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”.

    The third week of SEAL training means Hell Week. It is on Wednesday of Hell Week that you paddle down to the mud flats（泥滩） and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive the freezing-cold mud, the howling wind and the increasing pressure from the instructors to quit. As the sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having broken the rules, was ordered into the mud. The mud consumed each man till there was nothing visible but our heads. The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would quit—just five men and we could get out of the extreme cold.

    Looking around the mud flat, it was apparent that some students were about to give up. It was still over eight hours till the sun came up--eight more hours of freezing cold. The chattering teeth and shivering moans (呻吟）of the trainees were so loud that it was hard to hear anything. And then, one voice began to echo (回荡）through the night--one voice raised in song. The song was terribly out of tune, but sung with great enthusiasm. One voice became two, and two became three, and before long everyone in the class was singing. We knew that if one man could rise above the great suffering then others could as well. The instructors threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept up the singing—but the singing went on. And somehow, the mud seemed a little warmer, the wind a little less bitter and the dawn not so far away.

    If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world it is the power of hope. The power of one person, Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela and even a young girl from Pakistan, Malala, can change the world by giving people hope.

    So, if you want to change the world, start singing when you're up to your neck in mud.

    Here are four tourist attractions in Havana in Cuba.

    Museum of the City

    The Museum of the City was built in 179L The building once served as the Presidential Palace and home to colonial governors. The museum's exhibits include collections of weapons, history and art as well as rooms documenting wars for Cuban independence.

    +53-7-861-6130 .

    Open: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

    Admission: $ 3

    Revolution Square

    Revolution Square is one of the largest open public spaces in Cuba and one of the largest public squares in the world. The site is home to the 138-foot Jose Mart Memorial, the tallest structure in Havana, which celebrates the national hero. Cuba's important leaders, including Fidel Castro, usually use the platform in front of the memorial to address the large crowds that gather on the square. The Jose Marti Memorial also includes a museum and an elevator that takes tourists to the top of the monument.

    +53-7-338-6363

    Open: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

    Admission: $ 5

    Cigar Factories

    Cubans famous cigar-making factories are open to the public. Three cigar factories in Havana offer public tours that show how Cuba's cigars are hand-rolled in the traditional way. The Partagas Cigar Factory, founded in 1827, is the oldest in Havana. The other two factories open for tours are La Corona and Romeo Julieta, and they include gift shops.

    +53-7-338-060

    Open: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday.

    Admission: $ 10

    Old Havana

    Old Havana is the capital's historic district, which dates back to 1519 when Spain used the city as a colonial port. Old Havana was important Spanish naval (海军的）base. Presently, Old Havana's stone streets are home to museums, hotels and restaurants among the grand colonial buildings that once housed Spanish power.

    +53-7-885-752

    Open: daily.

    Admission: free

    Happy, angry, amazed—these are some of the emotions we like to express these days when we're sending a message on our smart phones! That's why many of us now add little pictures to our texts to brighten up someone's mobile screen but we're also using them as a quick way of telling someone how we're feeling. Yes, emojis (表情符号) have become a popular tool for communication.

    The emoji was first invented in Japan in the late 1990s and the word "emoji" comes from the Japanese words for "picture" and "character". The number of different images has greatly increased since then and now we have a picture for nearly every mood or situation.

    Why are emojis widely used today? Professor Vyv Evans says, "Increasingly, what we're finding is that digital communication is replacing face-to-face talk in some ways. One of the reasons why emojis are so interesting is that they really do enable us to express our emotional selves much more effectively."

    Another advantage of emojis is that they are an international language—they don't use words but tell a message with pictures so they can be easily understood whatever your native language is.

    But as linguist (语言学家) Neil Cohn says, "To many, emojis are an exciting evolution (进化) of the way we communicate; but to others, they are linguistic Armageddon." It does show by using emojis, there is a lot more to our communication than words alone, but does this also mean that the traditional writing will die out one day?

    Becca was 6 when she was told she had cancer on Sept. 8, 2014. She clearly remembers the bad days of her 26 months of non­stop treatment. Luckily, Becca celebrated her final treatment on Nov. 13, 2016, and she has been cancer­free ever since. But she was thinking about what her life was like while experiencing treatment.

    I was never able to do much, and that's what the kids lying in their hospital beds right now experience, asking their mom and dad, "When are we leaving? When can I play with my friends？" So I decided I have to help them.

    In February, 2017 Becca came up with the idea for Knots and Arrows, a company that makes bracelets (手镯) out of swimsuit materials (泳衣布料). Part of the money made from each bracelet goes to the organizations that help people with cancer.

    Becca created the company with her father, Gerhard Salmins. Gerhard Salmins once had cancer and already recovered from it. "I would be in the hospital sitting there crying and then my dad would come in and he would play games with me，" she said. "It made me forget about what I was going through." Becca said the name of the organization shows the motto (座右铭) she stuck to through her personal cancer journey.

    Her organization has already given thousands of dollars to research organizations and families in need. Becca said she hopes her bracelets will make people remember that great things can result from small changes. "No matter what age you are, what you look like, how you act, you can make a difference!" she said.

    Chrysanthemums (菊花) are to the fall what tulips are to the spring.

    In ancient China chrysanthemums (or 'mums' for short) were first planted thousands of years ago. People chose the chrysanthemum as their Flower for October a symbol of the rest and ease that followed the season's final harvest. Then they symbolized a scholar in retirement (隐居) and were one of the four noble(高贵的) plants along with bamboo, the plum flower(梅) and orchid(兰).

    The Japanese hold the chrysanthemum as a symbol of the sun. They consider the orderly unfolding of its petals(花瓣) to be a symbol of perfection. They also think that a single chrysanthemum petal placed in the bottom of a wine glass encourages a long and healthy life. The Japanese even have a National Chrysanthemum Day on September 9 known as the Festival of Happiness.

    In the United States during colonial times its popularity grew such that mums now reign as "Queen of the Fall Flowers." Mums remain the most widely grown pot plant in the country and the largest commercially produced flowers. Chrysanthemums generally represent cheerfulness and rest. So they are welcomed throughout the British Isles and North America for any occasion such as football games and parties.

    In other countries such as Italy Belgium and Austria however their association with the dead makes chrysanthemums acceptable only for funerals and graves.