I used to be a very self-centered person, but in the past two years I have really changed. I have started to think about other people 1 I think about myself. I am happy that I am becoming a 2person:

    I think my 3started when I was at Palomar College. At first, I just wanted to get my 4, and be left alone. I thought I was smarter everyone else, so I hardly ever5to anyone in my classes. By the end of my first semester, I was really,6. It seemed as if everyone but me had made friends and was having fun. So tried a(n) 7. I started asking people around me how they were doing, and if they were having trouble I 8to help. That was really a big 9for me. By the end of the year, I had several new friends, and two of 10are still my best friends today.

    A bigger cause of my new 11, however, came when I took a part-time job at a Vista Nursing Home. One old lady there who had Alzheimer s disease became my 12. Every time I came into her room, she was so13because she thought I was her daughter. Her real daughter never 14her, so I took her place. She let me 15. That making others feel good make me feel good, too. When she died, I was16, but I was very grateful to her.

    I think I am a much 17, person today than I used to be, and I hope I will not 18these experiences. They have 19e to care about other people more than about myself. 20who I am today, and I could not say that a few years ago.

    Every evening, I take a walk around the neighborhood. It has become a (an) 1. Even if I have already walked with someone or done another type of 2. I get out for this last mile or more. This is my time to 3 the day.

    Walking at 4 through my neighborhood brings the sounds of the 5 singing in the pond nearby and the sounds of the city train in the distance, occasionally interrupted by faraway 6 coming to and from the hospital. The sounds of these aircrafts remind me that whoever is being7 is probably having a much 8 day than me.

    Sometimes these walks are my way to recall events on the recent days. Or they are a way to 9 a problem or to be creative without interruptions of day-to-day life at home. 10 on other days, I try to be in the moment and just listen and look around in wonder, or be in gratitude for all the 11 things in life. Tonight when I walked, I just listened. When the moon is out and full or it's a dark evening with the stars shining, I love trying to 12 into the universe and 13 what is really out there.

    Everyone has a story. I spend some time with Mike. He has already walked 1,200 miles this year. 14 being diagnosed (诊断) with diabetes (糖尿病) four years ago, he started walking 5 or 6 15 every day. He has 16 64 pounds and his life has 17 a lot. On this 18, I also got to know Phillips. She walks every day. She is considering hiking the Camino de Santiago after watching the movie “The Way”.

    Just as last month has come and gone, this 19 will come and go. This is a 20 to go out today, take a walk and think of how you're going to pursue your dreams.

A Game of Light and Shade

    It was a sunny day. I had gone up and down the tower when, outside the door at the foot, a blind man came toward me. In a moment, he disappeared up the stairs. I looked at the sign that said "To the Tower", and decided to1him.

    I caught up with him in the ticket office. There I was2to see the attendant (工作人员) selling him a ticket as if he were any other visitor. Then, with the ticket in one hand and3the wall with the fingers of the other, the blind man reached the stairs4to the hallway.

    "That man is blind. What would a blind man climb up the tower for?" I said to the attendant, expecting him to show some5, but he didn't answer.

"Not the6certainly," I said. "Perhaps he wants to7."

    I bought a ticket and8up the stairs. The man hadn't gone as far as I9. A third of the way up the tower, I heard his10. I slowed down and followed him at a little11. He stopped from time to time. When he got to the balcony (阳台), I was a dozen steps12. As I reached it, I saw him at the corner of the tower.

    At last, after ten minutes, I13him. "Excuse me," I said as politely as I could, "but I am curious to know14you came up."

    He smiled. "Coming up the stairs, you will notice how not just light but sun 15into the tower through the narrow windows here and there, so that you can feel the16—the cool stairs suddenly become quite warm—and how up here behind the wall there is17, but as soon as going opposite a window you can find the sun. There is no18so good as this for feeling the difference between light and shade. It is not the first time I've come up."

    The blind man seemed quite19, just like a child who was enjoying his favorite games. He told me the truth that blind men can also find the beauty in life20 they cannot enjoy the sights of the world.

    There were once two 1 sharing the same hospital room. One man was allowed to 2in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain(排空)the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the only wall in the room that had a window. The other man had to spend all his time lying 3 on his back,4 at the white, dull ceiling.

    The men talked for hours 5 with each other. Best of all, every afternoon when the man by the window described all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour 6 where his world would be 7 by all the activity and colour of the world outside.

    The window 8 a park with a lovely lake. Around the lake there were couples 9 romantically arm in arm. Mothers were pushing their baby carts. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats.

    One warm afternoon, although the other man couldn't hear the 10 -- he could see the parade in his mind's eye as the man by the window 11 it with descriptive words. He knew now 12 he had to get better, and get out there to see all the wonderful things outside again, as soon as possible! 13, the next morning, the nurse found the man by the window had passed away 14 in his sleep. As soon as it seemed 15, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse agreed to make the 16. Slowly, painfully, he supported himself on one elbow to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a 17 wall. The man asked the nurse what could have 18 his 19roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse 20 that the man was blind. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Be a Traveler, not a Tourist

    Last summer, I had just enough money saved to buy a golden ticket—a 3-month train pass that would take me to the furthest reaches of Europe. Excited for my journey, I packed all the necessities —except the 1.

    While the convenience of the Internet was definitely a contributing factor to my 2 not to take with me the few expensive kilograms of out-of-date information, this was not the only reason why I decided to fly alone.

    To be honest, my main 3 with the guidebook is that I find it 4 the pleasure of a journey—like bossy aunt who is always telling you what to do, 5 she doesn't always know what is the best.

    Experience has taught me that there is an obvious 6 between a tourist and traveler.

    While waiting in a queue, I met a man who had a checklist. He showed me his list of "Top 20 Things To Do in Italy" and 7 off in a loud American accent that he'd seen everything Italy has to offer in just four days.

    The problem I had with this man's 8 to travelling was that he was too 9 information provided by his guidebook. He was lost in the 10 attractiveness of the "must-sees" and 11 to all the wonders and adventures that might happen during the 12 trip.

    So, 13 any guidebook, I traveled to Estonia, the tiny Baltic country bordering Russia. In the 14 of advance plans as guidebooks would suggest, I had no choice but to turn to some friendly faces for advice. I 15 myself first and then asked them what was happening around the town. When this 16 an invitation to a beautiful Estonian home by a river where I  17 a 110-degree wood-stove sauna(桑拿浴), 18 picked forest-mushrooms and the good 19 of our five newly-found Estonian friends, I was most glad that I had left my "bossy 20" at home.

Torrie, 16, and her friend Azarria were driving back home when another car hit them. When Torrie opened her eyes, she 1 their car had been pushed into a tree. There came 2 from the gathering crowd as the car was smoking. Torrie's door wouldn't open, but her window became an escape 3 .

"Everyone ran away, fearing the car was going to 4 . But turning around, I didn't see Azarria. I ran back and saw she was 5 in the back seat. I decided to help her out of the 6 ."

"I didn't know how I made it. I just became stronger at that moment," she says. She 7 a bystander to call 911 and started CPR.

After 30 chest compressions and two rescue breaths, Azarria began to show 8 of life. Just then, the paramedics 9 to rush Azarria to the nearest hospital.

10 for both girls, their Lakewood High School offers a First-Aid Skills class taught by Erika Miller. Torrie had earned her 11 in the class just the day before this accident.

"I was absolutely astonished," Erika says. "In my years of teaching, I never 12 a student would finish the course and in 24 hours have to 13 CPR on her friend."

"I was grateful to Torrie, but I wasn't surprised." Azarria says. "She would have done that for anyone. That's 14 just of her.

"First-aid training should be a(n) 15 in schools," Torrie says. "It can make a difference between life and death."