Running for a Dream

     I will never forget that November day. It was hotter than normal. This was the 1my father and I had waited so long for, because we had been working towards this race for three years. Dozens of familiar faces from church and school flashed across my view. They had come 2 me. I saw worry and 3 on my father's face. Then the race began!

        For the first two and a half miles, I felt 4. I had never before been so ready for something. The weeks leading up to the race were filled with controlled5 and a strict diet. My friends hadn't seen me in weeks, but they understood the6  required to make my dream a reality. As in all of my races, I didn't7 out in the front, I loved the pleasure of passing people as my strength overtook their premature speed.

       Then without warning, my strength began to decrease. Neck and neck with one of my greatest competitors, I 8 see the finish line. I had begun the final dash into 9 when my knees became weak and my legs gave way. Nothing I could do would make them 10 weight.

       I watched as runners rushed by me. 11 I knew my dreams of victory were destroyed, I had to finish the race. However, my legs hurt badly. With all of the 12 left in me, I got on my hands and knees and crawled (爬), inch by inch, across the finish line. Voices, both 13 and familiar, cheered me on. They gave me the courage to keep 14 until the very end.

        The doctors were there in seconds, but my eyes searched the crowd for him. There was only one person I wanted to 15to. I whispered, “I'm so sorry, Dad, I'm so sorry I16 you.” He looked at me, saying, “You could never disappoint me. Sometimes these things just 17 ． All that matters is that you did your best.”

      “But we worked so 18 ． What about our dream?” He reached over for my hand and said, “Don't you know that you are my dream and it has come true?”

       It wasn't long before my running shoes were back on, marking a 19 path for my journey, I learned that all of the miles, the tears, the sweat, and the pain my dad and I experienced together were not for a 20. What I realized, though, was that to him, I was the greatest prize he had ever won.

Baby elephant repaying her lifesaver

    There's a saying about elephants that goes, “elephants never forget.” A recent online video holds1to this saying, as a baby elephant saved a man from drowning.

    The five-year-old elephant was named Kham La. The man she “2” is Darrick Thomson, her trainer.

    Darrick3to Kham La while he was in a rushing river of Elephant Nature Park, Thailand. Kham La4to her favorite person and immediately offered her trunk when she got close to Darrick. To further5 him from the rushing water, Kham La blocked it by putting up her left leg. Darrick 6 her trunk when Kham La attempted to bring him to safety.

    7 Darrick wasn't in danger. He pretended to be 8to show people the close band he had formed with Kham La. The close band was formed when Darrick saved Kham La from the9meihods used on baby elephants for tourist attractions.

    “Kham La was in a really10 way when she came to us,” explained Darrick, “She had been tied up and 11 to have cruel training known as 'crushing' to prepare her for work. We12 her and helped her to recover. She became really13 to me. I went in the river to show just how close our14is. If you show warmth and kindness to them, they'll15 you well, too.”

    “Crushing” is a 16 method used on baby elephants. They are beaten 17 they obey their trainers.

    “She's now a(n)18 young elephant. The video shows just how close she is to me and it's an important lesson to be kind to19.This really goes to show that an elephant truly never20!” Darrick added.

    With supper finished, it was our time with Dad. Cindy, Tom and I climbed onto our couch. We all 1 Mom to turn on the old tape player.

    Dad had been piloting airplanes in Vietnam for the Air Force for a year. Through the year, our family received at least one 2a week from Dad. Mom played a part to us every day. Every day when Mom turned on the tape player, Dad 3by asking each of us how our 4had gone and what we had done.5 to the tape machine as if he could hear every word, each of us told him about our6. Because Mom wrote down our responses, Dad was kept7. In the following tape, he8our good deeds and 9corrected our errors. After 10 told Dad their tales, he read to us from the book Mom had sent.

    The day Dad was to11, all of us were playing around the 12. Then the gate in the fence opened. A tall man in a 13walked through the gate.

    My eldest sister jumped off the diving board and ran towards the man. Mom ran behind. The man embraced Mom and kissed her.

    14by the scene, Tom and I looked at each other. Soon, the tall, uniformed man arrived at the pool's edge and smiled 15at us. With the innocence of a four-year-old girl, I looked up and  16 , “Are you my father?”

    He burst into tears, knelt down, 17us into his arms and said, “Yes, I'm your father.” 18 I heard his voice, I 19him as my father because it was the same20that I heard so frequently on tape.

    The day I received my letter of acceptance to NewYork university, I was extremely excited. It was my dream university. And my1 were pleased for me. But they also hadn't2 me to get into such a competitive school. In fact, the best thing they ever did for me was to 3  me from doing things4 - indeed, when I was in elementary school, they offered to buy me a present5I got a C.

    It 6 when I was in the third grade. An only child in an Asian family, I had just 7 with my family to Los Angeles. Months into the third grade, I developed a strong feeling of8 about getting bad grades. Seeing my anxiety, Dad said, "Kate, tell you what. If you get a C or 9, I'll buy you a present. If you score higher than that, I won't buy you anything, because you won't10 it."

    Clearly dad wasn't the 11Asian tiger parent, pressuring me to work tirelessly for the best12, and neither was my mom. They didn't want to push me. They wanted me to be13 and healthy. Dad's 14  of a "failing grade" gift amazingly15 my worries and reassure. What's more, I16getting A's and B's throughout high school, but without the added stress and fear of failing. I think it was my parents' lack of stress on grades that gave me 17 to encourage my own desire for achievements. I now realize I was 18 when I thought I didn't receive a present from my dad that day. He gave me two invaluable19 : the space to develop my own desire for excellence, and the healthy mind to 20it.

    Martin Henfield talks about some of his 1 as a twin: when we were small, my mother dressed us 2 the same clothes. That was bad enough and we didn't like it. But we went on our first camping trip, it was even 3. We were only ten years old, and while 4 went into their sleeping bags for the 5, we were not happy to snuggle inside a double sleeping bag my mother made for us.

    At school our classmates 6 us Henfield One and Henfield Two, so people 7 even see our difference according to our initials because 8 of us were M.H. It was only when I went to college and began to have my own friends that I started to feel my own freedom of identity(身份).

    Before I went to college, during my secondary school 9, I 10 a job on a building site. My twin brother, Mike Henfield, didn't work. One day I asked my boss, "Can I have a week 11?" "Certainly," he said, "but you won't have the job when you 12 back." I didn't want to 13 the job. So on Monday morning, Mike went there in my 14 , jacket and hat and he worked for me for one week. 15 of them knew the difference.

I was interested in volunteering at a hospital because both of my parents work in hospitals. I wanted to see what the 1 was after hearing them talk about it. To be more 2 , I wanted to work at the VA — a hospital in Palo Alto because the 3 of VA is "to serve those who served" and I really 4 this very idea.

To my greatest joy, I was 5 the VA program, and throughout this summer break I've spent around 110 hours 6 at VA Palo Alto in different departments. To be honest, I had never at all felt more welcomed and 7 in every department I went to. After some initial experiences, I 8 to work in the Office of Information Technology (OIT) since I am interested in computers, and I wanted to see how they are used in a hospital setting.

My overall experience of volunteering at VA can be 9 into the words of "eye-opening and 10 ." Throughout my whole life I have been 11 to health care from both my parents being physicians and my health problems, but I have never 12 been on the other side of the glass, so to speak. What I 13 most about my experience was the ability to see what it's like to help people. I want to 14 volunteering at VA because I believe there is no other experience that can be as 15 as working in a hospital that treats Veterans.