A few years ago, I took a sightseeing trip to Washington, D.C standing outside the Ronald Reagan Center, I heard a voice, “Can you help me?” When I turned around, I saw an elderly blind woman with her hand extended. I reached into my pocket, pulled out all of my loose change and placed it on her hand without even looking at her. I was annoyed at being bothered by a beggar. But the blind woman smiled and said, “I don't want your money. I just want you to help me find the post office.”

    In a moment, I realized what I had done. I judged another person simply for what I guessed she had to be. I hated what I saw in myself. This incident reawakened my belief in humility（谦恭）,even though I'd lost it for a moment.

The thing I had forgotten about myself is that I am an immigrant. I left Honduras and arrived in the US at the age of 15. I started my new life with two suitcases, my brother and sister, and a strong, serious-minded mother. Through the years, I have been a dishwasher, mechanic and pizza delivery driver among many other humble jobs, and finally I became a network engineer.

    In my own life, I have experienced many open acts of prejudice（偏见）. I remember a time, at the age of 17, I worked as a waiter, and I heard a father tell his little boy that if he did not do well in school, he would end up like me. I have also witnessed the same treatment of my family and friends, so I know what it's like, and I should have known better.

    But now, living in my American middle-class lifestyle, it is too easy to forget my past, to forget who I am and where I have been, and to lose sight of where I want to be going. That blind woman on the street of Washington, D.C. cured me of my blindness. She reminded me of my belief in humility to always keep my eyes and heart open. By the way, I helped that lady to the post office. And in writing this article, I hope to thank her for the priceless lesson.

    A famous study was done in a school by a professor from a university. At the start of the school year, the teachers were given the names of five children. They were told that these five were the most excellent students in the class. But the fact was that these students were only average, and they were not the best students at all. Well, guess what? At the end of the year, all the five average students scored among the highest in the class.

    What made these average students change so much to become top students? The only difference was the change in their teachers' attitude. Because the teachers believed that these five kids were the top students, they expected (期望) more from them. And so these five average students began to believe and expect more from themselves. So they worked harder to do as well as they could.

    Do you know why? If you expect the best from people, they'll usually want to give you their best. A great leader said, “Treat (对待) a person just how he appears to be on the outside, and you'll make him even worse. But treat a person like he's already a success, and you'll help make him the best he can be.”

    Like the true story of 7-year-old Johnny, his teacher got so angry with him that one day she said, “Johnny, you're the naughtiest (最顽皮的) boy in this class. I'm sure you'll never change.” The next year Johnny had a new teacher. And on the first day of class, she met with Johnny after school and said, “Johnny, I've heard a lot about you! But do you know that I don't believe a word of it.” And every day after that, this new teacher treated Johnny as if he was one of the smartest students even when Johnny did naughty things. Later on, Johnny became a school leader. Because that's the power of our belief and attitude toward children.

New Jersey Botanical Garden Membership

    It's easy to join New Jersey Botanical Garden (NJBG) Membership or renew your membership online, by phone or by mail. And it's so important to the Botanical Garden! Your membership dollars help to improve the Garden, and provide educational and recreational (娱乐的) activities for the general public. Thank you for your support!

    To join or renew, please click on the appropriate section and membership category below for safe and convenient online payment processing by PayPal.

If you prefer to join by phone or mail, call the NJBG office at (973) 962-9534 or download and send in our membership brochure (Adobe Acrobat PDF file).

★ Join NJBG Today

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    The Botanical Garden started life as Skylands, a large area in the grand manner. It is famous for a 44 -room Tudor Revival granite (公馆) designed by John Russell Pope. Skylands has 96 acres of formal and naturalized gardens and is surrounded by over 1,000 acres of meadows (草坪) and woodlands. Purchased by the State in 1996 and officially named as the New Jersey State Botanical Garden in 1984, the gardens contain approximately 5,000 species and varieties of trees and flowers.

    For you, the NJBG is an exciting and beautiful place to visit where you may enjoy each season's best. Members enjoy special events, festivals, lectures, and rewarding educational opportunities for both city and country gardeners.

    Your NJBG membership offers you discounts at participating nurseries, garden centers and other fine businesses. Simply present your NJBG membership card when beginning your purchase:

    Goffle Brook Farm and Garden Center, (201) 652-7540

10% off your purchase

    Metropolitan Plant Exchange, (973) 683-7613

12% off your purchase

    Rohsler's Allendale Nursery & Florist, (201) 327-3156 15% off your purchase

    Food is extremely important to us human beings and rice is one of the main food in the world. Australian researchers have discovered a way to genetically engineer rice which would provide significant health benefits to more than half the world's population.

    A study undertaken at the University of Tasmania, published in a respected journal of the National Academy of Sciences, discovered a method to increase the resistant starch (抗性淀粉）content in rice, making it more digestible and leading to lower rate of diabetes (糖尿病）and overweight.

    Steven Smith, the lead author of the study and a foreign expert for the Chinese government who has been appointed to work on crop improvement projects by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said increasing the higher resistant starch content gave this “designer” rice many added health benefits. “We have discovered that we can increase the amount of resistant starch in cooked rice, which could provide health benefits for a large number of people in Asia and beyond,” Smith said in a media release on Friday. “The same approach can be adapted for use in other cereals, including wheat. Not only can it have benefits for diabetes and obesity, but also for disorders of the bowel(肠）including cancer.”

    Rice is the main food for more than half the world's population, providing much of the world with most of their calories. Smith said that as the rate of diabetes and obesity in Asian countries continued to grow, his “designer” rice could provide a way to limit health problems.

    “Not only does resistant starch reduce the possibility of a 'sugar hit' but it also reduces the appetite and promotes the growth of the healthy germs.” Smith said.

Smith divides his time between the University of Tasmania and his research lab in Beijing where he hopes to make significant advance in sustainable (可持续的）living.

    An extremely enthusiastic truth seeker who runs the YouTube channel Bright Insight claims（声称）to have found the mysterious city of Atlantis and insists that its true location has been hiding in plain sight for thousands of years.

    In a video, YouTube blogger Jimmy Bright argues that the Richat Structure, a geologic dome（穹状物）in northwest Sahara also referred to as the Eye of the Sahara, is the most likely location of Atlantis.

    He mentioned measurements from the famous Dialogues of Plato, which gave birth to the mystery. The Greek philosopher（哲学家）claimed that Atlantis was a long-gone kingdom, which stretched into Europe as far as Italy and into Africa as far as Egypt thousands of years ago. The giant island was said to be wiped off the face of the planet by a natural disaster “in a single day and night of misfortune”.

    At first sight, this has nothing to do with the land-based Richat Structure, but Jimmy claims that the so-called Younger Dryas theory could be a possible explanation. According to it, a massive change in global temperatures caused unexpected climate change and sea level to rise.

    In what can be viewed as another proof to the Sahara theory, the diameter（直径）of the Richat Structure's outer circle is 23.5 km according to Google Map's measurements, which matches those mentioned by Plato — 127 stadia, which is roughly 23.5 km in today's terms.

    Another thing that helps solve the mystery is a theory that the Eye of the Sahara closely matches the description from Plato's dialogues. The ancient philosopher wrote that the main city of Atlantis consisted of circles of water and land, which, Jimmy said, looks very similar to the circular form of the Richat Structure.

    Although the majority of researchers believe that Plato's story was nothing but a moral story used to describe a failed idea of seeking power and searching for fortune, it has raised quite a few theories, Since the Middle Ages, explorers have been pointing fingers at different places around the world, including the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, with the most amazing theories linking the location of Atlantis to the Antarctic and the North Sea.

Top Music Festivals

    Festival season is just kicking off, and there is a lot to look forward to in the upcoming months.

    Pitchfork Music Festival

    Anyone who likes indie (独立的) music and up-and-coming artists will have an amazing time at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago's Union Park. This is an indie rock heaven that explores more underground and lesser known bands than the other big Chicago summer festival, Lollapalooza.

    Date: July 14-16

    Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Music Type: Indie rock

    Price: $126- $2,700

    Essence Music Festival

    No matter what time of the year it is, New Orleans is an amazing place if you love live music. The Essence Music Festival is a celebration of well-known artists like Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, and Mary J.Blige.

    Date: June 29-July 2

    Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

    Music Type: R& B, soul, rock

    Price: $75-$365

    Sziget Festival

    Budapest knows how to hold a party, and Sziget is one of the biggest celebrations of music and culture in all of Europe. You can expect to find favorite artists like Bad Religion and Mac DeMarco playing here during this three day festival.

Date: August 9-11

    Location: Budapest, Hungary

    Music Type: Eclectic, Indie rock

    Price: $70-$296

    Flow Festival

    The Flow Festival is a great excuse to explore the city of Helsinki. Artists including Lana Del Rey and The XX will be playing, among many others. Come to this festival to enjoy yourselves with an earth-friendly belief.

    Date: August 11-13, 2018

    Location Helsinki, Finland

    Music Type: Rock, soul, jazz

    Price: $106-$199