Years ago, acritical event occurred in my life that would change it forever. I met Kurt Kampmeir of Success Motivation Incorporation for breakfast. While we were1 , Kurt asked me, " John, what is your 2for personal growth?"

     Never at a loss for words, I tried to find things in my life that might3 for growth. I told him about the many activities in which I was4 . And I went into a 5about how hard I worked and the gains I was making. I must have talked for ten minutes. Kurt  6patiently, but then he 7 smiled and said, “You don't have a personal plan for growth, do you?”

    “No, I8.

   “You know,” Kurt said simply, “growth is not a(n)9 process.”

     And that's when it10me. I wasn't doing anything11 to make myself better. And at that moment, I made the 12 : I will develop and follow a personal growth plan for my 13.

    That night, I talked to my wife about my 14 with Kurt and what I had learned. I15her the workbook and tapes Kurt was selling. We16 that Kurt wasn't just trying to make a sale. He was offering a 17 for us to change our lives and achieve our dreams.

     Several important things happened that day. First, we decided to18 the resources. But more importantly, we made a commitment to19 together as a couple. From that day on, we learned together, traveled together, and sacrificed together. It was a  20 decision. While too many couples grow apart, we were growing together.

    I was wandering around the Albuquerque airport. My flight had been 1 , and I heard a(n)2: “If anyone near Gate A-4 3 Arabic，please come to the gate immediately." Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.

    An older woman was 4, sitting on the floor. In her 5 Arabic dress, she reminded me of my grandmother.

    “6 to her,” the flight agent urged. “We told her the flight was going to be late, and she did this."

    I spoke to the woman 7in Arabic while putting my arm around her. She 8crying. It turned out that she thought the 9 had been canceled. She planned to be in New York for some medical treatment the next day. I comforted her and suggested 10her family.

    We telephoned her son. In English, I told him that I would 11 with his mother until we got on the plane. Then his son was12. Next we called my dad. They spoke for a while in Arabic and 13 that they had ten shared friends. After that, I called some Arabic friends I14 and let them talk to her.

    She was in a 15mood by then and took some homemade 16— little cakes stuffed with nuts and topped with sugar 一 from her bag and 17 them to the people near the gate. To my amazement, no one 18. It was like a party. The traveler from Argentina, the mom from California, the lovely woman from Laredo — we were all smiling, enjoying the same 19.

    I looked around and thought, this is the world I want to live in. One with no 20. Everyone can be happy anywhere.

    It was 1959. Life became hard after my husband got killed in a traffic accident. With five children aged from two to seven to take care of, I1thought of finding a job. But 2 was running out and Christmas was drawing near. Every child was talking about the present that Santa Claus would bring them. It occurred to me that I had to find a 3

    I went to almost all the places where I had 4 to get a job. But when the interviewers learned about my case, they 5 me politely. I felt sad and 6 saying to myself that I would try the last place.

    I went into a 24-hour chain restaurant with five children 7 patiently in the car. The manager was an elegant woman of about 40. As I explained my 8to her, she kept looking out of the window to see all those kids.

    Finally she told me she really needed someone but the time was from 11 at night until 7 in the morning and that the pay was one dollar an hour. I accepted the job without hesitation and 9to do it well. The problem was that I had to find a person to look after my children during my work time. At last I found a teenage girl. I would pay her one dollar for looking after my five children. She seemed 10with the work because there would be 11 that she needed to do as all my children would be sleeping during the time she “worked”.

    The other employees were very friendly and helpful. They knew my12situation and often brought some “old” toys from home to give me, of which some were new. It was obvious that they actually bought them for my kids but said they were old in order not to13me.

    Christmas was only three days away. Everyone was preparing presents 14their families. But I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. So, I found some red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then I hid them in the15 so there would be something for Santa Claus to16on Christmas morning.

    On the morning of Christmas, I 17to the car, hoping to get home and get the presents from the basement and place them under the tree before they 18 up. But when I opened the car door, I found my car was filled with boxes of presents for children aged from two to seven. Beside the presents was a 19saying ”Merry Christmas!”20and appreciation filled my heart.

    We all love college reunion(再聚). I feel very lucky to have been able to 1my 25th anniversary reunion. The meals were2welcomed. The celebration was inspiring,3 an overview of the past years. And the 4of my four years on campus were satisfying and5.

    One of my favourite parts was 6about the lives of my classmates. Their7lives-families, relationships-and also their professional work. There's the classmate who is an organic farmer and a leader in the effort to 8 other farmers about organic farming skills; the classmate who9over her family's power plant; the classmate who 10her own company; the classmate who went to a(n)11school and now works as a delivery nurse. All are inspirational. What they also 12 is a commitment to learning, leading, challenging and contributing, all things we learned the value of in college.

    Then there is our classmate who passed away in January 2017. He shared the commitment to all the 13listed above, as well as to the value of adventure and positive thinking. He was missed14 words. As a class, we 15him on Saturday evening and as a college, we did honor to him, along with other classmates who have passed away in the past five years, at a memorial service on Sunday morning. I was honored, on16 of our class and our college, to read his name and 17a candle for him at the service. This classmate was an18throughout his short life.

    I have been 19 on my 25th reunion and on my college days and all the days since. I am 20for the lessons I have learned so far. And I am inspired.

    When I first entered university, my aunt, who is an English professor, gave me a new English dictionary. I was 1 to see that it was an English-English dictionary, also known as a monolingual (只用一种语言的) dictionary. 2 it was a dictionary intended for non-native learners, none of my classmates had one 3, to be honest, I found it extremely 4 to use at first. I would look up words in the dictionary and5 not fully understand the meanings. I was used to the 6 bilingual dictionaries, in which the words are 7 both in English and Chinese. I really wondered why my aunt gave me such 8 to make things so difficult for me. Now, after studying English at university for three years, I 9 that monolingual dictionaries are 10in learning a foreign language.

    As I found out, there is, 11, often no perfect equivalence (对应) between two 12 in two languages. My aunt even goes so far as to 13 that a Chinese “equivalent” can never give you the 14 meaning of a word in English! 15 she insisted that I read the definition (释义) of a word in a monolingual dictionary when I wanted to get a better 16 of its meaning. 17, I have come to see what she meant.

    Using a monolingual dictionary for learners has helped me in another important way. This dictionary uses a(n) 18 number of words, around 2,000, in its definitions. When I read these definitions, I am19 exposed to the basic words and learn how they are used to explain objects and ideas. 20 this, I can express myself more easily in English.

    Honesty is always the best policy, especially when it comes to mental health problems. In a TV 1, one girl gets very real about dealing with anxiety and panic.

    "I was the best student in my high school. I put so much 2 on myself," she said. "I never 3 a class. But I got sick during 10th grade and I started to 4. That's when the panic attacks began." She goes on to describe what a panic attack 5 like, "One day the teacher handed me my grade 6, and I couldn't breathe. My heart was beating very 7. I felt disconnected. I saw people trying to talk to me but I couldn't hear them. Afterwards, I was sent to 8," she shared.

    It was then 9 the attacks started happening 10 daily, and they haven't stopped. "Last year I started college. And I can't be the best student here no matter how hard I try," she said. "Everyone is so 11. My panic attacks got so bad that I had to 12 my first semester."

    However, now she is facing her anxiety, and things are getting better. "I used to try to hide 13. I thought that 14 nobody know, it didn't exist," she said. "But the more I talk about my 15, the more I realize that other people experience 16 things. So I'm trying to express it more. I had a great teacher 17 told me, 'Instead of letting anxiety keep you from doing your art, let it be the thing that 18 your art."

    Recently, women all over the world took to Twitter to19 what anxiety is like. We are 20 alone.