The Person Who Influenced Me the Most

    I opened the box and took out the shining gold bracelet. “For me?' I could barely talk. Yes, of course, said my Aunt Estelle, I really shouldn't have been 1 because she was like that, unexpected and golden.

    When I was younger, I knew that I could always go to my Aunt Estelle for comfort, advice and 2  She was my best friend and my guardian angel. I could always be 3with her and tell her anything that was on my mind. She also knew when I was trying to 4something. Aunt Estelle gave me advice when it was sought and guided me5many difficulties.

    Last December, I was faced with one of the most difficult 6I ever had to make in my life. She was dying of cancer and I was 7to go to Israel for two weeks for a research project. 8  I sought Aunt Estelle's advice but for the  9time I didn't like her response. When I went to the hospital to visit her for what turned out to be the last time, she was waiting for me with a book about Israel on her bed and made it very clear that she10me to go—that it was her greatest wish for me to go—haw could I 11her. Aunt Estelle was the most unselfish person I ever knew and would not even consider my 12about going. She called me 13I left for Israel to tell me that she loved me and that she would always be with me.

    I went to Israel and had the time of my life. When I returned, my parents 14me up, I told them I couldn't wait to tell Aunt Estelle about my journey. They became15and I knew before they said the words that she had died. Aunt Estelle's unselfishness was her greatest16.

    The gold bracelet she gave me for my sixteenth birthday was the one that I had always admired on her. Each time I look at it I am17of an even greater gift from my aunt, the gift of her 18.

    Whenever I find myself becoming too self-centered and19the needs of those around me, I recall her selflessness and20to follow her example to make the needs of others a priority.

    My kids and I were heading into the supermarket over the weekend. On the way, we spotted a man holding a piece of paper that said, “1 my job. Family to Feed.” 

    At this store, a 2 like this is not normal. My 10­year­old noticed him and made a 3on how bad it must be to have to stand 4 in the cold wind. 

    In the store, I asked each of my kids to5 something they thought our “friend” there would6.They got apples, a sandwich and a bottle of juice. Then my 17­year­old suggested giving him a 7.I thought about it. We were 8 on cash ourselves, but...well, sometimes 9from our need instead of our abundance is 10 what we need to do! All the kids 11something they could do away with for the week. 

    When we handed him the bag of 12 ， he lit up and thanked us with 13eyes. When I handed him the gift card, saying he could use it for 14his family might need, he burst into tears. 

    This has been a wonderful 15 for our family. For days the kids have been looking for others we can 16！Things would have played out so 17 if I had simply said, “No, we really don't have 18 to give more.” Stepping out not only helped a brother in 19 ， it also gave my kids the20 taste of helping others. It'll go a long way with them. 

    I learned this lesson a couple of years ago. That day, I took a 1 to Grand Central Station. We were driving in the 2 lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right 3 us. My taxi driver slammed (猛踩) on his brakes and almost 4 the car's back end by just ten 5!

    The driver of the other car, who almost caused a big accident,6 his car and started yelling bad 7 at us. The taxi driver just smiled and 8 at the guy. And I mean he was 9. So, I said, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost 10 your car and sent us to 11!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call “the law of the garbage truck.”

    Many people are like garbage trucks. They 12 around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of 13, and full of disappointment. As their garbage 14 up, they need a place to dump it, and if you agree, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump their 15 on you, don't take it 16. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and 17. You'll be happy at what you do.

    I started thinking, how often do I let garbage trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and 18 it to other people? That day I said, “I'm not going to do that anymore.”

    What about you? What will happen in your life if you let more garbage 19 pass you by? Life is too short to wake up in the morning with 20.

    Dr. Lee was one of my favorite professors in college. He was1because of a trick he employed at the beginning of his first class. "I will put a2into each of my lectures. Your job is to try and3me in the Lie of the Day."

That was a 4way to focus our attention at the dry and 5subject—Capital Markets. On those days we actively 6Dr. Lee's statements. Every once in a while, a lecture would end with 7seeing through the lie. Dr. Lee would say, "Ah ha! Each of you has a lie in your notes. 8among yourselves what it might be, and I will tell you next Monday."

What made Dr. Lee's teaching 9smart was that there was no lie during the most technically10lecture. He offered the same challenge to11 our lecture notes. On the following Monday, he would hear our12for almost ten minutes before he finally said, "Do you13the first lecture—how I said that every lecture has a lie?"

    Tired from having our best theories shot down, we14.

    "Well, that was a lie. My previous lecture was completely true and15. But I am glad you reviewed your notes16this weekend. Moving on …"

While my knowledge of the Capital Markets has17over time, the lessons have stayed with me. "Experts" can be18and say things that sound right—so build a habit of 19new information and check it against things you already accept as20.

    We love letters. Just as John Donne, a poet, 1 it, "Letters, to me and my friends mean 2 greetings; they get souls together. Thanks to letters, friends who are 3 speak." He wrote these words nearly 400 years ago. Today, in the age of instant text message, social media, and email, they 4 ring truer than ever, because writing or receiving a letter has become such a 5 event.

    A UK-wide survey undertaken by Sunday Times suggests that one in four of us has not 6 a letter for at least 10 years. That's ten years without the bitter-sweet 7 of pacing the floor waiting for the 8; ten years without recognizing the handwriting on the envelope and eagerly 9 the letter to read its content.

    We 10 not get them any more, but we still love handwritten letters. In the same survey, one third of 11people interviewed say that they 12 the content of sentimental (充满情感的) letters. Shouldn't we make 13 to give our friends and families what they will treasure forever? Ann Bickley went online in 2013 and offered to handwrite a letter to anyone who 14 her. Her website received 50,000 15 in its first three months. Five years later, she is still the main 16 behind one-million-lovely-letter.com and has personally written 4,000 letters offering hope and 17 to strangers.

    The thought behind a letter 18 as much as its contents. "I never tell anyone that 19 is going to be OK," Ann Bickley says, "I am letting someone know that there is someone in the world who20them."

    Who wouldn't love to receive a letter like that? Let's get writing!

    Growing up in Kenya was amazing because I learned so much, though the poverty and lack of resources were sometimes frustrating. I knew I didn't have much, but I was 1.

    There was only one thing I wasn't happy with: 2. I wanted to go to high school and university. I had the drive, the will and the grades, 3 I didn't have the resources. Even 4 things like food, water and shelter weren't readily available. Young people in poverty have little or no 5 to high schools and universities. Where I lived, it was challenging 6 someone helped. When I left primary school, I was in the same 7 as many other poor disadvantaged youth. 8, during that year, a charitable high school for girls, Starehe Girls Centre, was 9 and I received a scholarship. Today, I am 10 record as being the first student to be enrolled in this school.

    In 2006, my school 11 The Global Give Back Circle, a not-for-profit organization for 12 disadvantaged girls to complete their education and gain 13 skills. After graduating from high school, I was given access to a nine-month IT course. 14, its give-back attitude had taught us to not only care about ourselves but other people. With this in mind, 10 of us created a website called "Hey Sister, Get Clued-Up". Through this educational website, aimed at networking 10,000 African 15 worldwide, all Sisters commit to sending information to their villages. This can be to 16 financial freedom, advance information  17  to health issues and provide knowledge about social networking behavior.

    "Hey Sister, Get Clued-Up" is only 18  to those girls who can access the Internet, which highlights the huge challenge in 19 the divide between the haves and have-nots. But our plan is that these girls will  20 what they learn to other girls through the "power of their voice".