When I was four, my seven-year-old brother received a baseball glove for his birthday. Every night. as we went to sleep. I’d listen to him throwing a ball into the glove over and over to soften the leather. I wanted a glove so much that I almost cried. But, back then, girls didn’t play sports; they played with dolls (洋娃娃).

Fast-forward twenty-six years. Now a thirty-year-old mother of two boys and a girl, I happened to sec a notice in my local paper: “Women’s Baseball League opens soon. Anyone interested, sign up at the community service center.” I cut it out and set it on the kitchen table, Could I? After all these years?

I looked at that notice on my table every day. l thought of a thousand reasons I couldn’t play. But the idea of playing baseball stuck in my head and wouldn’t go away. Finally, 1 gathered up my courage and signed up. Since I wasn’t a member of any team, they told me I’d be assigned (分配) to one. Two weeks passed before they gave me the name of the team to look for. Since my husband worked Monday nights, I arranged for a babysitter. It was a luxury (奢侈) but, at that moment in my life, a necessity.

On Monday, heart pounding, I walked through the park filled with women of all ages practicing. It took me a while to find my team. They were all high-school girls, seventeen and eighteen years old! I waited a couple of minutes before approaching the coach. He had put together top athletes for his team, and he didn’t want some old lady messing things up. He looked me over. His girls had fine gloves and metal cleats (棒球钉鞋). They looked like players. I had no glove and wore an old T-shirt and gym shoes. I didn’t care. I wanted to play. That first day, he had me run bases (跑垒). I never got a chance to bat or play the field. I just ran bases all night. The next morning, I could hardly stand.

When I showed up the next Monday, the coach was clearly surprised.

“Impressive catch!” my teammates cheered for my performance after the training.

Last Sunday, our school held on a 5-kilometer cross-country running race, that attracted many enthusiastic participants. Actually, all the student in our school attended the activity.

The race started from the school gate and ends at the foot of the South Hill, covering five kilometers all together. The whole course was quite difficulty, especially the part near the mountain, narrow but rough. All the participants spared no efforts finish the race.

This race gave us a opportunity to have a deeper understanding of patience as well as build up our bodies. However, we all think highly of it, and expect more activities like this in the future.

Students’ Union

December 20^th

10 . I always wanted to look like the slim girls on TV even though I knew that it was impossible. I worried about my _______ and tried every new diet I read about online. I tried low-fat, no-fat, only bananas, no bananas — I almost went bananas, too.

Then I read an article that said _______ asking “Am I fat?”, I should be asking “Am I _______?” I had no _______ a letter could make such a _______! Once I started thinking about fitness rather than weight, things began to _______. Instead of saying “I want to lose three kilos”, I would say “I want to _______ two kilometers in eight minutes” or “I want to be able to do 30 push-ups”. Rather than _______ the foods I enjoyed, I added healthy foods to my meals. I could _______ have a burger now and then, but I would ________ a salad or an apple.

Finally, I stopped ________ myself with actresses and models and ________ things that were wrong with my face or body. Instead, I made a list of the things I ________ about myself. By being ________ about myself and my body, I became both happier and ________.