I really love my job because I enjoy working with small children and like the challenges and awards from the job. I also think my work is important. There was a time when I thought I would never have that sort of career.

    I wasn't an excellent student because I didn't do much schoolwork. In my final term I started thinking what I might do and found I didn't have much to offer. I just accepted that I wasn't the type to have a career.

    I then found myself a job, looking after two little girls. It wasn't too bad at first. But the problems began when I agreed to live in, so that I would be there if my boss had to go out for business in the evening. We agreed that if I had to work extra hours one week, she'd give me time off the next. But unfortunately, it didn't often work out. I was getting extremely tired and fed up, because I had too many late nights and early mornings with the children.

    One Sunday, I was in the park with the children, and met Megan who used to go to school with me. I told her about my situation. She suggested that I should do a course and get a qualification if I wanted to work with children. I didn't think I would be accepted because I didn't take many exams in school. She persuaded me to phone the local college and they were really helpful. My experience counted for a lot and I got on a part-time course. I had to leave my job with the family, and got work helping out at a kindergarten.

    Now I've got a full-time job there. I shall always be thankful to Megan. I wish I had known earlier that you could have a career, even if you aren't top of the class at school.

    Only two countries in the advanced world provide no guarantee for paid leave from work to care for a newborn child. Last spring one of the two, Australia, gave up the bad distinction by setting up paid family leave starting in 2011. I wasn't surprised when this didn't make the news here in the United States — we're now the only wealthy country without such a policy.

    The United States does have one explicit family policy, the Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993. It entitles workers to as much as 12 weeks' unpaid leave for care of a newborn or dealing with a family medical problem. Despite the modesty of the benefit, the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups fought it bitterly, describing it as “government-run personnel management” and a “dangerous precedent (先例).” In fact, every step of the way, as (usually) Democratic leaders have tried to introduce work-family balance measures into the law, business groups have been strongly opposed.

    As Yale law professor Anne Alstott argues, justifying parental support depends on defining(定义) the family as a social good that, in some sense, society must pay for. Parents are burdened in many ways in their lives: there is “no exit” when it comes to children. Society expects — and needs — parents to provide their children with continuity of care. And society expects — and needs — parents to persist in their roles for 18 years, or longer if needed.

    While most parents do this out of love, there are public punishments for not providing care. What parents do, in other words, is of deep concern to the state, for the obvious reason that caring for children is not only morally urgent but important to the future of society. To classify parenting as a personal choice for which there is no collective responsibility is not merely to ignore the social benefits of good parenting; really, it is to steal those benefits because they accrue (累积) to the whole of society as today's children become tomorrow's citizens. In fact, by some estimates, the value of parental investments in children, investments of time and money, is equal to 20-30% of GDP. If these investments bring huge social benefits — as they clearly do — the benefits of providing more social support for the family should be that much clearer.

    How could we possibly think that keeping animals in cages in unnatural environments, mostly for entertainment purposes, is fair and respectful?

    Zoo officials say they are concerned about animals. However, most zoos remain “collections” of interesting “things” rather than protective habitats. Zoos teach people that it is acceptable to keep animals bored, lonely, and far from their natural homes.

    Zoos claim to educate people and save endangered species, but visitors leave zoos without having learned anything meaningful about the animals' natural behavior, intelligence, or beauty. Zoos keep animals in small spaces or cages, and most signs only mention the species' name, diet, and natural range. The animals' normal behavior is seldom noticed because zoos don't usually take care of the animals' natural needs.

    The animals are kept together in small spaces, with no privacy and little opportunity for mental and physical exercise. This results in unusually and self-destructive behavior called zoo-chosis(圈禁性精神病). A worldwide study of zoos found that zoochosis is common among animals kept in small spaces or cages. Another study showed that elephants spend 22 percent of their time making repeated head movements or biting cage bars, and bears spend 30 percent of their time walking back and forth, a sign of unhappiness and pain.

    Furthermore, most animals in zoos are not endangered. Captive breeding(圈养繁殖) of endangered big cats, Asian elephants, and other species has not resulted in their being sent back to the wild. Zoos talk a lot about their captive breeding programs because they do not want people to worry about a species dying out. In fact, baby animals also attract a lot of paying customers. Haven't we seen enough competitions to name baby animals?

    Actually, we will save endangered species only if we save their habitats and put an end to the reasons people kill them. Instead of supporting zoos, we should support groups that work to protect animals' natural habitats.

    Beyoncé Knowles can do something that many humans struggle with: sing and dance at the same time. But, it turns out this great ability is not unique to humans. The superb lyrebird, already known to be a gifted singer, can perform coordinated(协调的)song­and­dance routines(一套舞蹈动作)that put most humans to shame.

    The superb lyrebird is one of only two lyrebird species living in Australia, the other named Albert's lyrebird. Male lyrebirds have tails in the shape of an ancient musical instrument when spread out. Like most animals with beautiful body parts, the males use their tails to attract females. Each one sets up a small mound(小丘)on the forest floor, where he walks around proudly and sings. He also shows his tail by holding it over his head.

    Lyrebirds are gifted mimics(模仿者), so their songs combine their own calls, the songs of other species, and sounds they have heard in the forest. That would be enough showing off for other animals, but male superb lyrebirds also dance.

    Anastasia Dalziell of the Australian National University in Canberra filmed 12 lyrebirds in the wild. She found that males only danced during four song types, and that each song type was accompanied by a specific move. “Lyrebirds match different dance styles to different types of songs, ”she says. For example, when the male sang a series of rapid notes he also stepped to the side and held his tail wide. Another song type was accompanied by jumping and moving up and down, with the tail held narrow.

    “Our results suggest that the coordination between song and dance—like movements we see in humans can occur in other animals,” says Dalziell. Female lyrebirds might prefer males that are better at coordinating song and dance, although there is no evidence of that yet.

    The idea that you can use humor, laughter, and play to make you healthier probably seems too simple to be true. However, it is really true and simple. The sense of humor, laughter and play plays an important part in keeping you healthy.

    Treat the blues with a sense of humor, which is closely tied to laughter. Laughter is infectious. Have you ever heard a big laugh of a young child and been able to keep yourself from smiling? When laughter is shared between people, it makes them closer to each other and increases their happiness. Smiling is the beginning of laughter and a smile is also just as infectious as laughter is. You can experience something by smiling at everyone around you, and you will feel happier just by sharing a smile, even with a stranger.

    Play is an important part of making sure that we stay healthy. We are often encouraged to make sure our children play, and are told of the benefits of being out playing. However, what we often forget is that it is just as important for old people to make play be part of their life as it's for children. Physical play is important for the old and it certainly helps prevent illness. While the studies are still in the early stages, the studies that have been done have shown that physical play certainly plays a part in preventing cognitive (认知的) falling.

Non-Credit Courses

The Pre-College Program offers non-credit courses.Students will experience college-level courses given by some of our college's leading experts and will receive written feedback(反馈) on their work at the end of the course.Pre-college students will also receive a grade of Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory and a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the program.

All non-credit courses meet from 9:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.daily and may have additional requirements in the afternoons or evenings.

COURSE:Case Studies in Neuroscience

·June 11-July 2

·Leah Roesch

Using student-centered,active-learning methods and real-world examples,this course is designed to provide a fuller understanding of how the human brain works.

COURSE:Psychology of Creativity

·June 15-June 28

·Marshall Duke

Why are certain people so creative?Is it genetic(遗传的),or a result of childhood experience?Are they different from everyone else?This popular psychology course highlights the different theories of creativity.

COURSE:Creative Storytelling

·June 21-July 3

·Edith Freni

This college-level course in creative storytelling functions as an introduction to a variety of storytelling techniques that appear in different forms of creative writing,such as short fiction and playwriting.

COURSE:Sports Economics

·July 19-August 1

·Christina DePasquale

In this course we will analyze many interesting aspects of the sports industry:sports leagues,ticket pricing,salary negotiations,discrimination,and NCAA policies to name a few.