Every evening, 15-year-old Rashida returns home from school,changes out of her uniform, and rushes to a neighboring farm to help her motherharvest vegetables. Her father is disabled, so the modest profit the two ofthem earn must cover food, clothing and other necessities for all sevenchildren and their parents. Despite having precious little time to study,Rashida is one of the top students at her junior secondary school. But with somuch responsibility on her small shoulders, she admits that it is sometimeshard for her to imagine a more promising future.

Last year, Rashida was invited to join 155 other girls at CamfedGhana's first Girls' Career Camp, a program designed to inspire girls growingup in the country's Northern Region to dream big, and to support them to pursuethose dreams. “We organized this camp because we wanted to let girls know thateven if they are struggling with poverty, their lives will not be defined bylimitations,” says Dolores Dickson, Camfed Ghana's Executive Director.

    Over the course of five days, the camp led the junior andsecondary school students through a range of experiences and career opportunities that were entirely new to them. Dr. Agnes Apusiga, a lecturer from the University of DevelopmentStudies, ran the workshop on goal-setting and career choices, describing theuniversities and training colleges in Ghana that could help them achieve theirdreams. Participants then visited the University for Development Studies, wherethey toured the medical school and science labs. Another highlight was aworkshop at the computer lab at Tamale Secondary School. Many of the girls hadstudied information technology from a book but had never before seen acomputer.

   “When the girls arrived at camp, they were not ambitious,because they didn't have any idea what the world held for them,” says EugeniaAyagiba, Project Officer with Camfed Ghana. “Many had scarcely traveled beyondtheir own villages.”

“I think the most important thing that happened at the camp isthat we opened a window of hope for a group of girls coming from backgrounds ofpoverty,” says Eugenia. For Rashida, who has been laughed at in the past by herschoolmates because of her father's disability, the experience was important.“She told one of the camp mentors(辅导员) that whenshe is at school, she often feels like a misfit, and she prefers to keep toherself,” says Eugenia. “But at the camp, it was different. She made friendswith girls who have similar struggles. She took part in every single activity,every single game. On the last day, she said to her mentor, ‘The camp haschallenged me to study hard. Now I see that there is light at the end of thetunnel.'

    Computer programmer David Jones earns $35.000 a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank ready to let him have a credit card. Instead he has been told to wait another two years until he is 18. The 16-year-old works for a small firm in Liverpool where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David's firm releases two new games for the fast growing computer market each month.

    But David's biggest headache is what to do with his money. Even though he earns a lot he cannot drive a car, take out a mortgage（抵押贷款）, or get credit cards. David got his job with the Liverpool-based company four months ago, a year after leaving school with six O-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. “I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs”, he said. David spends some of his money on records and clothes and gives his mother 50 pounds a week. But most of his spare time is spent working.

    “Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school”, he said “But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway.” David added, “I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear.”

    A new study of 8,000 young people in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that although love can make adults live healthily and happily, it is a bad thing for young people．Puppy love（早恋）may bring stress for young people and can lead to depression (沮丧，抑郁）. The study shows that girls become more depressed than boys, and younger girls are the worst of all．

    The possible reason for the connection between love and higher risk of depression for girls is “loss of self”．According to the study，even though boys would say “lose themselves in a romantic relationship”，this “loss of self” is much more likely to lead to depression when it happens to girls. Young girls who have romantic relationships usually like hiding their feelings and opinions．They won't tell that to their parents．

    Dr Marianm Kaufman，an expert on young people problems，says 15% to 20% young people will have depression during their growing. Trying romance often causes the depression．She advises kids not to jump into romance too early. During growing up，it is important for young people to build strong friendships and a strong sense of self．She also suggests the parents should encourage their kids to keep close to their friends, attend more interesting school activities and spend enough time with family．

    Parents should watch for signs of depression—eating or mood changes—and if they see signs from their daughters or sons, they need to give help. The good news is that the connection between romance and depression seems to become weak with age．Love will always make us feel young，but only maturity （成熟） gives us a chance to avoid its bad side effects．

    "Don't tell anyone". We hear these words when someone tells a secret to us. But it can be hard to keep a secret. We often tend to "spill the beans", even if we regret it later.

    According to Asim Shah, professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine, US, keeping a secret may well" become a burden". This is because people often have an "obsessive (强迫性的) and anxious urge to share it with someone".

    An earlier study, led by Anita E. Kelly, a scientist at the University of Notre Dame, US, suggested that keeping a secret could cause stress. People entrusted with secrets can suffer from depression, anxiety, and body aches, reported the Daily Mail.

    But with secrets so often getting out, why do people share them at all? Shah explained that people often feel that it will help them keep a person as a friend. Another reason people share secrets is guilt over keeping it from someone close to them. A sense of distrust can develop when people who are close do not share it with each other." Keeping or sharing secrets often puts people in a position of either gaining or losing the trust of someone." according to Shah.

    He added that talkative people could let secrets slip out. But this doesn't mean that it is a good idea only to share secrets with quiet people. A quiet person may be someone who keeps everything inside. To tell such a person a secret may cause them stress, and make them talk about the secret.

    Shah said that to judge whether to tell someone a secret, you'd better put yourself in their position. Think about how you would feel to be told that you mustn't give the information away. Shah also recommended that if you accidentally give up someone's secret you should come clean about it. Let the person know that their secret isn't so secret anymore.

Smart and highly sensitive （灵敏的）, a new soft sensor developed by UBC (University of British Columbia) and Honda researchers opens the door to a wide range of applications in robotics and prosthetics （假肢）.

When applied to the surface of prosthetic or robotic arms, the sensor skin provides touch sensitivity and flexibility, making it possible for difficult tasks to be completed by machines, such as picking up a piece of soft fruit. The sensor is also soft to the touch, like human skin. which helps make human interactions safer and more lifelike.

"Our sensor uses weak electric fields to sense objects, even at a distance, much as touchscreens do. But unlike touchscreens, this sensor is soft and can detect forces into and along its surface," explained Dr. John Madden, senior study author and a professor of electrical and computer engineering who leads the Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory at UBC.

The UBC team developed the technology in cooperation with Frontier Robotics, Honda's research institute. Honda has been innovating in humanoid robotics since the 1980s, and developed the well-known ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) robot. It has also developed devices to assist walking and the emerging Honda Avatar Robot.

"Dr. Madden's lab has significant expertise in flexible sensors and we're happy to cooperate with this team in developing touch sensors that can be applied to robots," said Mr. Ishizaki Ryusuke, one of the study's lead authors and chief engineer at Frontier Robotics.

Dr. Madden said, "Human skin has a hundred times more sensing points on a fingertip than our technology does, making it easier to light a match or sew. As sensors continue to develop to be more skin-like, and can also detect temperature and even damage, there is a need for robots to be smarter about which sensors to pay attention to and how to respond. Developments in sensors and artificial intelligence will need to go hand in hand."

If you're always comparing yourself to your peers，you might be low in confidence and unsure of yourself.Here are some tips on how to stop comparing yourself to others.

Write down your positive traits.When you ignore your abilities，it becomes easier to compare yourself to others.You might focus on their strengths and ignore your own completely. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}By being aware of your best qualities，you can learn to love yourself and build up your self﹣confidence.

Keep a gratitude journal.A gratitude journal helps you recognize the things you may take for granted so you can fully appreciate them.To start journaling，reflect on the little things that bring you joy. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Explain how they influence your life in detail.For example，if you jog in the park every day，you might express how you're grateful for your health and how jogging helps you overcome stress at work.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Instead of focusing on your "weaknesses"，reflect on the areas you can improve.Take advantage of all chances to improve your skills and techniques.Don't be afraid to ask other people for help along the way.Only by making efforts to improve your abilities can you make yourself happy.

Compete against yourself. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Instead，use comparison to become an improved version of yourself.Set goals for yourself and try to improve your own personal best.When you set a goal for yourself，track your progress so that you can see how you are moving toward that goal.That way

Overcoming comparison is a continuous process，but it is possible! {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A.Take control over your life.

B.Work on improving your abilities.

C.Don't compare your life to other people's.

D.Write down why you're grateful for them.

E.With time and practice，you can become the best version of yourself.

F.Appreciate others and use their success to motivate you to work hard.

G.To avoid this negative behavior，make a list of your strengths and talents.