Ten years ago, after 2 years as a postdoc(博士后), I found myself wondering whether I should take a different road. Up to that point, I had stuck to a pretty traditional path investigating cancer genetics, but I was losing interest in the research. At the same time, federal funding had flattened, which added to my dissatisfaction.     1    . Then came the hard part: identifying a new career that would nurture my passion for science and allow me to make an impact with my work.

As I was considering my options, I found inspiration in my first graduate school research tutor, whose work reminded me that scientists’ efforts away from the bench can be incredibly powerful. But I still didn’t know exactly what I should do.     2     A colleague mentioned that a professor at a nearby 2-year college was training students to produce monoclonal antibodies for labs on campus. I was impressed that the professor and taken on this type of ambitious project with relatively inexperienced students. Curious to find out more, I set up a meeting with John and was struck by his sincerity and the way be prioritized student training above grants, publications, and personal ambition. I could also see his passion for teaching, which reminded me of the dream to become a high school biology teacher.

    3     I found a faculty position and joined John at the same quiet junior college. Now, I effectively hold two positions: classroom instructor and research co-adviser of 15 inexperienced but eager undergraduates. Both roles give me a chance to help students transform themselves, which is enormously rewarding.

    4     It is discouraging when others see both my students and me as less worthy because we are not at universities. We sometimes struggle to get access to federal funding, scientific conferences, and other resources and opportunities. My pay is below the standard at 4-year research institutions, even though my teaching workload is greater. But my occasional frustration is relieved by the thought of the students, who I have helped train.

Looking back at these 10 years, I realize how much my work on this campus has helped me grow, both as an academic and a tutor. I’m grateful that I stepped away from a traditional career path and found a way to serve both the student and research communities in my own way, modest though it may be.

2 . When an editor called to ask if I could photograph a story about fireflies in Mexico, I didn’t check my schedule before I said yes. I’d seen these insects light up the forests in Tlaxcala once before, and I jumped at the chance to go back.

I had three nights to capture the magical scene in the forest. Camera stand in hand, I hiked with my colleagues into the foggy forest at dusk. According to our guides, visitors are usually not allowed to photograph the fireflies because the presence of artificial light from electronics can affect their habits. As I started shooting, I adjusted my exposures constantly to account for the fading light. In order to get the composition that I wanted, I placed my camera stand on a steep, rocky path and had to steady it during the long exposures. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal, but the fireflies were very interested in the camera and, by extension, in me. I stood completely still while they crawled all over me—my arms, my hair, my face—and tickled (呵痒) my nose and cheeks. From what I observed, peak firefly presence happens for only about 20 minutes each night, so I had time for just a few tries.

On the last night everything came together. The weather cooperated. I had improved my method for focusing and composing in the dark with quick flashes from a powerful flashlight—and I’d grown accustomed to insects on my face. I was rewarded with the image you see here. Each spot of light is one of several bursts that a firefly makes as it travels in a 30-second exposure. You can trace the insects’ paths: Some make small circles, like those in the bottom center of the frame, while others move steadily in one direction or another.

The first time I visited the fireflies, I didn’t have the pressure of trying to capture and convey this astonishing scene. That will always be my favorite experience with these shining creatures.

3 . Choosing the right job is probably one of the most important decisions we have to make in life, and it is frequently one of the hardest decisions we have to make. One important question that you might ask yourself is: “How do I get a good job?”    1    .

There are people who can answer an insignificant advertisement in the local paper and land the best job in the world; others write to all sorts of places all over the country, and never seem to get a reply at all. Still others believe that the in person, door-to-door approach is by far the best way to get a job; and then there are those who, through no active decision of their own, just seem to be in the right place at the right time.     2    . He used to spend a lot of his free time down by the sea watching the tall ships, but never thinking that he might one day sail one of them. His father was a farmer, and being a sailor could never be anything for the boy but an idle dream. One day, on his usual wandering, he heard the captain of the ship complaining that he could not sail because one member of his crew was sick. Without stopping to think, the lad(少年) offered to take his place.     3    .

    4    . If the lad had gone home to ponder(考虑)his decision for a week, he may have missed his chance. It is one thing to be offered an opportunity; it is another thing to take it and use it well.

Sometimes we hear stories about people who break all the rules and still seem to land plum jobs(美差). When you go for a job interview or fill out an application, you are expected to say nice things about the company to which you are applying. But there was one person who landed an excellent job by telling the interviewer all the company’s faults. And within a year this person had become general manger of the company.

No matter what the reason, though, juggling more than one job is guaranteed to be a crash course in time management. If you’re not careful, the word “crash” could become more than figurative.

We all know that we’ll have to figure out a time management system when we take on a second job. Equally obvious is the fact that what works for one person (and their jobs) probably won’t work for anyone else.     1     There are a few tricks, though, that can help.

    2    . Even if you are the boss on your second job——you’re working for yourself——you have an obligation to keep that work separate from you day job. Focus on what’s in front of you. There’s actually a benefit to punching a clock when you work for more than one supervisor. When you’re on the clock for Company A, you know exactly which projects you should be working on. If Company A is paying for this time, you should be theirs, heart and soul, at least until you clock out.

Good records can also help. I’m not just talking about the calendars and task lists most of us rely on, either. Making sure that you have any contact information available no matter whether you’re   at   Job     A,     Job     B     or     home     can     take     some     extra     effort,     but     it’s     worth it.     3    

I know plenty of people who bring their work to their primary job. It seems to be a favorite tactic of folks starting up a freelancing career or small business. I don’t think that’s the best way to manage a packed schedule. If you don’t have your primary employer’s permission, the best advice is to just keep things quiet. Give preference to the employer who is paying you for this specific chunk of time.

Some companies don’t want you to work anywhere else. They want you to put in your eight hours, go home, sleep well and come back rested. Others consider employees who go looking for other projects as its benefits —— such employees have a jump start on networking and have a wider variety of experiences.

    4    . Because it can be very hard to figure out your boss’s attitude, the general rule seems to be that you keep quiet on your extracurricular activities. I wouldn’t talk about Job A at Job B, although, if my boss was to bring up the matter, I’d be entirely truthful.

5 . If you are a recent social science graduate who has had to listen to jokes about unemployment from your computer major classmates, you may have had the last laugh. There are many advantages for the social science major because this high-tech “Information Age” demands people who are flexible and who have good communication skills.

There are many social science majors in large companies who fill important positions. For example, a number of research studies found that social science majors had achieved greater managerial success than those who had technical training or pre-professional courses. Studies show that social science majors are most suited for change, which is the leading feature of the kind of high speed, high-pressure, high-tech world we now live in.

Social science majors are not only experiencing success in their long-term company jobs, but they are also finding jobs more easily. A study showed that many companies had filled a large percentage of their entry-level positions with social science graduates. The study also showed that the most sought-after quality in a person who was looking for a job was communication skills, noted as “very important” by 92 percent of the companies. Social science majors have these skills, often without knowing how important they are. It is probably due to these skills that they have been offered a wide variety of positions.

Finally, although some social science majors may still find it more difficult than their technically trained classmates to land the first job, recent graduates report that they don’t regret their choice of study.

7 . Whether work should be placed among the causes of happiness or among the causes of unhappiness may perhaps be regarded as a doubtful question. There is certainly much work which is exceedingly weary and an excess of work is always very painful. I think, however, that, provided work is not excessive in amount, even the dullest work is to most people less painful than idleness. There are in work all grades, from mere relief of tedium up to the profoundest delights, according to the nature of the work and the abilities of the worker most of the work that most people have to do is not in itself interesting, but even such work has certain great advantages.

To Begin with, it fills a good many hours of the day without the need of deciding what one shall do. Most people, when they are left free to fill their own time according to their own choice, are at a loss to think of anything sufficiently pleasant to be worth doing. And whatever they decided, they are troubled by the feeling that something else would have been pleasanter. To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level. Moreover the exercise of choice is in itself tiresome. Except to people with unusual initiative it is positively agreeable to be told what to do at each hour of the day, provided the orders are not too unpleasant. Most of the idle rich suffer unspeakable boredom as the price of their freedom from exhausting work. At times they may find relief by hunting big game in Africa, or by flying round the world, but the number of such sensations is limited, especially after youth is past. Accordingly the more intelligent rich men work nearly as hard as if they were poor, while rich women for the most part keep themselves busy with innumerable trifles of those earth-shaking importance they are firmly persuaded.

Work therefore is desirable, first and foremost, as a preventive of boredom, for the boredom that a man feels when he is doing necessary though uninteresting work is as nothing in comparison with the boredom that he feels when he has nothing to do with his days. With this advantage of work another is associated, namely that it makes holidays much more delicious when they come. Provided a man does not have to work so hard as to impair his vigor he is likely to find far more pleasure in his free time than an idle man could possibly find.

The second advantage of most paid work and of some unpaid work is that it gives chances of success and opportunities for ambition. In most work success is measured by income, and while our capitalistic society continues, this is inevitable. It is only where the best work is concerned that this measure ceases to be the natural one to apply. The desire that men feel to increase their income is quite as much a desire for success as for the extra comforts that a higher income can acquire. However dull work may be, it becomes bearable if it is a means of building up a reputation, whether in the world at large or only in ones own circle.

8 . About twenty of us had been fortunate enough to receive invitations to a film-studio（影棚）to take part in crowd-scene. Although our "act" would last only for a short time, we could see quite a number of interesting things.

We all stood at the far end of the studio as workmen prepared the scene, setting up trees at the edge of a winding path. Very soon, bright lights were turned on and the big movie-camera was wheeled into position. The director shouted something to the camera operator and then went to speak to the two famous actors nearby. Since it was hot in the studio, it came as a surprise to us to see one of the actors put on a heavy overcoat and start walking along the path. A big fan began blowing tiny white feathers down on him, and soon the trees were covered in "snow". Two more fans were turned on, and a "strong wind" blew through the trees. The picture looked so real that it made us feel cold.

The next scene was a complete contrast. The way it was filmed was quite unusual. Pictures taken on an island in the Pacific were shown on a glass screen. An actor and actress stood in front of the scene so that they looked as if they were at the water’s edge on an island. By a simple trick like this, palm trees, sandy beaches, and blue, clear skies had been brought into the studio!

Since it was our turn next, we were left wondering what scene would be prepared for us. For a full three minutes in our lives we would be experiencing the excitement of being film ”Stars”!

9 . Just when you thought you figured out Millennials (those who reached young adulthood around the year 2000), Generation Z is now entering the workforce. A massive 72.8 million individuals are included in this group born between the mid - 1990s and the early 2000s.

Are you ready?

While we have learned how to create a culture where Millennials can do well, what Generation Z needs can be quite different:

10 . I was ten when I first sat with my grandmother behind the cashier(收银台)in her general store. Before long, she let me sit there by myself.I quickly learned the importance of treating customers politely and saying “thank you”. 

At first I was paid in candy.     1    I worked every day after school, and during the summer and on weekends and holidays from 8 a. m. to 7 p. m. . My father helped me set up a bank account.     2    

By the time I was 12, My grandmother thought I had done such a good job that she promoted me to selling cosmetics(化妆品). I developed the ability to look customers directly in the eye. Even though I was just a kid, women would ask me such things as “What color do you think I should wear? ”I took a real interest in their questions and was able to translate what they wanted into makeup(化妆)ideas.     3    

The job taught me a valuable lesson: to be a successful salesperson, you didn’t need to be a rocket scientist—you needed to be a great listener.     4    Expect they are no longer women purchasing cosmetics from me; instead, they are kids who tell me which toys they would like to see designed and developed.