You've flown halfway around the world；you've sniffed out this place that nobody in Falongland or Thailand seems to have ever heard of；so what on earth is there to do here？You consider this question as you sink into an old wooden beach chair that holds you above the sand.

It was a long journey from Bangkok to Huaplee.By the time you found the bus station and got yourself sorted out，it took almost as long as the flight from Falongland.

    Huaplee is located just south of Hua Hin，about two hundred kilometres from Bangkok，down the west side of the Gulf of Thailand. Not many tourists find this place，and the ones that do wonder if finding it has been their purpose all along.

    There's an apparent laziness that surrounds you here.It's what this place offers，and it's free of charge.The small waves that tap the shoreline seem to slow everything down.You settle into your beach chair in preparation for a long rest.You sit there and watch the sea.

    It's early afternoon，so the cook comes out and asks what you'd like to eat this evening.Before long he's rushed off to the market to buy the ingredients for whatever it was that you ordered－every meal fresh and to order.No menu here.

    There is no poolside noise here but just that wonderfully warm，clear blue sea.There's no street noise.The only sounds are the murmurs of nature.

    For now you just count your blessings (福祉)，listing them in the sand with your toe (脚趾)．You don't have to worry about being late for work. You don't have to do anything.

    The beach to your right stretches off to the horizon (地平线)，slowly narrowing to nothingness only to reemerge again on your left，now steadily widening until it covers the chair beneath you.Sand to your left and sand to your right; it's unbroken，endless.No start，no end，just sand，sun，and peace.Step off it，and you re­enter the world of traffic，stress，work，and hurry.

    Normally you're the type who can't sit still for more than ten minutes，but you're on Huaplee Lazy Beach now and，in the right frame of mind，it stretches all the way around the world.

     “How could it take me so long to find it？” you wonder.

    Two of the saddest words in the English language are "if only". I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.

    My father is famous in our family for saying, "Take the extra minute to do it right." I always try to live by the "extra minute" rule. When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an "if only" moment, whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫) onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.

    I don't only avoid those "if only" moments when it comes to safety. It's equally important to avoid "if only" in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say "I love you" or "I forgive you." When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn't be here. But then I thought about the fact that he's 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn't give up an opportunity to see him. I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.

    I know there will still be occasions when I have to say "if only" about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I'm doing the right thing. I'm buying myself peace of mind and that's the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.

    One of my neighbors used to have a beautiful tree in her front yard. Her dad had planted it for her when it was nothing more than a twig(树枝) and several years later it started to shoot towards the sky with amazing speed. Soon it blessed her with cooling shade in the summer and glorious, golden leaves in the fall.

    When the two-day snowstorm struck our town, heavy snow fell on the tree's branches that were still full of leaves. The weight split that lovely tree down the middle. It was so sad seeing half of it laying on the ground after the storm. When I talked to my neighbor later, she said that the damage had been too much and that the entire tree would have to be cut down. Thankfully she had saved a few saplings(树苗) from it that she hoped to replant in the future.

    Still, it was a shock to drive by her house the other day and see nothing but a stump in her front yard. I missed that tree. I missed its beauty, its leaves shinning in the afternoon sun. I missed seeing its limbs reach towards the heavens. I thought that the stump would be a sad reminder of its loss for a long time to come. My wonderful neighbor, though, had another plan. When I drove by her home today I saw a tiny bird feeder sitting on that stump and a colorful songbird having its dinner. It was such an affirmation of life. It was such a joy to see. I could feel my heart smile.

    Life by its very nature is a mixed bag. It hands us beauty and tragedy, love and loss, pleasure and pain. What we do with it, however, is up to us. We can let it split us in two, or we can use even its hardest times to make our souls stronger and our hearts more loving. We can spend it complaining or we can use it to help others.

    On her first day in New York City, teaching students from low-income families at an after-school program, Alyssa Kapasi noticed so many kids were lining up for free sandwiches and fruit in the cafeteria. Many of these poor students don't get enough food to eat at home, so a free school lunch or a free after-school meal might be the most food they would get all day.

    Kapasi, who graduated from private school, was shocked. Therefore, she was determined to help. “I want other kids to understand that if they meet a problem, they don't have to wait to be an adult to salve it,” says Kapasi. She and a group of friends are now putting their programming skills ta work to create an app called Food for Thought, which will allow parents, students and even kind-hearted strangers to donate to a lunch account for a student in need at a nearby school.

    About 20 million American kids receive free lunches. Two million more quality for reduced-price meals, and those students' families may pay for part of their food. When they don't have the money on any day, the students might have to choose an “alternative meal” such as a free cheese sandwich.

    One clever feature of the app which is being supported by donation from companies and social investors—is that it provides anonymity (匿名) to lunch recipients and donors. To receive financial help, a family will need only a recommendation from a school administrator, and no one else knows.

    “I want to make the application a platform where all users feel no shame in using it,” says Kapasi. She hopes to test the app in a school district next month. And then, she will devote herself to charity.

    Breakfast is not only the most important meal of the day, but also the most neglected. Common reasons for not eating breakfast include lack of time, not feeling hungry, traditional dislike for breakfast, and dieting.

    Breakfast simply means "break the fast". Your body spends at least 6 to 12 hours each night in a fasting state. In the morning your body needs energy for the day's work ahead.

    A good breakfast should provide up to 1/3 of your total calories needs for the day. On average(平均)we eat 400 less calories for breakfast than for dinner. If breakfast doesn't attract you in the morning, try eating a lighter for the breakfast in the morning.

    If you aren't hungry in the morning, start with something small like juice or toast or have a nutritious mid-morning snack alter when you are hungry.

    So, you say you're on a diet. Some people fear eating breakfast will make them hungrier during the day and they will eat more. It is true that eating breakfast is likely to make you eat more. That's because your body is working all day long, in fact, you are probably not.

    Not eating breakfast can also cause you to overeat, since a fall in blood sugar often makes you feel very hungry later. To make matters worse, since your body is in a slowed state it will not be able to burn those extra calories very quickly. If you feed your body healthy snacks and meals through the day, you are less likely to become hungry and fill yourself as soon as you begin to eat. Since breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day, choosing the right fuel is important. The best breakfast foods are fruits, juice, lean meat, and grain products such as bread, rice, noodles and cereals(谷物).

    During your four years in the college, you'll have many exciting choices to make, the first of which will be your course selection for your first semester. The beauty of this choice is that you can't go wrong! No matter which one of our First-Year Options you select to apply for, you will create a rich intellectual experience to begin your college career.

    Option 1: Liberal Arts Seminar

    The Liberal Arts Seminar is a multidisciplinary(多学科的)course that explores the cultural history of the Mediterranean through fictional and nonfictional books.

Fall schedule: When Registration opens, you will select between one and four additional courses to complete your schedule.

    Option 2: FLL Hager Scholars Program

    The FLL Hager Scholars Program is designed with our most ambitious students of languages and linguistics in mind, and is designed to create for them both a sense of community and opportunities for intellectual growth.

    Fall schedule: When Registration opens, you will select between one and three additional courses to complete your schedule.

    Option 3: Ignatius Seminars

    Offered only in the first semester, Ignatius Seminars introduce students to the depth and diversity of Georgetown's dynamic intellectual community.

    Fall schedule: When Registration opens, you will select three or four additional courses to complete your schedule.

    Option 4: Traditional First-Year Academic Program

    With this program, you'll take your first step into the college's rich and varied core courses and explore your fields of interest in free optional coursework.

    Fall schedule: When Registration opens, you will build a schedule of four or five additional courses from the full college curriculum.