One day, I was taking a summer class in American literature on the campus of The State University of New York at Oneonta. Professor James walked into the classroom and announced that he had invited a special guest to class, but his guest had been delayed. The class stirred with curiosity and anticipation.

“Who is coming?” someone asked. “All I will tell you is that he is the author of one of the books you have read for this class,” he said. “I need a volunteer to meet him and guide him here.”

To my amazement, my right hand shot up. I never volunteer for anything. I’m introverted(内向的), shy, and uncomfortable meeting new people. In fact, I’m absolutely the wrong person for the job. Realizing my mistake, I put my hand down quickly, but it was too late.

“Thank you, David,” said Professor James. “You’d better leave now. He will be arriving any minute.” Seeing no way to back out, I reluctantly got out of my seat and headed for the classroom door. When I reached it, I stopped. “Umm,” I said. “If I don’t know who this person is, how will I recognize him? I would hate to bring back the wrong guy.” Professor James laughed. “Good point,” he said. He pulled me aside and whispered a name in my ear. “Alex Haley,” he said. “Really?” I said.

I regretted for volunteering. Why me? Alex Haley is one of the authors of The Autobiography of Malcolm X : As Told to Alex Haley. He is so famous. As I walked across the campus, my anxiety grew. I feared that I was about to embarrass myself in front of the famous gentleman by asking stupid questions, or worse, by guiding him in painful silence.

But at the moment I realized why I instinctively raised my hand to volunteer for this job. The man was what I wanted to be: a writer. I could learn from him.

I paced back and forth until a man with a briefcase(公文包) entered the building.

Encouraged by Mr Haley, I stopped worrying whether I had the talent for writing.

Oliver was a small and introvert (内向的) boy who kept to himself. He was quiet and preferred indoor activities. Sitting in the corner of the class, he was very much a loner.

At the beginning of the semester, Oliver had a new classmate, Alan, who had just returned to England. Alan was assigned a seat next to Oliver. To his surprise, within weeks, he became good friends with Alan even though they were poles apart in personality. Alan was popular, outspoken and artistic. “Alan is all that I want to be,” Oliver thought to himself. He began listening to the music Alan listened to and having similar haircut. He even quit his drama club and started playing the online games that Alan played. He seemed to have been out of his loneliness.

It was not long before Oliver was introduced to Alan’s “cool” friends. He told himself that he would try all means to be part of the group. He would follow them to the football games and join the art club after school so he could spend more time hanging out with them. Oliver followed them around laughing when they told jokes, agreeing when they had opinions—most enthusiastically at the ones he disagreed with. He did not dare to differ in opinions as he would not want them to think badly of him. This continued for several months. At last, Oliver felt relieved that he had finally fitted in.

One day, Oliver overheard Alan and his cool friends talking. “Oliver is such a loser,” one boy commented in a playful tone. “He just follows you around trying to be you. He copies you; he does not have a personality of his own!” another boy exclaimed. Alan laughed, to make matters worse, he added, “That fellow wears me out. I wish he would leave me alone. He thinks we are best friends. A thorough fool!”

Oliver stood still to the ground and could not believe his ears.

Oliver decided to change himself after hearing his mother’s words.

Emily White was born seventeen years ago with so many birth problems in her body. Some of her organs, bones and muscles were out of shape. No one expected her to survive. She did make it but with her strange body figure, everyone could recognize her, even from a distance.

In Emily White’s hometown, there was a yearly outdoor performance in the school auditorium (大礼堂). It had been performed for so many years and actually had become one of the most important events of the Christmas season for many of the town’s people.

Many people tried out each year for it, but so many were turned away. It can only include the most excellent people in the field.

Emily had a beautiful singing voice. Last year she went to Mrs. Owens — her music teacher to ask to join in the performance. Without letting her sing, Mrs. Owens took a look at Amy’s body and said, “Child, you just don’t fit. Everyone would stare at you and that would make you uncomfortable. It would make them uncomfortable, too.”

Without singing a single note, Emily was sent back through the door of the choral room. Hurt and upset, she decided never to try out again. But Mrs. Owens then retired.

This year, there came a new music teacher, Mr. Buttler. He heard about Emily and suggested that she have a try.

Emily didn’t want to be rejected again, so she hesitated a little about it. As Emily struggled, the door was pushed open and Mr. Buttler called, “Emily, you’re next.” Although kind of nervous, Emily did as Mr. Buttler told her to do. Mr. Buttler sat by the piano to keep Emily company. When Emily finished her testing performance, she thanked Mr. Buttler and knew the result would be posted on the door of the choral room the next day.

Emily couldn’t sleep that night. She was suffering from the feelings that she didn’t fit and the great need to be accepted. By the next morning, her stomach was even in pain because of stress.

Paragraph 1: The next day, Emily nervously glanced at the list on the door of the choral room.

Paragraph 2: Finally, the day of performance came.

Three years ago, Mark moved out of his mother’s house after landing a well -paying job in another city. He thought living 1500 miles away from his elderly mother, Cassandra, would work out because he planned to visit her monthly.

Mark stuck to his visiting plan during the first year. However, with the amount of work increasing, he couldn’t find time to visit his mother monthly. He started to only speak to her on the phone, telling her about his life. Soon, Mark became busy and made a few phone calls to Cassandra. He didn’t even remember the last time they spoke on the phone.

One day, while working in his office, Mark heard his phone ring.

“Mom’s 70th birthday!” the reminder on his phone read.

“Oh, dear. How can I forget my mom’s birthday again?” Mark shook his head as he turned the reminder alarm off. “I can’t keep disappointing her like this. Let me see how fast I can get to her place.”

After checking his work schedule (日程计划), Mark realized that he could make it to his mother’s house by the evening if he left the office in an hour. He quickly finished the work and left the office without wasting another minute.

On his way, he stopped at a store and bought his mother’s favorite cake. He also bought her flowers and a few gifts. Although he wanted to call her, Mark thought it would be better to surprise her because he was sure that she wasn’t expecting him to visit her. After all, this was the first time that he had done something like this in a long time.

Mark finally arrived at the mother’s house. However, when he knocked at the door, no one answered. Puzzled, he opened the door with his key and entered. Nobody was there. He searched the house worriedly, only to find an envelope covered with dust on the table. Recognizing his mother’s handwriting (笔迹), Mark opened the envelope at once. It turned out that Cassandra had left her house and joined a local retirement community because she felt lonely.

In the letter, she also expressed her love for Mark and the hope of seeing him.

After asking about his mother at the front desk, he was glad to know she was still there.