To me, inspirations mean to put my thoughts, heart, and creations into my jewelry. Sometimes I become so inspired with what I'm working on that I can finish one or more sets in less than an hour. Because of that feeling, I have named my jewelry collection “Inspirations”.

     I am a 17-year-old student with sickle-cell anemia. With this, I am in and out of the hospital a lot. So I started making jewelry a year ago when I was in the hospital. I really needed something to do, so I was introduced to jewelry making by a child life expert.

     One day while lying in my hospital bed, I decided to get up and go to the patient's playroom ,and look through the craft designs. That was when I became inspired to design my jewelry collection, and named it “Inspirations”.

     When I'm  not sick, I try to keep a positive attitude through reading, schoolwork and craft activities. Even though there is a lot of work, I try to stay focused all the time. When I need a break or just to be free I turn to my craft activities. This is a way to ease my mind and it always helps me to especially get through those stressful times.

     I am getting very excited about graduating next year and preparing myself for college. Who knows my collection of “Inspirations” would take me to the places I always dreamed of? I may see celebrities I admire and even sell them some of my beautiful “Inspirations”. If they wear my “Inspirations”, it will be well known and in great demand. What a great way to make some extra money for college! I never thought being sick would bring me “Inspirations”. I want people to look beyond my illness and see the creations I've made in my collection called “Inspirations”.

    I have a Rewards Card for Showcase Cinema that allows me to earn rewards points with each purchase that I make at the theatre and periodically provides me with a free popcorn, soda or movie ticket coupon(优惠券). I had recently accumulated enough rewards points to obtain a coupon for a free popcorn.

    Standing in the movie theatre ticket line on Saturday, I noticed just ahead of me, a father with his 2 small boys also waiting to buy their tickets for the Matinee Movie. Knowing that movies can be quite expensive for families nowadays, I tapped the Dad on the shoulder and asked, “I have a coupon for free popcorn and don't plan to use it, would you like it for one of your boys?” He said, “Yeah, sure. That's great! Thanks!” and took the coupon.

    A few minutes later, after they had purchased their tickets, one of his small sons who appeared to be about 9 or 10 years old, walked up to me and silently held out a shiny penny to show me. I took it and said, “Wow that's cool! It's really shiny!” He quietly replied, “It's a 2011”.

    As I handed it back to him. He pushed the penny towards me once again and quietly said, “You can keep it”. Showing my gratitude, I replied, “Wow that's awesome, thank you very much” and asked, “Where did you get it!” and he said quite softly, “I found it in my Dad's car”. I said, “Oh that's cool, thanks!” He smiled, quietly turned and walked back to his Dad who returned my smile with a knowing smile of his own. It's the small special moments like that that can make an ordinary day special.

    Summer Science Class registration begins on March 8 ! If you are interested in science，the environment，or conservation and you are in grades 7 －12 ，sign up soon for Black Rock Forest Consortium's Summer Science Class program. You can download the Summer Science Classes 2013 brochure here. It is easy to register；just call 845-534-4517 or click here.

    Twelve-week-long courses in the natural sciences and the arts are offered at Black Rock Forest in Cornwall from July 15 through August 9.Two more classes are offered with site partners，including “The Art of Scientific Observation，” hosted jointly by Black Rock Forest Consortium and Storm King Art Center ，one of the world's leading sculpture parks ，and “A Nautical   Expedition” hosted jointly by the Consortium and the Constitution Marsh Audubon Center.

    We are delighted to announce two special “away” classes that are part of the Summer Science Class program this year: an“Adirondack Eco-Adventure” beginning August 11，and “Conservation Biology in Florida，” beginning June 23 and featuring field work on the Gulf Coast in cooperation with the University of Florida's Seahorse Key Marine Biological Laboratory. For more information on the Summer Science Class program，please read our press release. Black Rock Forest Consortium is a nonprofit organization founded in 1989 to advance scientific understanding of the natural world through research，education and conservation programs.

    For many, music is as important to the human experience as eating and breathing. We hear music everywhere—at home, the gym, parties and stores. But what kind of music do we prefer to listen to, and when and why do our musical preferences change?

    The relationship between the change of seasons and musical preferences was the focus of a study led by psychologist Terry Pettijohn. He and his team based their research on a previous study that examined the relationship between popular music preferences and the Environmental Security Hypothesis(假设). The results showed that over time, when social and financial conditions were more risky, the songs of the year that were slower, longer, more comforting and serious were most popular. And during periods in which social and financial conditions were generally stable, the result was opposite.

    Building on these findings, Pettijohn and his team wondered if the Hypothesis could also be applied to the change of seasons. For college students, the participants in this study, autumn begins at the start of the school year. Gone are the carefree days of summer, when school is out. Winter means colder temperatures, shorter days, and, in many places in the country, snow. Spring, however, is a different story. It represents a fresh start and when clocks spring forward, we gain an extra hour of daylight. As students walk into summer, they're absorbed in the sunshine and social activities—and enjoy a break from school.

    But do changing seasonal conditions influence musical preferences? To answer this question, the researchers designed two studies. What did they find? Both groups of college students favored more serious music during the seasons of fall and winter, and more active and energetic music during the spring and summer seasons. And these findings, Pettijohn argues, have practical significances.

    It's 11 p.m., and I'm still sitting here writing this article for the school magazine! I've had two weeks to write it, and my teacher, Julia, wants it tomorrow. She's always complaining (抱怨) that I leave things till the last minute. Maybe she's right.

    A month ago I made a decision to be more efficient (有效率的) this year. Well, I've clearly failed. I've also been trying to get fitter for four weeks now. I've started going to the health club. I've even been going to bed earlier. But I'm not feeling any fitter, just a little unhappier. I miss my bad habits. Why is leading a better life so hard?

    I've just read an article on a website, and I've discovered that it isn't my fault (过错)! In fact, it isn't anyone's fault. It's our brain's. It's programmed to make it difficult to break bad habits. There's nothing we can do. Scientists have done experiments that show we use one part of our brain when we think about ourselves and another when we think about other people. However, when we think about ourselves in the future, we use the same part of the brain that we usually use to think about other people. In other words, the brain sees the “future you” as a different person than your “present you.” That's why we don't always find it easy to make good decisions for ourselves in the future.

    But that's not all. Scientists have also discovered that it takes around ten weeks to form a good habit. That's the amount (数量) of time the brain needs to accept new behavioral patterns (形式). The good news is that once you make it to ten weeks, everything becomes a lot easier. The bad news is that ten weeks is a really long time, so it's easy to give up what you want to do before then.

    So even when we want to change our ways and become better people, our brains won't let us. Or is this just an excuse? Look — I've finished my article on time! Anything is possible!

    People who like travelling have their reasons. They believe that travelling can help them expand their field of view, especially in the geographical and historical sense. They also think that touring will give them more chances to enjoy different kinds of food and experience new things that would never be brought by other activities. But those who dislike travelling also have some reasons.

    Travelling, in my opinion, does more good than harm. Most importantly, it broadens our mind. We can get in touch with other civilizations, cultures, customs and ideas.

Through history, most people travelled because of necessity (必要性)—not for pleasure. People travelled just in order to remain alive. They searched for food to eat or places to live in. They sometimes ran away from enemies. This is not to say that no one ever travelled just for the fun of it. In ancient times, for example, rich Romans travelled all the way to Greece to take part in the Olympic Games, and festivals. Of course, some people decided to travel just out of curiosity (好奇心). They wanted to find out what it looked like beyond the horizon (地平线). Also business travel has been going on for centuries. Traders could not only make money but also learn to speak several languages and be introduced to different cultures.

    So, travelling does enrich our mind and draw new ideas to us. There is no doubt that we can get much from it.