1 . I grew up in a poor family. This was something I did not realize until I was older. I thought everyone in the city took the bus, because everyone in my neighborhood took the bus. I thought everyone in the city used the food bank, because all my friends’ cupboards were filled with the same government-labeled food that filled my cupboards. We all wore hand-me-down clothes.

Grocery shopping was my first experience understanding that my family was a little different. My mom used paper money that looked different from the paper money others in line were using. I asked my mom why our money looked different. She said that we used food stamps that were helped by the government so we could eat.

In high school, I was still embarrassed and wished we were not so poor, but I loved my mom and the other members of my family and knew we had things to be proud of. My mother taught me how to love and told me to believe in myself. Growing up in poverty taught me perseverance (毅力). I have always believed in myself and my abilities. I knew I could focus on school and build a life that looked different from my childhood.

As I became a man, I started understanding how my experiences enabled me to be resilient (有韧性的), and how to respect people for who they are as an individual—and not by what they have. I think there are a lot of fixed images placed on those experiencing poverty that do not actually come from the people experiencing it. These judgments come from people on the outside trying not to look into the experience. Hardworking , trustworthy, reliable, clean, efficient, successful and disciplined are all words not typically associated with poverty. But those words are very much shown by those experiencing poverty. I am proud to be who I am and proud of where I’m from.

2 . I don’t know what your dream is. I don’t care how disappointing it might be as you’re working toward that dream.     1    . Some of you already know that it’s hard. It’s hard to change your life. In the process of achieving your dreams, you are going to suffer a lot of disappointment, failure and pain.

There will be moments when you are going to doubt yourself.     2    . For those of you who have experienced some hardships, don’t give up your dreams. The tough times are going to come, but they will not stay, they will come to pass.

    3    . You dream and then follow it up with a list of all the reasons why the dream is unachievable. You fill your life with excuses and “I can’t”. Things like these are the true limits you experience in life and they are what you create or what you allow others to lay upon you.

Dreaming is the easy part.     4    . Recognize that a dream is a journey. On the simplest level, it takes commitment, time and courage. But rarely is something great easily realized. Dreaming is recognizing the potential for greatness and seeking it in all areas of your life. Believe in your dreams and your ability to accomplish them. I’m here to challenge you to reach for your dreams.     5    . If you can dream it you can do it!

3 . Someone has put forward a dream home which is so advanced that its kitchen can suggest what to make with certain things. Also, a Microsoft home doesn’t just warn you when you’re out of milk — it can send you a fresh gallon.

But are these innovations just magic, or are they really coming soon to a neighborhood near you? To find out, US News asked some experts to get their opinions about the home of the not-so-distant future. Here’s a look at the innovations.

The housing boom was marked by mass-produced buildings filled with units which look the same. The coming years, however, will give way to a personalized approach to home construction, with houses as more of an instrument of self-expression. “The successful builders will be the ones that figure out how to change their production model enough to make the buyers feel like they are really getting something that is designed for them, not just a model,” says Kermit Baker, the chief economist at the American Institute of Architects.

Future homes will probably become smaller. “We will be building smaller but smarter houses,” says Ed MeMahon, a senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute. “Instead of having a room for just one use, consumers will demand homes that make better use of space,” says Susanka, whose best-selling book, The Not So Big House, has become increasingly influential in home design. Seldom-used quarters, such as dining and living rooms, will be replaced with space that can serve both functions. “The goal of his ‘right-size’ home is to fit its owners like a specially cut suit rather than a jacket you buy in a store,” says Susanka.

8 . Greenhouse gas emissions would rise if all farms in England and Wales went organic. Though the emissions of each farm would go down, much more food would have to be imported, as the amount they would produce would decrease greatly.

“The key message from my perspective is that you can’t really have your cake and eat it,” says Laurence Smith, now at the Royal Agricultural University in the UK, who was part of the team that ran the numbers. Smith is a supporter of organic farming and says “there are a lot of merits of the organic approach”, but his analysis shows that organic farming has downsides too.

Farming and changes in land use, such as cutting down forests, are responsible for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. That means reducing farming emissions and the land needed for farming is required to limit further global warming.

Smith and his colleagues found that emissions per unit of food are, on average, 20 per cent lower for organic crops and 4 per cent lower for organic animal products. However, organic harvests per hectare (公顷) are also lower on average. For wheat and barley, for instance, harvests are just half of those of conventional farms. This means 1.5 times as much land would be needed to grow the same amount of these foods.

The estimated increase in emissions varies greatly, depending on where the extra farmland comes from. If only half comes from turning grassland into farms, the increase could be as low as 20 per cent. If grassland that would otherwise have been reforested is turned into farmland, emissions could nearly double.

This doesn’t necessarily mean people should stop eating organic produce, says Smith. People might choose organic food for other reasons, such as to reduce their pesticide exposure (though contrary to popular belief, organic farmers do use pesticides) or for the sake of wildlife.

Going 100 per cent organic could also harm global biodiversity. The extra land used for farming would mean the land available for wildlife would be smaller and more fragmented (碎片化的).

Smith says the best option may be to use some organic and conventional farming methods at the same time.

9 . A lot of people ask this question: “Why is body language so important?” Studies have shown that in the process of communication, non-verbal expression has 65% to 93% more influence than actual text. This means that “how to say” is more important than “what to say”. Of course, this does not mean that you don’t need to do preparation for your interviews, nor does it mean that you can take any short cuts. On the contrary, this means that you have more things to pay attention to and prepare for.

In the real workplace, body language is much more important than you think. Without proper body language, you may find yourself trapped in a circle where you can’t integrate with the external environment, not to mention the difficulties in the absence of body language in the workplace.

“People can often make inferences from actions, and the results of these inferences directly affect lives: for example, who will be employed and who will be promoted.” Academician Amy Cuddy said in a TV talk show. She also said that “Our body language will also affect our perception of ourselves. When you try to make more authoritative actions, your brain will inadvertently receive signals and actually create an idea that you are more authoritative, so that you have more confidence in yourself.”

Therefore, before interviews or important meetings, try not to lean on any object or have a hunched back. Instead, you should try to keep your body relaxed. You can even stand with a relatively authoritative posture-of course, you may need to do these things in the bathroom or places where no one could see you.

Body language plays a crucial role in your job interviews, careers, and everyday life. Paying attention to body language could make strong impacts on your behavior, which could help you achieve better results. So, every time you are nervous or feel that you can’t do it, stretch your body, smile, and tell yourself “Fake it till you become it!”

10 . For many people, bookstores are wonderful places. That’s because the books on the shelves can take you away to magical lands, help you learn a foreign language, or cook a delicious meal. But when your community is too small to house a brick bookstore, you have to come up with another idea. A mobile bookstore was the result. That is the case for Rita Collins, 70, who dreamed of opening a used bookstore after retiring from teaching.

A business planning class from the American Booksellers Association convinced Collins to give up her idea of opening a bookstore in the small town where she lives. Her town, Eureka, Montana, only has a population of 1,517. Collins asked her instructors about a traveling bookstore on wheels and they doubted her idea. But she insisted on it.

Collins was inspired by Dylans Mobile Bookstore, a traveling bookstore in Wales run by Jeff Towns. She contacted Jeff for advice but she was largely on her own when it came to building her bookstore. First, she had to find a vehicle large enough to stand in. Then she had to have it refitted with shelves that would hold the books at a 15-degree angle so that they would stay in place while traveling. Collins named her bookstore St. Rita’s Traveling Bookstore, which has been on the road since 2015.

At first, she drove through Montana and then she made her first cross-country trip in 2016. After she retired in 2017, it became a full-time job. Collins and her bookstore have visited 30 states, stopping at festivals and events along the way. Collins loves meeting people and making connections. While she loves what she does, Collins doesn’t think she can keep doing it. In several years, she hopes to pass her traveling bookstore onto another book lover who shares the same interest and will keep it on the road.