“Oh, my god. Are you serious?”

    That's a reaction I often get when people hear the tale of my childhood.

    It's a story I don't often share. Growing up in a bad home, I learned to protect myself by not speaking up. I've seldom said anything about how badly I was treated and hurt as a child.

    I don't talk about how my name was changed at least three times, what it was like to live in my van (箱式货车), or how I've struggled with anxiety, depression and wanting to kill myself.

    But I learnt to start speaking up for myself. I went on to earn two graduate degrees and I will complete my doctorate (博士学位) this year. I've also become a widely published author. So, how did I get to where I am today?

     What's helped me is surrounding myself with caring, loving people. I've learned day-to-day skills through research, trial and error, and with the help of skilled professionals.

    They've taught me how to slow down, to breathe, to be thankful for what I've got. They're the ones who make my goals possible. They have also taught me to turn my past experiences into strength—to make the negatives into positives.

    My hope is that sharing my story might help others to see what is possible even in the darkest of times and help others to speak out.

    I don't think I'm in any way special or unique. I'm a common man, no more deserving than anyone else. But for far too long, I've been afraid that others think I'm damaged goods. I've worried about how I might be treated differently.

    Pain and fear teach us to be silent. It's time for that to change.

    I don't know what tomorrow might bring. But one thing I've learned is that if we can hold on and find help, if we find ways to get through the day and speak up, we'll not only survive, but become stronger than before.

    Our very survival can be an inspiration all on its own. And with love of my friends, I look forward to so much more than completing my education – I look forward to the future.

    The state of Texas has not fully recovered from last year's hurricane, Harvey, as it prepares for a new season of storms. After a teleconference with President Trump and Federal Emergency Officials, Texas governor Greg Abbott said that they were taking steps on a daily basis to make sure they would be able to address any coming challenges.

    Hurricane Harvey brought record rainfall to a wide range of Texas and more rain fell over a five day period than at any time, since records have been kept in the United States beginning in the 1850s. Last year's deadly hurricanes including Harvey, Irma and Maria caused mass destruction in large parts of Texas, Louisiana, the South Atlantic states, the Caribbean and Puerto Rico. Trump praised what he called best recovery and response efforts to the disasters. They were gathering every accessible resource to ensure maximum preparation for rapid response. That's what they had last year. Disaster reaction and recovery is best achieved when it's nationally supported, state managed and locally performed.

    Abbott also mentioned that two new satellites and modem technology will help decide the path and strength of the storms. State and local governments are also planning routes, shelters, communication lines and supply chains to ensure efficient reaction to the storms. Scientists warn that, as the earth warms, storms are taking more moisture and are able to produce more rainfall. This year storms are also expected to be driven by extremely powerful winds.

    Emergency Officials say the nation has to be prepared for ever more active storms in the future. They've got to keep building the culture of preparedness in this state and in this nation. Meteorologists（气象学家）predict up to 16 storms this summer including 5 to 9 hurricanes, the most active storms will occur in the approaching Mid-August.

    To travel abroad, we often meet the problem of what to take and how to take it. Take as little as possible. Choose clothes for your use in different kinds of situations and when you have made your final choice, take half of it! It's always a big problem to take too many things, and anyway if necessary, you can buy what you need in America. Things like jeans, T-shirts and other clothes are good buys in the US. If you hunt around you can usually find something on sale.

    Whatever baggage you take, make sure it is easy to take. Getting on and off buses and trains, even just changing planes, can be a test if your bags are too heavy or too many. The best way is to take one holdall, like a suitcase or a backpack, and then a smaller bag. Even when you have to check in your holdall, at the airport or bus station, you can keep all your money and documents by your side. It is also a good idea to keep a change of clothing in your shoulder bag in case your suitcase or backpack gets lost by an airline or a bus company.

The means you choose to travel around the US will depend on your money, you time and something else. Since there are certain discounts available to travelers who buy their tickets outside the US, it is a good idea to make travel plans before you go. Also, when you buy your tickets outside the US, you save the eight percent sales tax. Travel is like everything else in America—you have to shop around for the best busy. Never be afraid to ask for the cheapest fare. The clerk seldom offers you the cheapest one.

    An “adulting conference” (AC)this week allowed Kentucky high school seniors the chance to learn how to change a tire, how to cook and other basic life skills—things that they may not have learned at home or in classes. A series of photos posted by Bullitt Central High School on social media shows students taking “adulting conference” are learning about personal finances, resumes and other essential skills at the event, which has been widely reported on the local and national news outlets.

    “I saw a Facebook post that parents passed around saying they needed a class in high school on taxes and cooking,” AC organizer Hardin told Louisville's WAVE 3 News. Those skills are taught at school theoretically, she said, but the event gave students a chance to fill in gaps in their knowledge.

    Students could choose to attend three workshops out of 11 total options, the school says. The workshops were held in cooperation with numerous community partners.

    Some young people have left home and graduated school without having those gaps filled, according to a report this week from CBS New York, which documented a trend of young people seeking outclasses to learn basic life skills.

    While attending a cooking class, 29-year-old Elena Toumaras told the station she's struggling with “simple things.”

    “I was so used to, when living at home, my mom always cooking,” she told the station.

    An“Adulting School” in Portland, Maine, aims to use a new online format to teach the youths skills like conflict resolution, sewing and appreciation for all, the station says.

    Students' financial literacy has been of particular concern to some experts, as financial education in schools has stagnated(停滞)in the U.S., with only 17 states requiring students to take classes in personal finance—a number that hasn't risen in years.

    “The majority of U.S. states are failing our students by declining to offer these fundamental courses which are critical to their financial stability and security later in life. And this will be changed.” Nan J. Morrison, president and CEO of the Council for Economic Education, told CNBC.

    Freelancer.com is the world's largest freelancing and crowd sourcing marketplace by a number of users and projects. We connect over 29,613,376 employers and freelancers (自由职业者) globally from over 247 countries. Through our marketplace, employers can hire freelancers to do work in areas such as software development, writing, data entry and design right through to engineering, the sciences, sales and marketing, accounting and legal services.

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    I'M Pei, the Chinese-American, who was regarded as one of the last great modernist architects, has died at the age of 102.

    Although he worked mostly in the United States, Pei will always be remembered for a European project: His redevelopment of the Louvre Museum in Paris in the 1980s. He gave us the glass and metal pyramid in the main courtyard, along with three smaller pyramids and a vast subterranean (地下的) addition to the museum entrance.

    Pei was the first foreign architect to work on the Louvre in its long history, and initially his designs were fiercely opposed. But in the end, the French — and everyone else — were won over. Winning the fifth Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1983, he was thought as giving the 20th century "some of its most beautiful inside spaces and outside forms … His talent and skill in the use of materials approach the level of poetry."

    After studying architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, Pei set up his own architectural practice in New York in 1955.

    Designing the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum in 1964 established him as a name. His East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 1978 changed people's ideas of a museum. The site was an odd trapezoid (梯形) shape. Pei's solution was to cut it in two. The resulting building was dramatic, light and elegant — one of the first crowd-pleasing cathedrals of modern art.

    Though known as a modernist, and notable for his forms based on arrangements of simple geometric (几何的) shapes, he once urged Chinese architects to look more to their architectural tradition rather than designing in a western style.

    In person, I.M. Pei was good-humored, charming and unusually modest. His working process was evolutionary, but innovation (创新) was never an intended goal.

    "Stylistic originality is not my purpose," he said. "I want to find the originality in the time, the place and the problem."