, I’d think: I have to call Dad to tell him, but I couldn’t.

Raised up in a big Michigan family with three brilliant loud science brain brothers, I’d always felt left out by their Disease Game at dinner, where Dad threw out cases for them to diagnose. Our house was their laboratory. I was frequently scared by bees in jars in the refrigerator and pet rats.

Getting to study medicine was always Dad’s dream, so he encouraged the boys to follow in his footsteps. But I never truly settled down, chasing my dream for literary here and there. My father opposed my liberalism. I was overjoyed when Random House published my humorous memoirs (回忆录) about my past addictions. My father wasn’t so joyful. “You’re bringing disgrace on our family,” he snapped.

At 87, when my father was admitted to hospital with heart and kidney failure, we had a rare afternoon alone. Sitting by his bed, I apologized for taking so long to figure out my life.

“I have a lot of regrets,” he said, “It took me too long to make a decent living, screwing up jobs because of my bullheadedness and big mouth.”

I was nervous when his physician Olaf emailed me, but it wasn’t bad news. “Your dad says you’re a professor who helps people publish. Could you help me?” he asked.

“What did you tell Olaf about me?” I questioned Dad that night, still surprised.

“That you stuck to your guns and became a success,” he said.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me that?”

“I’m telling you now,” he said. He was pleased when I helped Olaf publish his first magazine piece.

I wish Dad were here so I could share the latest stories by my physician students. But I lost him four years ago. In a way, he still is, as I channel everything he taught me about hard work, and never giving up doing what you love.

【推荐3】I was hiking with Sam and Kyle to show them a cliff where they could feel the sea spray on their faces. I knew the area could be dangerous, but I was not worried for I had hiked there many times.

We sat in the sun and watched the waves throw themselves against the rock. Then I crept (爬) up to the edge, Kyle right behind me. I found a seat-shaped place and sat down with much contentment. When Kyle came near, I gave him my place. He settled in and I moved a few feet over where the smooth rock had no holds.

Suddenly, a monstrous wave came. I felt myself starting to slide. The water washed me off the cliff and forced me under. I screamed for help. I swam hard for the shore. I was not a strong swimmer but I tried rimming for shore anyway, battling the warm water the best I could. Soon, I realized the sea had swept me farther out.

“Sam!” I yelled. “Kyle, help me and send a helicopter!” After about thirty minutes, I saw a helicopter. I could see Sam and Kyle looking anxiously from it. My eyes lit up and my heart missed a beat. The helicopter buzzed overhead, and then kept on going. I floated on my back to make myself more visible, my body pale in contrast to the darker ocean. When the helicopter came by again, I moved my arms and legs desperately to attract their attention. Again, the helicopter disappeared. Helpless, I stared in disbelief as they missed seeing me twice in a row. Deciding that I needed to save my energy, I continued floating on my back and closed my eyes.

Gradually, a noise grew louder. I soon realized a helicopter was overhead. The crew had seen me, but it might be too late. Waves of exhaustion overwhelmed me. My leg muscles tightened uncontrollably. “This is it,” I thought, as I gave up to the weight that was pulling me down.

Then, I felt a strong arm wrap across my chest and turned to see a rescue diver. He asked me if I was alright. The next thing I knew was that I was in the air. The waves that had just been big enough to kill me suddenly seemed small.

【推荐1】As Ruslan and his friend fished, they suddenly spotted three creatures in the water. It was a mother bear and her two cubs, swimming along trying to cross the lake. “This in itself was not an unusual sight, as bears are extremely common in the Russian wilderness,” said Ruslan.

But soon the men realized something was not right. As the mother swam confidently toward one of the islands, her cubs were starting to struggle. Ruslan and his friend could not believe what they were seeing. The two fishermen were faced with the very real possibility of watching the young bears drown. It was something they couldn’t allow to happen. Ruslan didn’t want to approach the cubs while their mother was still within reach, fearing she might turn around and attack them and their boat. But as the seconds ticked along, he and his friend watched the cubs become more desperate. Finally he decided that when the mother was at a safe distance, they sailed toward the cubs, slowly not to frighten them. To their amazement, it seemed as though the young bears knew this was a lifeline.

The cubs swam close enough to the boat to put their paws on the side. But they kept slipping as they couldn’t get a strong hold to pull themselves onto the boat. The men decided to use their fishing net to help pull the cubs onto the boat. But it would not be easy—two totally wet bear cubs were infinitely heavier than the fish the net was designed to hold.

But this was their best chance, so they had to try. Ruslan jumped into the water while his friend took the net and slowly slid it under the cubs, hoping to pull them up. The cubs turned toward the men and looked straight at them, seemingly acknowledging their efforts to help. Then, an incredible thing happened. The cubs made it onto the boat at last.

【推荐3】When I was thirteen years old, I became very interested in shopping. After a while being just a buyer, I wanted to sell something. I had many things around the house from my childhood that I no longer needed. I knew, with the help of my father, I could make money. So far months and months I enjoyed myself by selling things on my dad’s account (账户).

On December 9, 2020, I opened my own account and began to start my own business. Things were going great and then I realized that selling things around house wasn’t making me the kind of money that I wanted to make, so I decided to turn my business into a resale shop. I went around to the garage sale (旧货出售处) and bought items at low prices and sold them at higher prices.

Last November, I went to a garage sale that was a little bit different. A single lady had many nice items that I knew I would sell quickly. I went up to her and started a conversation with her. Through the conversation, I knew she was jobless at the moment and needed money to support her family. I decided to sell any of her things for her to help her out. She looked at me for a moment and then broke into tears. I took away some of her things and over the next month I made over $1,500 for her! She was so thankful for all of my help.

I have never felt so happy to help someone in my life. I felt as if I had made a difference in this world and that my skills could be used to help someone who would really need it.