When I was in my third year at university, my roommates were American footballers, so I decided to join them. I remember seeing them in front of me wearing pads (防护垫), and thinking they were going to kill me. I got tackled (阻截) so hard that I was frightened. But then I realized it was just physical contact. I've been addicted since.

The fundamental aim of the game is to score by running with the ball into, or receiving the ball inside the opposition's end zone. Every player on the field has a set responsibility. I'm a running back. My job is using my speed, strength and skill to carry the ball and keep running until either I score or I get put down. And it does hurt.

I've broken two fingers and hurt my shoulder, but the worst was when I trapped the ligaments (韧带) in the back of my leg. I had to take a year out. But none of that put me off- all I could think was how I was going to come back stronger. Besides training with the team, I now have my gym routine to get fitter, faster and stronger.

Although people think American football is aggressive, there's much more to it. Every team has its own playbook, outlining everyone's role in different scenes. My playbook was 73 pages long. Words can't describe how it feels when it all comes together on the field.

American football has changed my life for the better. I've learned time management, how to take responsibility for my action, and how much I treasure being part of a team. Within the four lines of the field, it is physical. Emotions run high. If you're on the opposing team, you are my enemy. But once the game is done, we're like a big family.

    Mirroring China's Past: Emperors and Their Bronzes

    Chinese bronzes (青铜) of the second and first millennia BC are some of the most distinctive achievements in the history of art. These vessels (容器) were made to carry sacrificial offerings, to use in burial or to honor noble families in public ceremonies. When they were found by emperors centuries later, these spiritually significant objects were seen as signs of heavenly messages about a ruler or a dynasty and became prized items in royal collections. This exhibition —the first to explore these ancient objects throughout Chinese history — presents a rare opportunity to experience a large number of these works together in the United States.

    Unlike Greek and Roman bronze sculptures of human and animal forms, most objects from Bronze Age China (about 2000 - 221 BC) were vessels for ceremonial use. Beginning with the Song dynasty (960 - 1279), emperors unearthed these symbolic works and began collecting them, considering them to be evidence of their own authority as rulers. In addition to impressive collections, the royal fascination with bronzes led to the creation of numerous reproductions and the comprehensive cataloguing of palace holdings. These catalogues are works of art themselves, featuring beautiful drawings and detailed descriptions of each object.

    From the 12th century onward, scholars and artists also engaged in collecting and understanding ancient bronzes. Unlike emperors, scholars regarded bronzes as material evidence of their efforts to recover and reconstruct the past, and they occasionally exchanged them as tokens (象征) of friendship. Today ancient bronzes still occupy a primary position in Chinese culture — as historical objects and as signifiers of an important cultural heritage that inspires new generations, as seen in the works of contemporary artists on view in this presentation.

    Mirroring China's Past brings together approximately 180 works from the An Institute of Chicago's strong holdings and from the Palace Museum in Beijing, the Shanghai Museum, and important museums and private collections in the United States. By providing viewers with a new understanding of ancient bronzes and their significance through time, the exhibition demonstrates China's fascinating history and its developing present.

    No one knew Prince Edward Street as well as Pierre Dupin. He had delivered milk to the families on the street for thirty years. For the past fifteen years a large white horse named Joseph pulled his milk wagon. Joseph was a gentle horse with beautiful spirit shining out of its eyes, so Pierre named him after Saint Joseph.

    Every morning at five, Pierre arrived at the milk company's stables to find Joseph waiting for him, Pierre would call, “Good morning, my old friend.”, as he climbed into his seat, while Joseph turned his head toward the driver. And the two would go proudly down the street. Without any order from Pierre, the wagon would roll down three streets. Then it turned right for two streets, before turning left to Saint Catherine Street. The horse finally stopped at the first house on Prince Edward Street. There, Joseph would wait perhaps thirty seconds for Pierre to get down off his seat and put a bottle of milk at the front door.

    Pierre knew every one of the forty families that got milk. The cooks knew that Pierre could not read or write; so, instead of leaving orders in an empty milk bottle, they simply sang out if they needed an extra bottle.

    Pierre also had a wonderful memory. When he arrived at the stable he always remembered to tell Jacques, the foreman(领班) of the stables, “The Pacquins took an extra bottle this morning; the Lemoines bought a pint of cream …” Most of the drivers had to make out the weekly bills and collect the money. But Jacques, liking Pierre, never asked him to do this.

    One day the president of the milk company came to inspect the early morning milk deliveries. Jacques pointed to Pierre and said: ”See how the horse listens and how he turns his head toward Pierre? See the look in that horse's eyes? You know, I think those two share a secret. I have often felt it. He is getting old. Maybe he ought to be given a rest, and a small pension.”

    “But of course,” the president laughed. “He has been on this job now for thirty years. All who know him love him. Tell him it is time he rested. He will get his pay every week as before.”

    But Pierre refused to leave his job. He said his life would be nothing if he could not drive Joseph every day. “We are two old men,” he said to Jacques. “Let us wear out together. When Joseph is ready to leave, then I too will do so.”

    Then one cold morning Jacques had terrible news for Pierre. Jacques said, ”Pierre, your horse, Joseph, didn't wake up. He was very old, Pierre.” Jacques said softly. “He is over in his stall, looking very peaceful. Go over and see him.” Pierre took one step forward, then turned. “No ... no ... I cannot see Joseph again. You ..., you don't understand, Jacques.”

    For years Pierre had worn a large heavy cap that came down low over his eyes. It kept out the bitter cold wind. Now, Jacques looked into Pierre's eyes and he saw something that shocked him. He saw a dead, lifeless look in them.

    “Take the day off, Pierre,” Jacques said. Pierre walked to the corner and stepped into the street. There was a warning shout from the driver of a big truck ... there was the screech(尖锐的刹车声) of rubber tires as the truck tried to stop. But Pierre heard nothing.

    Five minutes later a doctor said, “He's dead ..., killed instantly.”

    “I couldn't help it,” the truck driver said. “He walked in front of my truck. He never saw it, I guess. Why, he walked as though he were blind.”

    The doctor bent down. “Blind？Of course, this man has been blind for five years.”  He turned to Jacques, “Didn't you know he was blind？”

    “No ...no ...” Jacques said softly. “None of us knew. Only one ... only one knew－a friend of his, named Joseph ... It was a secret, I think, just between those two.”

    As health care costs continue to rise, a growing number of companies are working out programs designed to keep their employees healthy.

    Thomas Chapple is the senior vice president. “It's really important to us because medical costs are going up like crazy, he says. This company spends more than 200 million a year on medical costs for its employees around the country. The best thing we have seen as a way to control the medical cost is individual fitness.”

    We have a fitness center, “Shawn Flaherty, director of public relations for Freddie Mac.,” says, “We have a health benefits plan that encourages people to work out three times a week, get cholesterol (胆固醇) checks, as well as 'not to smoke.' If they do that, it will cost them less for the health benefits.”

    Rachelle Clark works for Freddie Mac. “I feel great. You know the benefit is rewarding. I like to look good and feel healthy. I am just fortunate that I work for the company that provides some type of facility for the employees.”

    While on-site fitness centers are popular, some companies pay membership fees at local gyms for employees. The companies also offer classes such as boxing, yoga and dancing. Employees see those health programs as a valuable benefit.

    Tom Brook exercises five days a week. As a newspaper reporter he has a tight schedule, although Tom says it's not that difficult for him to make time for a workout. “It is great. It is right here where we work,” says Tom, “So everybody gets a chance to use it whenever they want to. I have lost weight and never been in better shape.”

    The programs may not be a magic cure for rising health costs, but they seem to have a positive impact on both employers and employees.

    Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had "seven fathers," because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated (躲避) into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.

    In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because he thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the university's Writers' Workshop, however, she felt lonely－a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her "creative voice".

    "It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn't think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That's when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn't write about."

    Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine. The book talks about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school to graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children's book, and a short-story collection.

    Morning Environmental Education Program

    A fun environmental based activity program for kids will be held in the mornings at Camp Hawk. Curriculum(课程) is designed to be interactive(互动的). Fees are $60 and includes lunch.

    Camp Hawk is open to children of abilities; however, daily participation(参加) requires that a child be able to stay with the group while outside on adventures, as well as to listen to and follow directions from the counselors(辅导员).

    Topics Include:

    Tuesday: Kids will build a space station with legos(儿童积木), and build their solar system with bottle caps.

    Wednesday: Kids will learn about the importance of the mangroves(红树) to the Florida Keys and other areas of the world. They'll take a field trip to explore life in the mangroves, and make their own mangrove poem.

    Thursday: Campers will learn about the bottle nosed dolphin and the types of sharks that live in the keys. This session will also take them out of the classroom to the Dolphin Connection observation area.

    Friday: This day is all about reptiles(爬行动物). Kids will learn about "The mixed up Chameleon" activities and art project, Reptile "hunt" fieldtrip, and making lizard bracelets.

    Saturday: Campers will learn about all of the creatures of Florida by taking a fieldtrip to observe dolphins, fish, birds, reptiles, sharks, and insects. Create their own animal, make their own aquarium and feed the tarpon at the harbor.