【推荐1】Many graduation ceremonies look different. But for Melody Ormond, it looked different because of the classmate who graduated alongside her—her grandmother, 75-year-old Pat Ormond. They both went to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) and graduated together.

Pat took her first college class at Kennesaw State University 42 years ago. After one semester, she dropped out to move to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she spent the next several decades working as an accountant and raising a family. While she did take an occasional class at UTC, she says her family continued to encourage her to go back to finish her degree, especially after she retired. She agreed when her granddaughter decided to move to study psychology at UTC after a year at Berea College in Kentucky. They both entered UTC with enough college credits to make graduating together a possibility.

Pat and Melody graduated on November 20 as part of UTC’s 2020 class. The achievement has also made Pat somewhat of a celebrity.

“We are so proud to have graduates like Melody Ormond and her grandmother, Pat Ormond, in the UTC class of 2020,” said Steven R. Angle, UTC Chancellor,” Together, they personify the determination, commitment and love for lifelong learning we encourage in every UTC graduate.”

Pat hopes that she can be an example to other non-traditional college students who want to get their degrees. “Learning never stops,” Pat said. “That’s something that my father taught me when I was young. No matter what you do, learning never stops. Even if it’s auditing (旁听) a few classes, there’s always that option. “Pat isn’t planning to stop anytime soon. She’s already working on another degree — a bachelor’s degree in history.

Meanwhile, her granddaughter, who is hunting jobs, is interested in getting a master’s degree in clinical psychology so she can become a lawyer. But she says she’s in no rush. Her nana has taught her that she has plenty of time.

【推荐2】Once upon a time a peacock and a tortoise became great friends. The peacock lived in a tree on the bank of the stream in which the tortoise had his home, and every day the peacock danced near the stream and displayed his gay plumage（羽毛）for the amusement of his friend.

Unfortunately, one day a bird-catcher caught the peacock and was about to take him away to the market. The unhappy bird begged his captor to allow him to say goodbye to his friend — the tortoise. The bird-catcher agreed and took the peacock to the tortoise, who was greatly astonished when he saw his friend become a captive. The tortoise asked the bird-catcher to let the peacock go, but the bird-catcher laughed at his request, saying that was his livelihood. The tortoise then said, “If I give you a handsome present, will you let my friend go?” “Certainly,” answered the bird-catcher. So the tortoise dived into the water and in a few seconds came up with a handsome pearl. To the bird-catcher’s astonishment, the tortoise handed it to him. This was beyond his expectation, and he let the peacock go immediately.

A short time later, the avaricious man came back and told the tortoise that he thought he had not been paid enough for the release of his friend, and threatened that unless he received another pearl which matched the first one, he would again catch the peacock. The tortoise, who had already advised his friend to go to a distant place on being set free, was greatly enraged（使发怒）at the greed of this man. “Well,” said the tortoise, “if you insist on having another pearl like that one, give it to me and I will fish you out an exact match for it.” The cupidity（贪婪）of the bird-catcher prevented his reasoning that “one in the hand is equal to two in the bed of the stream”, and he quickly gave the pearl to the wily tortoise, who swam out with it, saying, “I am no fool to take one and give two!” and disappeared immediately, leaving the bird-catcher to be sorry for his greed.

【推荐3】My daughter has a new app on her phone that can brighten up old photographs. She used it to make copies of pictures from my old photo albums look better, and emailed them back to me. There were pictures of Mom, Dad, my brothers, me and my first dog, Duke. Looking at them brought back so many loving and happy memories. I even put one on my computer as my new screen saver.

It is a picture of me sitting in my favorite chair, next to a bookcase full of old books. I am wearing my special sweatshirt and hugging Duke. There is a big smile on my face. It was howl spent a lot of my winter afternoons as a boy, hugging Duke and reading old books.

It is strange that the boy still lives inside me 50 years later. I still love comfortable chairs, warm stoves, sweatshirts, hugging dogs and reading books on cold, winter days. Yet, when I look in the mirror now, all I see are thinning and graying hair, age spots and lots of wrinkles. The only thing that hasn’t completely changed in that reflection is my eyes. They are hiding behind glasses now. They are set a little deeper in my eye sockets (眼窝). Only the innocence in them has been replaced with wisdom. But they still have that same joyfulness.

Looking at the little boy smiling at me from the computer screen and that 56-year-old man looking back at me in the mirror can be a bit confusing at times. They seem so different. Still, they are both me. It is one of those things we have to deal with being eternal (永久的) souls living inside temporary bodies. Perhaps the best thing we can do is to pay less attention to those reflections in the mirror and more to the reflections of our lives. We are all here to reflect back love to everyone here on Earth. And when we do, we remain both joyful and forever young.

【推荐3】Mika still remembers the exact moment she was separated from her mother on September 24, 1975. Then just four years old, she and her mother were walking through Penn Station in New York City. Mika saw a candy store and asked whether she could go in. She thought her mother said yes, so she entered. When she returned, her mother was gone.

A policeman found her wandering alone and took her to the police station. Before long, she was placed in an orphanage (孤儿院)where she was given a name—Missy—because she wouldn’t talk. Two years later, she was adopted(收养). Once she finished high school, she moved out, changed her name to Mika. All the while she tried to find her birth family. In 2001, eager for any information, she posted on a website that she had been left at Penn Station and was searching for her birth mother.

Carty, founder of reunitepeople.com, saw the message and decided to help her. She said, “Don’t worry about sending me any money. I’m just going to help you.” Carty worked the case on and off for 16 years without a breakthrough. In December 2017, she sent Mika a DNA test as a Christmas present. After running the results through several databases (数据库), Carty found that Mika was a match with a woman named Kelly, who appeared to be Mika’s first cousin. Carty called Kelly, who at first doubted about the story but finally agreed to help.

When Mika met her long-lost family, her uncle, Joseph, said to her, “I hope you forgive us.” Mika nodded, smiling through her tears.

【推荐1】In a country where many girls are still discouraged from going to school, Sushma Verma is having anything but a typical childhood.

The 13-year-old girl from a poor family in north India has enrolled in (入学登记) a master’s degree in microbiology, after her father sold his land to pay for some of his daughter’s tuition to help her to be part of India’s growing middle class.

Verma finished high school at 7 and earned an undergraduate degree at age 13 with the encouragement of her uneducated and poor parents. “They allowed me to do what I wanted to do,” Verma said, “I hope that other parents don’t make their children accept their choices.”

Sushma lives with her family in a crowded single-room apartment in Lucknow. Their only income is her father’s daily wage of up to 200 rupees (less than $3. 50) for laboring on construction sites. Their most precious possessions include a study table and a second-hand computer. It is not a great atmosphere for studying, she admitted. But having no television and little else at home has advantages, she said. “There is nothing to do but study.”

Her first choice was to become a doctor, but she cannot take the test to qualify for medical school until she is 18. “So I chose the master’s of science and then I will do a doctor’s degree,” she said.

In another family, Sushma might not have been able to receive higher education. Millions of Indian children are still not enrolled in grade school, and many of them are girls whose parents choose to hold them back in favour of advancing their sons. Some from conservative (守旧的) village cultures are expected only to get married. “The girl is an inspiration for students who are born with everything”, said Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak of Sulabh International, who decided to help after seeing a local television program on Sushma. She is also receiving financial aid from well-wishing civilians and other charities.