【推荐2】The topic “slash youth”,   referring to those refusing to be defined or bound by just one personal identity and choosing to undertake multiple careers, has fueled heated debate on social media. On Douban, a Chinese social networking platform, the topic has attracted about 11,000posts and has been viewed over 400 million times. China’s young people are keen to share their slash youth stories online, presenting themselves as multiple and sometimes distinct identities, such as a nurse and model, a teacher and stand-up comedian, and an engineer and musician.

Xing Eryang, a 31-year-old female resident in Beijing, founded the Douban topic in 2021.While staying diligent about her daytime work, she is developing her hobbies, including stand-up comedy and vlogging, into secondary careers during her spare time. And she is amazed to find her “slash life” philosophy followed by so many of her peers.

Weiheng, a 26-year-old woman in Guangzhou, and Tang Yuhan, a 27-year-old man in Xuancheng city, Anhui province, are both participants in the topic, with their stories earning thousands of likes so far. The two are both musicians in their spare time, even though they are thousands of miles apart and have different jobs in media and finance. Their passion for music has grown since college and they didn’t abandon their enthusiasm, even after entering the workplace.

Their reaction showed the gap between the young and former generations. “My parents used to say,   ‘music cannot earn you money’,   so the band thing was regarded as a waste of time. However,   we want to pursue whatever we love and are willing to pay for it.” says Weiheng.

“The ‘slash life’ mania(狂热)shows that, along with China’s economic development, our society is becoming more and more diversified and inclusive, and it welcomes everyone’s self-fulfillment,” says Shi Yanrong, an   associate researcher from Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences. “Young people no longer have to rely on work and money for their sense of self-worth. They tend to practice a carpe diem(活在当下)philosophy and create their own identities.”

【推荐1】As students are discussing their favorite colleges, there’s one characteristic they can’t control: their race.

That’s one reason voters, courts and politicians in six states have outlawed racial preferences in college admissions, while other colleges, fearful of lawsuits, play down their affirmative-action efforts these days. But make no mistake: race still matters. How much depends on the school and the state.

In Texas, public universities have managed to reduce the effect of racial-preference bans by automatically admitting the top 10% of the graduating class of every high school, including those schools where most students are minorities. But Rice University in Houston, private and highly selective, has had to reinvent its admissions strategies to maintain the school’s minority enrollment. Each February, 80 to 90 black, Hispanic (西班牙裔的) and Native American kids visit Rice on an expenses-paid trip. Rice urges headmasters from high schools with large minority populations to recommend qualified students. And in the fall, Rice sends two recruiters (招生人员) on the road to find minority applicants; each recruiter visits about 80 mainly black or Hispanic high schools. Two weeks ago, Rice recruiter Tamara Siler dropped in on Westlake High in Atlanta, where 99% of the 1,296 students are black. Siler went hearing literature and advice, and though only two kids showed up, she said, “I’m pleased I got two.”

Rice has also turned to some almost comical end-runs around the spirit of the law. The university used to award a yearly scholarship to a Mexican-American student; now it goes to a student who speaks Spanish really well. Admissions officers no longer know an applicant’s race. But a new essay question asks about each student’s “background” and “cultural traditions.” When Rice officials read applications, they look for “diverse life experiences” and what they awkwardly call “overcome students,” who have triumphed over hardship.

Last spring, admissions readers came across a student whose SAT score was lower than 1,200 and who did not rank in the top 10% of her class. Numerically speaking, she was far behind most accepted applicants. But her essay and recommendations indicated a strong interest in civil rights and personal experience with racial discrimination (歧视). She was admitted. “All the newspapers say affirmative action is done,” says an experienced adviser at a large New York City high school. “But nothing has changed. I have a (minority) kid at Yale with an SAT score in the high 900s.”

【推荐3】Educating children to have good manners maybe a difficult task for all the parents. You may know that children are easier to learn when you make something fun. So you tried to dress up like a clown(小丑) to draw their attention but it didn’t work. Making something fun does not mean that you have to entertain (使某人快乐) your children. What I have found is that tapping into their interests will make anything fun. There are tools and materials from other people on how to develop children’s interests and teach them good manners.

A lot of popular characters such as Madeline, The Winnie Bears and Barbie have DVDs and books about manners. I have used all of these DVDs in my classes, and they not only keep children’s interests, but also the children use the good manners that they learn from their favorite characters.

If your children are interested in sports, princesses, superheroes, or dinosaurs, you can use their favorite heroes (real or imaginary) as good examples to teach them, from meeting and greeting, to how to set a table.

Elise McVeigh is an etiquette (礼节) expert for Barbie Princes Charm School DVD, as well as a contributor to Parents. com. She is the mother of three children whom she raises with her husband in Dallas. Her three polite children are influenced by her great achievements and good manners from a very young age. So, the most important thing is that you should not forget to use your good manners, because you are your children’s biggest hero. Acting and being like you is what they are truly interested in.