Mark Twain left school when he was twelve. He had little school education. In spite of this, he became the most famous writer of his time. He made millions of dollars by writing. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but he is better known all over the world as Mark Twain，his pen name.
Mark Twain was born in 1835 and he was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected to live through the first winter. But with his mother's care，he managed to survive. As a boy，he caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play jokes on all his friends and neighbors. He didn't like to go to school, and he often ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi. He was nearly drowned nine times.
After his father's death, Mark Twain began to work for a printer, who only provided him with food and clothing. Then，he worked as a printer，a riverboat pilot and later joined the army. But shortly after that he became a miner. During this period，he started to write short stories. Afterwards he became a fulltime writer.
In 1870, Mark Twain got married. In the years that followed he wrote many books including Tom Sawyer in 1876, and Huckleberry Finn in 1884, which made him famous, and brought him great fortune. Unfortunately, Mark Twain got into debts in bad investments (投资) and he had to write large numbers of stories to pay these debts. In 1904, his wife died, and then three of his children passed away. At the age of 70, his hair was completely white. He bought many white suits and neckties. He wore nothing but white from head to foot until his death on April 21,1910.
Every Sunday morning I take a walk around a park near my home. There's a lake in one corner of the park. Each time I walk by this lake, I see the same old woman sitting at the water's edge with a small metal cage beside her.
This Sunday, I stopped walking and went over to her. As I got closer, I realized that there were three turtles(乌龟)，unhurt, slowly walking around the base of the metal cage. She had a fourth turtle on her knee that she was carefully cleaning it with a brush, which made me feel surprised.
"Hello," I said. "If you don't mind, I'd love to know what you're doing with these turtles."
"I'm cleaning off their shells," she replied.
"Anything on a turtle's shell weakens the turtle's ability to take in heat and blocks its ability to swim. It can also impair and weaken the shell over time."
She went on, "I spend a couple of hours each Sunday morning, relaxing by this lake and helping these little guys out. It's my own strange way of making a difference. "
"Well then, don't you think your time could be better spent? It's a waste of time. And 99% of these turtles don't have kind people like you to help them clean off their shells. So, how exactly are your efforts here truly making a difference?"
The woman smiled, then looked down at the turtle on her knee, wiped off the last piece of algae(海藻) from its shell, and said, "Sweetie, if this little guy could talk, he'd tell you I just made all the difference in the world. "
I went to a small and poor elementary school. I remember the first time a computer showed up in class. It was 5th grade and the computer was an Apple. It was the only computer in my school. This was the 80s and it was a $2, 600 machine.
Before I discovered computers, I took typing class on old typewriters and I was the kid in class that repaired the typewriters. I remember spending hours trying to figure out what each typewriter needed to fix a stuck key. I was also the Audio/Visual geek (狂热的人). This meant I was the only one in the class who can thread (穿过) film onto the projector.
Anyway, when this Apple showed up, I immediately opened it. I had to see what was inside. This totally freaked out the teacher but it seemed clear I wasn't going to break it. I quickly learned how to get out of educational games and write things in BASIC. This was all in 5th grade.
My 5th grade teacher and I stayed in touch until her passing. I honestly don't know what I'd be doing if she hadn't done something extraordinary. She let my father and me take the Apple home. I'd spend the weekend programming, reading the massive notebooks. This was a $2, 000+ computer in the middle of the 80s—the pride of the school—and they let me take it home. A year later, I came home from school one day and the family car was gone and there was a Commodore 64 left in its place. My parents had sold the car and bought a Commodore.
Now, I think about this crazy journey. I am standing on the shoulders not only of computer science giants, but also heroes like my parents and my 5th grade teacher. Thanks Mrs. Hill, for introducing me to computers even though you were breaking rules. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for bringing a computer home even when there wasn't money for one.
Three years ago, Brian Palmer was a homeless man struggling to overcome drug addiction. All he owned was a bag containing some clothes, a blanket, and a pillow. He sought assistance at a recovery center at the heart of Skid Row. One activity that helped him through the tough time was singing. As a kid, he dreamed of becoming a professional singer; he was a member of the church choir and appeared in musicals at school. In 2015, he encountered the Urban Voices Project. This led him to Street Symphony, a group of professional musicians, which works with homeless, mentally ill, and incarcerated(监禁的) populations.
In February, Palmer began taking voice lessons from Scott Graff, a member of Street Symphony. Graff said, "I gave Brian some tips on singing technique, and he taught me life lessons. I got the better end of the deal."
A few days after Thanksgiving, Palmer sang "The People That Walked in Darkness" in a musical workshop. Five string players accompanied him; a few dozen members of the workshop were in attendance. Before performing, Palmer shared with the audience some thoughts about the music. "When I came here three years ago, I didn't know where my life was going to take me," he said. "l just knew that I needed to change, and that I needed help. When I was walking through my life in addiction, and the darkness and the hell I had created for myself, it was like the phoenix (凤凰) coming out of the darkness and seeing the light. "
Palmer then sang the song. After his performance, Graff commented, "Palmer performed well for one who has been studying singing technique for less than a year. More importantly, he made the text sound as though it had been taken from his own life. "
"That was really empowering," Palmer told the audience afterward. He explained what had been going through his mind as he sang. "An act of love," he said, looking out at familiar faces in front of him. "One act of love, I know for sure, is listening."
For Canaan Elementary's second grade in Patchogue, N. Y. , today is speech day, and right now it's Chris Palaez's turn. The 8-year-old is the joker of the class. With shining dark eyes, he seems like the kind of kid who would enjoy public speaking.
But he's nervous. "I'm here to tell you today why you should… should…" Chris trips on the "-Id," a pronunciation difficulty for many non-native English speakers. His teacher, Thomas Whaley, is next to him, whispering support. "…Vote for…me" Except for some stumbles Chris is doing amazingly well. When he brings his speech to a nice conclusion, Whaley invites the rest of the class to praise him.
A son of immigrants, Chris started learning English a little over three years ago. Whaley recalls (回想起)how at the beginning of the year, when called upon to read, Chirs would excuse himself to go to the bathroom.
Learning English as a second language can be a painful experience. What you need is a great teacher who lets you make mistakes. "It takes a lot for any student," Whaley explains, "especially for a student who is learning English as their new language, to feel confident enough to say, 'I don't know, but I want to know. ' "
Whaley got the idea of this second-grade presidential campaign project when he asked the children one day to raise their hands if they thought they could never be a president. The answer broke his heart. Whaley says the project is about more than just learning to read and speak in public. He wants these kids to learn to boast(夸耀)about themselves.
"Boasting about yourself, and your best qualities," Whaley says, "is very difficult for a child who came into the classroom not feeling confident."
Over the past couple of days, on our local Freecycle page there have been a lot of wanted posts, all from the same person, basically asking for everything you'd need to set up a house from scratch.
One of the things they asked for was a queen-sized bed. At that time we just happened to have an extra one, so I messaged them. They immediately came in the afternoon. The people who came, two ladies and a man, are actually friends of another woman named Jenny who owned a young boy. This woman has escaped from a dangerous, violent relationship and these friends of hers are helping her and her son start over again, with everything from furniture to toothbrushes on their list of needs.
While they were here, I also gave them one of our spare bookcases and some coffee cups. I even asked them to keep in touch in case they needed anything else－I have a way of connecting people with things. I offered the woman a cupboard we had as well; her friends just needed to see if there was a place and /or a need for it in their friend's new home.
I was so excited to meet those loving people, who were obviously willing to help their friend. It was clear how protective they felt of this woman and her boy, how much they love her and wanted her to have a happy and safe life, and to spend even a few minutes with people like that is an experience I'll remember for a long, long time.
A quick thank-you to all who have sent more donations over the last couple of days, as well as lovely messages of thanks and blessings. Sometimes it's hard to keep up with it all, but it's a problem I'm happy to have.
Marty Verel, a 59-year-old kidney transplant patient in Ohio, should have been near the top of the list to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Yet like millions of others, he wasn't having any luck. Marty and his wife, Nancy Verel, would sit with computers on their laps trying for hours to book an appointment on different sites, all of which were complex. "I felt hopeless," Nancy says.
Then Nancy heard about Marla Zwinggi, a 40-year-old mom of three who was spending up to ten hours a day online trying to secure appointments for vulnerable (易受攻击的) individuals. So Nancy messaged Marla on Facebook: Can you help? Twenty-five minutes later, Marla responded by asking for Marty's legal name, date of birth, and other information. Nine minutes after that, Marla reported back-Marty had an appointment.
Marla's vaccine hunting started on February 1, when she learned that her parents-her father has leukemia(白血病) and her mother is a breast cancer survivor with a heart-condition-were unable to get appointments themselves. She hated that they had to wait. Clicking around on vaccine registration sites, Marla discovered just how difficult it was to book an appointment. "It was like trying to get a World Series ticket," she says.
She applied strategies that web insiders are familiar with (keeping multiple browsers open, refreshing sites every 20 seconds, erasing cookies) and added a few of her special skills. "I'm determined. I drink a lot of coffee, and I'm a fast typer," she says. Soon enough, Marla had secured appointments for her parents. "I felt like a rock star," she says.
Marla decided that helping others would be her way of giving back. "I feel like I need to will us out of this pandemic (大流行病)" she says. On February 10, she logged on to Facebook to let people know that she was assisting with bookings. By March 2, she'd secured appointments for 400 seniors, a feat that made Nancy conclude, "Marla is some sort of COVID angel."
During my years teaching communication courses at East Carolina University and College of Charleston, I got to hear many incredible true-life stories through students' presentations. Stories that stick out in my mind include a young man's sharing his experience of being falsely diagnosed with a fatal illness, another who failed repeatedly to try out for the baseball team before getting into a game he enjoys much more —golf, and so on. So many unforgettable stories; so much wisdom.
But one story really stands out in my mind to illustrate our incredible power. Here's what happened to this young girl, Suzy.
One Christmas Suzy had her heart set on getting a new Barbie. But not just any Barbie, it was one where she could cut her hair. At least the doll came with scissors. It was the last gift that little seven-year-old Suzy opened, and she felt pure delight. Barbie's hair went from hip length, to waist length, to long layers to irregular, to shoulder length, to pixie(小精灵) short… finally ending with a total buzz cut(圆寸).
Everything's ready and the logical thing to do next was of course for Suzy to cut her own hair. She cut layers and more layers and couldn't wait to show her parents and class.
Little Suzy had a hard time understanding why her mother wanted to take her to a beauty salon to "fix" her hair style. But Suzy firmly believed everyone at school would be so envious of her design concept and skill. Her friends would turn green with envy. Absolutely, her complete and unquestioned confidence in her appearance caused other people to see her beauty.
That story was told 12 years after the fact and Suzy still has pictures of that haircut. She would never cut her hair again, but she cherishes that memory of boundless self-value.
Confidence is like a muscle that you exercise. You decide to be more confident, to choose the positive performance, to take care of yourself, and the feeling of confidence comes to you after that. We all have had that level of confidence at times, but where is it when you need it?
For or Against?—That Is the Question
Andy is the most unreasonable and he makes me so angry that I could even scream sometimes! Of course, I sort of have to love him because he is my twin brother. Andy and Amy (that is me) have the same curly hair and dark eyes and are equally stubborn. Yet, on most issues we usually take opposite positions.
Just this week in our school, there was a heated discussion on whether to adopt a school dress code. Every student would be required to wear a uniform. The teachers are divided: Some are in favor of the uniforms while others are opposed. The principal has asked the students to express their opinions by voting on the issue before decisions are made. But she will have the final word on the dress code.
I think a dress code is a good idea. The reason is simple. The less T have to decide first thing in the morning, the better I can't tell you how many mornings I look into my closet and just stare, unable to decide what to wear.
Andy is shocked at my opinion. Last night, he even dragged out my parents' high school photo albums to show me how brilliant they looked without uniforms! He also declared, "Bruce Springsteen never wore a school uniform. Bob Dylan wouldn't have been caught dead in a school uniform! Besides, when I am feeling political, I want to be able to wear clothes made of natural undyed fibers, sewn or assembled in countries that do not pollute the environment or exploit child labor. If I have to wear a uniform, I won't feel like me!"
To that I replied, "So your personal heroes didn't wear school uniforms. But they went to high school about a million years ago! l feel sorry for you since I had no idea that your ego(自我)is so fragile that it would be completely destroyed by a uniform. "That really made him angry and he shouted, "You're just copying what you hear that new music teacher saying because you are crazy about him!"
Fortunately the bell rang before we could do each other physical harm, and we went to our separate classes. The vote for or against uniforms took place later that day. The results of the vote and the principal's decision will be announced next week. I wonder what it will be. I know how l voted, and I'm pretty sure l know how Andy voted. How would you vote-for or against?
A Virginia teen is doing his part to make sure frontline health care workers are getting the meals they need to help them take care of themselves and others.
Arul Nigam, 17, of Tyson's Corner, Va., has had to make several adjustments since his school year ended abruptly in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic(新冠疫情）. "We didn't have any classes for like over a month and then after that there were a lot of technical difficulties. So I started to have a lot more free time," he tells Yahoo Life. "It was really saddening, but it was also something that really surprised me, that our health care workers are facing something like that," Nigam says. "So I wanted to see what I could do to help them because obviously, they're sacrificing so much and giving so much for all of us. "
In late March, the teen started fundraising efforts with the help of friends and family to help these health care workers receive much-needed meals. He also began doing research about what hospitals had the most amount of coronavirus cases, so he could prioritize those places first. He was also arranging for the orders to be fulfilled at local family-owned restaurants impacted by shutdown orders. So far, Nigam has delivered over 1,000 meals to 22 hospitals in 13 states, including New York, Massachusetts and Maryland.
Nigam's efforts have not only helped health care workers, but restaurants as well. With quarantine restrictions taking a toll on the food industry, places like Best Coast Burrito in Oakland, Calif., have lost business over the last few weeks. Best Coast's owner, Alvin Shen, tells Yahoo Life that being able to partner with Arul and others in efforts to feed those on the frontline has been a big help.
