It has always been my dream to attend college. When I was younger, I would watch TV shows with college students having lots of 1. It looked like a great experience — going to parties,2with friends and letting the good times 3. When I entered high school, however, I started learning the real 4 of college－to get a good education and a well-paid job. Therefore, with a passion for success in life, I expressed my5about attending university to my parents. They were 6 I'd chosen the path, but were disappointed because they couldn't 7the cost. Upset and stressed, I started looking for 8 to pay myself.

    My search for money began online. I went to every free scholarship search engine and spent up to five hours each day looking for scholarships I 9 for. It was hard, but I knew it would 10  when I'd found almost all the scholarships I could apply for, I 11 them by deadline, which gave me a way to prioritize my schedule. After  12 everything, it was time to fill out the applications. Despite the amounts, ranging from ＄100 to ＄40,000, I took each scholarship 13  because together they would fund my goal. With this in my mind, the hardest part began: writing the essays. To14 my writing, I asked friends, relatives and teachers to  15 over my work. Now I've won 16 scholarships and can attend college for free.

    The scholarship search truly made me a 17 person. I learned the importance of setting a(n)  18 and accomplishing it.19 I did have to read several rejection letters, those made me stronger. I'm thrilled I had the opportunity to learn more about my 20 to succeed no matter what difficulties got in my way.

Honest Thanks

    I sat down at my desk and started writing. I wrote an emotional letter of gratitude. I put the notecard into the 1 ， sealed it and stuck the stamps on it，but when it came to actually placing the letter into the mailbox...I2.

    The letter was to a schoolmate with whom I kept in contact via Facebook 3.She had inspired me to live a(n)  4 life—for example，by 5 more.

    Her volunteer efforts weren't 6—she wasn't building wells in Uganda，but  7 she was doing small，local good deeds，such as serving as a crossing guard. These were things I could do，too. She made me8 I could make a difference here at home. I felt I should let her know how her 9 positively influenced my life .I could have easily sent her an e-mail，10 that seemed a bit lame for such an important thank you. That's why I ended up 11 the letter. But now I stood before the mailbox，unable to place the envelope inside. What was 12 me? Why was this so 13 to do? I guess I felt strange because it wasn't like she was my best friend，I just knew her，“People don't 14do this，” I thought to myself. However，15 thinking it over，I still felt a(n)16to let her know how grateful I was. Finally，I put the envelope in the mailbox.

    Weeks later I received her reply. She was 17  a tough time and my letter meant the 18  to her. She didn't know she had such a(n)19on others. Not only did this letter make her happy，but her response to it increased my 20 of happiness，I decided to write a gratitude letter to someone each month. Cultivating gratitude is a great skill to practice. Life is too short not to do it.

    I grew up in a community which was called Estepona. I was 16 when one morning, Dad told me I could drive him into a 1 village called Mijas, on condition that I took the car in to be 2 at a nearby garage(汽车修理厂). I readily accepted. I drove Dad into Mijas, and 3 to pick him up at 4 pm, and then dropped off the car at the garage. With several hours to 4, I went to a theater. 5, when the last movie finished, it was six. I was two hours late!

    I knew Dad would be very angry if he 6 I'd been watching movies. So I finally decided not to tell him the truth. When I 7 there I apologized for being late, and told him I'd 8 as quickly as I could, but that the car had needed some major repairs. I'll never forget the 9 he gave me. "I'm disappointed you feel you have to lie to me, Jason." Dad looked at me again. "When you didn't 10, I called the garage to ask whether there were any 11, and they told me you hadn't yet picked up the car." I felt 12 as I weakly admitted my 13 to the movie theater. A 14 passed through Dad as he listened attentively. "I'm angry with 15. I realize I've failed as a father. I'm going to walk home now and think seriously about 16 I've gone wrong all these years." "But Dad, it's 18 miles!" My protests and apologies were 17. Dad walked home that day. I drove behind him, 18 him all the way, but he walked silently.

    Seeing Dad in so much 19and emotional pain was my most painful experience. However, it was 20 the most successful lesson. I have never lied since.

    In the fall of 1985, I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed 1but one with quite a2 story to tell.

    My grandma, an amazing woman,3from college at the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that 4. But one year after I started college, she 5cancer. I made the choice to stop learning at college to 6her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to7.

    Then I got married with another dream: building my 8with adopted and biological (亲生的)ones. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was9— and very exciting. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then 10son No. 3. In 2003, I 11birth to another boy.

    You can imagine how 12occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 8! Our home was a complete zoo — a joyous zoo. Not surprisingly, I 13did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up on the dream, either. I 14 only one choice: to find a way. That 15taking as few as one class each semester.

    The hardest part was feeling16 about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to17, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.

    In 2007, I finished my study in the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to 18my college degree!

    I am not19, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you're looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you're inside, it just seems normal. Everything you want won't arrive in your life in a day. It's a20 . Remember: little steps add up to big dreams.

    When 10 girls from Gardiner High School in Montana received a sum of money to develop an invention to solve a real-world problem, they decided to create a solar-powered shelter to help the homeless.

For over a year, the girls have been using all their free time to complete the 1.

    “They have this amazing internal(内心的) 2 that I've never seen in any individual,” Violet Mardiro, a teacher at Gardiner High who is 3 with the team on the project, told The Huffington Post. “I thought 4 that maybe some of them would give up, say 'I didn't 5 this much work,' but they haven't. They're just working hard and they're not giving up and they're super 6.”

    Living in a low-income community, the girls have seen the 7 of homelessness first-hand. Many of them are from immigrant families and hoped the 8, which is powered by rechargeable solar panels(电子板), would help the 9.

    Seventeen-year-old Maggie Mejia told the Huffington Post that 10 she had no previous 11 experience, the girls figured out as a team how to 12 the shelter using how-to videos and books that taught them how to code. But the most important 13 she's learned during the project isn't technical.

    "I've learned a lot about 14 others, working for the community and being selfless and showing a better world to other people and 15 someone else's life," she said. The project was carried out with DIY Girls, a nonprofit that helps fund STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – projects for 16.

Mardirosian said all the participating students have 17 their interest in STEM through this project.

    “Many of them didn't think about engineering before. They thought maybe they're not 18 out to be an engineer. But working together, now they 19 their skill – whether a writing skill or a drawing skill or a speaking skill, they're all 20 in this field. Everyone has found their importance in this picture,” she said.

    A few years after Dad died, my 82-year-old mom moved away from the family farm near Almonte into her first apartment, which meant 1 for her to go for groceries. We were also 2 that she was living alone and hoped this 3 would really widen her social 4.

    As she and I 5 her belongings, Mom shared with me all kinds of 6 about her and my father's life together. Then we drove to town, 7 the unwanted items at Almonte's secondhand store, where they could be 8 and the money would go to charity.

    A local gentleman, who had 9 one of Mom's old suitcases, found a black-and-white negative (底片) in an envelope, with the word "Daddy" 10 in pencil on the front. Knowing that this film certainly 11 something to someone, he took it to the Almonte Gazette, attempting to find its rightful 12 through the paper.

    A week later, a big photo of my father appeared in our local paper, with a story to 13 it. Readers responded immediately; they 14 "Daddy" well — it was their uncle, brother-in-law, neighbor, friend, favorite bus driver…

    So Mom and I went to the Gazette right away to 15 our film. We thanked the staff and also called the 16 to express our heart-felt gratitude for 17 Mom, Daddy and me.

    What a(n) 18 act! It meant the world to us. Mom eventually moved into a nursing home. She passed away in November, 2018, at 98, and until then 19 a day went by that she did not look at, in her words, "that famous 20 of Daddy," on her bedside table.