【推荐1】Tyler was a troublesome student, who sat in the back row of the classroom. Every time I called him to answer questions, he’d reply with a flip (轻率的) answer. If he got it wrong, he would get very angry.

Usually kids could sit quietly in class. However, Tyler was just loud. One day, Tyler was talking while I was teaching. I said to him, “Tyler, why not join in our discussion instead of having one of your own?” He got up from his chair, pushed it over, and shouted something I can’t remember. I sent him to the office and he received a week’s out-of-school punishment.

The week was a wonderful time for me without the noisy Tyler, but when it came to an end, I began to feel worried. So I came up with a plan. On the day of his return, I told him I wanted to start over with him. If he felt like he was going to lose control in class, he could step outside the door for a moment.

From then on, Tyler was a changed student in my classroom. In fact he was a smart child and he even stopped a fight between two students one day. And he never used the privilege (特权) to leave the class for moment. I believe that just letting him decide for himself made all the difference.

When the school year was over, he wrote me a thank-you note about how good the year had been for him. I still have it today and find it very moving to reread when I get stressed about teaching.

【推荐2】TEAN is committed to giving students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience studying abroad in a new and exciting culture. We recognize that in many instances additional funding is necessary to make the study abroad experience both affordable and realistic. These scholarships were created as an attempt to help students with the financial commitments required for an international education experience.

TEAN provides numerous scholarships, including an annual full ride scholarship, need- and merit-based scholarships, diversity scholarships, even a photography scholarship, plus others.

The Education Abroad Network Full Ride Scholarship is designed to give a stand-out student the opportunity to study abroad. The scholarship can be used for any Summer or Fall TEAN program and covers tuition, program fees, orientation and housing.

● Students must have their study abroad office complete the Statement from University form in order to be considered for the scholarship.

● Must meet GPA (Grade Point Average) requirement for the individual program that they want to attend.

● Must be a university student in the United States.

● Students can only apply for the scholarship once per application cycle; applicants should select their top program choice when applying for the scholarship.

● Scholarship applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

● Will be based on the overall application materials, including a personal essay addressing the following question: “Why have you selected this program? How is it tied to your major?”

● Applications will be judged by a panel of TEAN staff members.

● Assessment will be based on the following: excellence in academics, active participation in extra-curricular activities, achievement in leadership skills, awareness of the value of international education and the personal essay.

● No interview required.

June 1, 2023

【推荐3】What to expect at high school

Are you super worried about what to expect at high school? Well, guess what? Everyone is! The following tips will help guide you safely through your first day!

Depending on the school you’re at, there could be more subjects and you’ll have more classrooms!     1     Be ready to move around and remember what classrooms they are in.

There are usually more strict teachers and more classrooms! Don’t worry.     2     More friends and more freedom (hopefully)! There will be a lot of differences, so go along with it and don’t feel nervous about the change.

Stay away from students who have higher grades than you! They’re older and you will be an easy target (目标), so watch your back! If they do try to threaten (恐吓) you or anything, tell your parents or teachers to help you with it.

Make sure you have friends to sit with, or you’ll look lonely and feel lonely. Make some new friends to sit with.     4    

    5     You don’t need an “A” for everything, but an “F” on everything is not good! Spend enough time on study and take notes during class.

【推荐1】When I was 12 years old, I already knew that my teen years were going to be the worst years of my life. I was a total outsider, bullied (欺凌) at school. I felt completely alone in my small town. But by starting to do volunteer work when I was 14, I turned my problem into a passion for helping others. The opportunity to practice kindness made me feel like my life had a greater purpose. The more positive energy I shared, the more kindness and appreciation I received. I realized that my purpose in life would be to reach out to people, specifically teenagers, and help them feel less alone.

Books were my true friends back then. I was so thankful that the authors wrote those books. The kindness they offered me with their books saved my life. One of my biggest dreams was to become an author so I could write books that would help other teenagers the way those books helped me.

After surviving terrible experiences at school and at home, I made a choice to take the optimistic, positive road in the next steps of my journey. My dream career, one I thought was only possible for the authors I loved, is what I am doing now. I have been a full-time author of teen novels since 2007 and am grateful for this amazing opportunity to reach out to readers every single day.

Kindness saved me when I needed help the most. Even small acts of kindness can change someone’s life. You never know what someone else is going through. But by practicing daily kindness, you become an architect of positive change.

【推荐2】The Cloud Runners

Today, the first thing you see when you drive into the small town of McFarland, California, is a welcome poster. “Home of the State Champions,” it says proudly. Written across the bottom are the names of the members of the running teams that have brought McFarland nine state championships over the past twenty years. Today, this little farming town is the “home of champions”, but things weren’t always like this.

It all began with a group of seven young men, who were McFarland High School’s first running team. They were called “cloud runners” because it looked like they were floating on a brown cloud of dust as they carved paths through the surrounding fields.

They weren’t a very good team. But the turning point came one hot summer afternoon when the young men were doing hill practice. As there were no hills in McFarland, their coach, Jim White, made them run up and down large piles of nut shells covered in white plastic sheets.

“Enough!” one of the young men cried. The sound of breaking shells could be heard as he beat his fists on the sheet. The plastic tore and a river of nut shells poured out. “Do you know what these are, Mr White? They’re almond(巴旦木)shells. Do you know where they come from? My family has been working on farms picking almonds for forty years. You and your family, living in your big comfortable home, eat these without giving a single thought to where they came from. And now you are making us run on them! I’ve had enough!”

“We’re losers, Mr White, not winners,” another young man continued, his face wet with tears and sweat. “Nothing has changed here for forty years and nothing’s ever going to change! Running is for rich kids in private schools in the big city, not for us poor farm boys. We can’t even afford real shoes for running. We belong in the fields, picking. We’re ‘pickers’. I’m going home!”

Something in Jim White’s heart changed that day. He went into the fields and worked with the “pickers”. He bought running shoes for the boys. He spent evenings having dinner with the boys’ families. His wife baked and sold cookies to raise money. One small act of kindness led to another. Other families began to take notice, and slowly, the entire town came to support Mr White as he helped these young men change from farm workers to champions.

【推荐3】Linda was a sixteen-year-old girl in Britain. She was feeling bad for several days. Her mother took her to a hospital and the doctors found out that she had cancer.

Linda’s life changed. She began to go to the hospital often for treatment (治疗), and she also became depressed.

The hospitals and the doctors were good, but Linda did not have hope herself. Linda’s mother called a flower shop close to the hospital. “I want some beautiful flowers for my daughter. She is a teen girl with cancer. ” She told the shop owner. Later, the flowers arrived. Then Linda saw something unusual. It was a card. It read:

I own (拥有) this flower shop. I had cancer when I was fifteen years old. I am 24 years old now. Good luck. My heart goes out to you.

Yours,

Alice.

Linda smiled. She finally felt some real hope. She found the will (意志) to live.

Little things make a big difference. All of us can give little things like kindness, encouragement and hope to others.

【推荐1】When I was fifteen, I announced to my English class that I was going to write and illustrate my own books. Half the students sneered. The rest nearly fell out of their chairs laughing. “Don’t be silly, only geniuses can become writers,” the English teacher said, “And you are getting a D this semester.” I was so humiliated(羞辱) that I cried.

That night I wrote a short sad poem about broken dreams and mailed it to the Capri’s Weekly newspaper. To my astonishment, they published it and sent me two dollars. I was a published and paid writer. I showed it to my teacher and fellow students. They laughed. “Just plain dumb luck, "the teacher said. I tasted success. I’d sold the first thing I’d ever written. That was more than any of them had done and if it was just dumb luck, that was fine with me.

During the next two years I sold dozens of poems, letters, jokes and recipes. By the time I graduated from high school, with a C minus average, I had scrapbooks filled with my published work. I never mentioned my writing to my teachers, friends or my family again. They were dream killers and if people must choose between their friends and their dreams, they must always choose their dreams.

I had four children at the time, and the oldest was only four. While the children slept, I typed on my ancient typewriter. I wrote what I felt. It took nine months, just like a baby.

A month later Crying Wind, the title of my book, became a best seller, was translated into fifteen languages and Braille and sold worldwide. I appeared on TV talk shows. I traveled from New York to California and Canada on promotional tours. My first book also became required reading in native American schools in Canada.

People ask what college I attended, what degrees I had and what qualifications I have to be a writer. The answer is: “None.” I just write. I’m not a genius. I’m not gifted and I don’t write right. To all those who dream of writing, I’m shouting at you: “Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Don’t listen to them.” I don’t write right but I’ve beaten the odds. Writing is easy, it’s fun and anyone can do it. Of course, a little dumb luck doesn’t hurt.

【推荐2】Fifteen years ago, I took a summer vacation in Lecce in southern Italy. After climbing up a hill for a panoramic (全景的) view of the blue sea, white buildings and green olive trees, I paused to catch my breath and then positioned myself to take the best photo of this panorama.

Unfortunately, just as I took out my camera, a woman approached from behind, and planted herself right in front of my view. Like me, this woman was here to stop, sigh and appreciate the view.

Patient as I was, after about 15 minutes, my camera scanning the sun and reviewing the shot I would eventually take, I grew frustrated. Was it too much to ask her to move so I could take just one picture of the landscape? Sure, I could have asked her, but something prevented me from doing so. She seemed so content in her observation. I didn’t want to mess with that.

Another 15 minutes passed and I grew bored. The woman was still there. I decided to take the photo anyway. And now when I look at it, I think her presence in the photo is what makes the image interesting. The landscape, beautiful on its own, somehow comes to life and breathes because this woman is engaging with it.

This photo, with the unique beauty that unfolded before me and that woman who “ruined” it, now hangs on a wall in my bedroom. What would she think if she knew that her figure is captured (捕捉) and frozen on some stranger’s bedroom wall? A bedroom, after all, is a very private space, in which some woman I don’t even know has been immortalized (使……永存). In some ways, she lives in my house.

Perhaps we all live in each others’ spaces. Perhaps this is what photos are for: to remind us that we all appreciate beauty, that we all share a common desire for pleasure, for connection, for something that is greater than us.

That photo is a reminder, a captured moment, an unspoken conversation between two women, separated only by a thin square of glass.