That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. There I was, walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theatre. With opening night only a week away, I was still learning my lines. I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco. City life had become too much for me.

    As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers. Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets.

    About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk.

    Suddenly I wasn't cold or tired anymore. I ran out of the door and back to where I'd heard the noise. Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found. Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck(垃圾车) pull up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the inside,  "Alisa Camacho?" I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name? The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eye. "Is this what you're looking for?" he asked, holding up a small square shape.

    It was nearly 3 a.m. by the time I got into bed. I wouldn't get much sleep that night, but I had gotten my wallet back. I also had gotten back some enjoyment of city life. I realized that the city couldn't be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other.

    Throughout the past few years, I have tried to give myself to others. I have bounced around to find where I truly fit in. I found my place while I stayed in Guatemala, an orphanage(孤儿院), with the children living there. Through hearing many stories of their lives, I was moved to tears and started question my living ways and gave up everything that wasn't essential: makeup and any other sort of luxury(奢侈品). I lived like they did. It was the most relaxing feeling in the world.

    When at Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, we were given the task of creating a pig pen. At first, I thought it should be easy. After arriving at the area where the pig pen should be, we saw a hill. We were told to uproot the weeds as well as level the entire area. Looking at it, we felt 'it would be impossible. On my own faith journey, I have felt this type of doubt before. The “hole”, as we referred to, is a symbol of my faith journey. It appeared to be an obstacle I could not overcome, but in the end I completed it with efforts. I feel this pig pen wasn't easy to create but was so rewarding to give.

    I've always struggled to be on a journey of faith, but I've never completely stepped foot onto the path until Guatemala. I've always tried to open my heart to everyone around me and give them my love. I feel as though I cut open my heart and share every bit of love 'I had with these orphans. There is one orphan named Ceto who will always remain very close to my heart. In Guatemala, I sponsor with thirty dollars a month, but it doesn't seem enough. I'll return there next summer and give more of my love for a whole month.

    When it was time to leave, I looked out of the window and saw not just ordinary children. Overall, the most significant accomplishment I made in Guatemala was stepping towards my own faith journey and not looking back.

    When slaves were first brought over from West Africa to the southern parts of America, they brought along with them aspects of their own culture—religion, dance,language, music, and cuisine.A mix of the two cultures eventually appeared.The religious dance of the ring shout turned into modern dances like the Charleston, and tribal chants slowly transformed into sorrowful hymns (圣歌) sung by slaves that described their hardships.

    These soulful accounts by slaves of the severe climate and conditions began to be called “the blues”,which continued in popularity among African Americans after the Civil War.This music increased in popularity into the early 1900s when many black musicians became an important part of the music industry.

    The slaves that had been brought over were from all different regions of West Africa, but they worked together until they gradually formed a common culture.This strengthened the identity of their music that, in the 1950s, eventually led to the beginning of rock and roll.The Beatles, the most influential band of the 1960s, are often determined as the accelerator that resulted in the ideology (意识形态) surrounding music that is still around today.The freedom and individuality associated with that time period brought forth a whole culture surrounding music.It was not just music any more, but a lifestyle.

    Over the decades, music has developed into such a vital part of society and pop culture.Musicians are glorified, with tons of adoring and screaming fans.The modern technology of present day has allowed for a greater gap between the creator of the music and the fans, as well as a widespread commercialization of music.However, criticisms of modern pop music often arise due to its mass production, and now there is a lack of the same soul and quality of naturalness and simplicity in music that was rising in the early 20th century.

    Boomerang children who return to live with their parents after university can be good for families, leading to closer, more supportive relationships and increased contact between the generations, a study has found.

    The findings contradict research published earlier this year showing that returning adult children trigger a significant decline in their parents' quality of life and wellbeing.

    The young adults taking part in the study were "more positive than might have been expected about moving back home—the shame is reduced as so many of their peers are in the same position, and they acknowledged the benefits of their parents' financial and emotional support. Daughters were happier than sons, often slipping back easily into teenage patterns of behaviour, the study found.

    Parents on the whole were more uncertain, expressing concern about the likely duration of the arrangement and how to manage it. But they acknowledged that things were different for graduates today, who leave university with huge debts and fewer job opportunities.

    The families featured in the study were middle-class and tended to view the achievement of adult independence for their children as a "family project". Parents accepted that their children required support as university students and then as graduates returning home, as they tried to find jobs paying enough to enable them to move out and get on the housing ladder.

    "However", the study says, "day-to-day tensions about the prospects of achieving different dimensions of independence, which in a few extreme cases came close to conflict, characterised the experience of a majority of parents and a little over half the graduates".

    Areas of disagreement included chores, money and social life. While parents were keen to help, they also wanted different relationships from those they had with their own parents, and continuing to support their adult children allowed them to remain close.

Love, success, happiness, family and freedom—how important are these values to you? Here is one interview which explores the fundamental questions in life.

     Question: Could you introduce yourself first?

     Answer: My name is Misbah, 27 years old. I was born in a war-torn area. Right now I'm a web designer.

     Q: What are your great memories?

     A: My parents used to take us to hunt birds, climb trees, and play in the fields. For me it was like a holiday because we were going to have fun all day long. Those are my great memories.

     Q: Does your childhood mean a lot to you?

     A: Yes. As life was very hard, I used to work to help bring money in for the family. I spent my childhood working, with responsibilities beyond my age. However, it taught me to deal with problems all alone. I learnt to be independent.

     Q: What changes would you like to make in your life?

     A: If I could change something in my life, I'd change it so that my childhood could have taken place in another area. I would have loved to live with my family in freedom. Who cares whether we have much money, or whether we have a beautiful house? It doesn't matter as long as I can live with my family and we are safe.

     Q: How do your get along with your parents?

     A: My parents supported me until I came of age. I want to give back what I've got. That's our way. But I am working in another city. My only contact with my parents now is through the phone, but I hate using it. It filters(过滤) out your emotion and leaves your voice only. My deepest feelings should be passed through sight, hearing and touch.

    We discuss the issue of when to help a patient die, which was not talked about openly and little was written about it.

    The best way to bring the problem into focus is to describe two patients whom I cared for. The first, formerly a nurse, had an automobile accident. And there she was: in coma, on a breathing machine. One day, her husband and son came to see me. They told me their wife and mother was obviously going to die; she was a nurse and had told her family that she never wanted this kind of terrible death, being maintained by machines. I told them that while I respected their view, there was nothing deadly about her situation. The kidney(肾) failure she had was just the kind for which the artificial (人造的) kidney was most effective. While possibly a bit reassured, they were disappointed. Here was the head surgeon seemingly determined to keep everybody alive, no matter what.

    Within a few days the patient awoke from her coma. About six months later, the door of my office opened and in walked a gloriously fit woman. After some cheery words of appreciation, the father and son asked to speak to me alone. As soon as the door closed, both men became quite tearful. All that came out was, "We want you to know how wrong we were."

    The second patient was an 85-year-old lady whose hair caught fire while she was smoking. She arrived with a deep burn; I knew it would surely be deadly. At the time, there was a class discussing medical ethics(道德). The instructor asked me if I had any sort of ethical problem I could bring up for discussion. I described the case and asked the students their opinion. After the discussion, I made a remark that was, when looking back, a serious mistake. I said, "I'll talk with the nurses before we decide." The instructor and the students were shocked: "You mean this is a real patient?" The teacher of ethics was not accustomed to being challenged by actuality.

    A day or two later, when the lady was making no progress and was suffering terribly, we began to back off in treatment. Soon she died quietly and not in pain. As a reasonable physician, you had better move ahead and do what you would want done for you. And don't discuss it with the world first. There is a lesson here for everybody. Assisting people to leave this life requires strong judgment and long experience to avoid its misuse.