I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! If not, no 1 to catch up, just join right now. Everyone says one of the most effective ways to deal with 2 emotions is to 3. If things are sad, try to find a 4 to laugh or joke. Easier said than done.

    However, I had a chance to make a joke of it last night. My husband 5 the job of dealing with my 6 orthodontic（矫牙）treatment. He7 he'd make the 8 and take her to see the doctor.

    On 9 flight to Kansas city for the holidays, my daughter lost her dental braces（牙套）. We looked everywhere on the plane but it was 10. We returned home 11 and my husband didn't call to make an appointment. Days went12. I 13 him periodically, but nothing happened.

Whenever I thought about this delay（延误）, I became extremely annoyed. Last night, I was 14 to turn on my anger at full volume（音量）. "This really matters. She is growing now. She'll only have to suffer, you 15 you'd do it," But then I thought about, "make a joke of it." So I went over and said 16, "honey, if you don't call the orthodontist's tomorrow, I'm going to be very angry. I'm not threatening, just giving you fair warning." And today he made the appointment. I'm not sure if making a joke of it was more effective（有效的）than getting angry, but I don't think it was less effective.

I used the same 17 on myself last weekend. Faced with a lot of dull tasks to do, I repeated to myself 18, "Oh well, this is the weekend of the dreaded（恐怖）tasks." And just making that little joke made it easier to handle those tasks.

Maybe, my jokes weren't funny at all. But just the attempt to take a 19 attitude made a huge 20. It's easy to say "make a joke of it", but it's hard to do when you're feeling angry or upset. Have you found a way to get yourself to make a joke?

    Mariah Smith, a seventh-grader at Southern Alamance Middle School, is February's Student of the Month.

    Mariah said she was “greatly shocked” to receive this 1.

    Mariah has a 2 relationship with her grandmother, Wendy Jordan, 3 nominated（推荐）her. Mariah is the daughter of Cameron and Cierra Smith of Burlington and has a younger sister 4 Chloe.

    “She's a good student. She doesn't have to be told to keep her 5 up,” Wendy said.

Of Southern Alamance Middle School, Mariah said, “6 there is really nice, it's a really good school.”

    She manages her time 7 and sticks to a 8. Her favorite classes are social studies and language arts.

    “I like learning about the world 9 me and what has happened in the past,” Mariah said.

    She10a lot of work with her community. She was selected to be part of the Alamance Youth Leadership Academy.

    “We learn a lot of valuable things from every field trip we 11, Mariah said. “We learn what kind of leader we are, and what we 12 do to help out around our community, and how to13 our schools.”

    Mariah isn't quite sure what she wants to do in the 14 yet.

    She claims that “15 it is, I want it to be something I really16 doing.” Mariah is a quiet and analytical（分析的）person who is also “very thoughtful to 17” and “very humble,” Wendy said. She is an A-honor roll student and is 18 trying to give back to her community and make it 19.

    “She's got a big 20,” Wendy added.

    I was said to be the worst student in my class, and my family thought I was hopeless. I had to1grade six. At that time a new teacher, Miss Sadia, came to our school.

    One day after class, she2that I was staying alone during the lunch break. She came3to me and began to talk to me. It was just a normal conversation. After that day, she gave me particular 4and it made me feel special. I started to work hard because she gave me the feeling that someone5 me , and my 6started to improve in her subject.

    Months later, she moved into a house near my7. We would walk home together after school. Her constant (不断的) support helped me, 8in my studies, as I knew she would check my grades both in her subject 9the other subjects. I finally10second in my class.

    Then, after grade six, she started to slowly drift away (疏远)11still kept a constant check on me. By the time I was in grade seven, we12spoke, but by then I had become the13in my class. When I left my school, I was14with her, as she never answered the 15when I called her.

    Then I graduated and went to a good university. One fine day, our paths 16 again. I met her at a wedding. I could not17asking her, "Why did you stop talking to me?"

"You are a clever boy. I wanted you to be a tree 18on your own roots, not depending on others. Now here you are and I feel19of you. You are your inspiration(灵感，鼓舞) and do not need to20a shoulder," she said. I could not say anything, but I smiled. I'll always thank her.

    Several years ago, my company experienced a slowdown in business. We hoped that it was only 1. We had work enough for only four days of the week. So we decided that we would 2 from Monday through Thursday, and take Fridays to do 3 projects in our hometown.

    One day, we went to a very old gentleman's 4 to do a total cleanup. When we arrived, an elderly woman 5 us at the door. We thought she was the wife, but it turned out she was the 6. She was 75, and her father 97! Soon, we began to 7 the house and the yard. It was 8 how much work a group could get done when everyone was working 9. That gentleman's house went from dirt to a sparkling clean palace by the time we 10.

    The thing I most remember about that day, 11, was not the great cleaning job that we did, but something 12. When we walked into the house, I noticed the wonderful drawings that 13 the walls. The daughter told us that her father had 14 them, and that he hadn't 15 art until he was 80 years old. I was 16: these drawings were works of art that could have easily been hanging in a museum. At the time, I was in my early 30s and wanted to do something that would 17 my creative and artistic competence more than being president of a company would 18. I had felt that it was too 19 to make a change at this "advanced" stage of my life. Boy! My 20 belief system got expanded that afternoon!

    Every year around this time kids perform in their holiday concert. For many schools it is the most well-attended 1 of the year. In years past, my daughter has joined her classmates in singing. This year was 2 though. She had a few 3 parts.

    My daughter was very 4 about earning these parts. Yet with her excitement also came some nervousness. She 5 practiced her lines until she knew them 6. And, each day her class would prepare for what was going to be a special 7.

    Each day she would tell us that she did well but that she was very 8. She was worried that people would 9 her if she made a mistake. 10, she was worried about speaking in front of over a thousand people.

    Then the 11 night came last week. We luckily got front row seats, which was great for 12.

    When the time had finally arrived for my daughter to recite her lines, she did it 13. But she thought she had made a mistake, and I could see that she was close to 14 when she had finished her first part. You can only imagine how 15 it was for me not to run up on stage and 16 her and tell how much I 17 her. What happened next was the reason she is now my 18.

    She went back up to the microphone two more times and spoke her lines perfectly. The 19 it took to do that was something I will never forget. I will not 20 myself in any situation as long as I remember the night my daughter showed me what real courage looked like.

    In my early thirties, I decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa at 5, 895meters above sea level. 

    After months of preparation, I started my great 1 . At the base of the mountain, I met Mik, a local porter, who warmly 2 me. Mik's job was to carry my equipment up the mountain, set up the tent, and carry everything back down after reaching the 3 . 

    The first day of the climb was 4 the rain forest, across a slippery , muddy ground covered with tree roots and vines (藤蔓) . Mik was carrying 30 kilos on his head! By that evening, we made it to 3, 000meters. The air was 5 and it was colder. When I arrived at the campsite for the night, my tent was already set up and waiting for me. 

    Day two was much steeper and rockier. I really had to 6 what I was doing. And I felt guilty for the tough 7 Mik had to work in. Yet when I turned to Mik, he said with the biggest smile, "pole, pole, "which means"8 , take it easy" in his native language. I 9 back, my burden lighter somehow. 

    Over the next five days, the climb got 10 difficult. The temperatures could 11 from 21℃to below freezing in a few hours. At 5, 700 meters, there's only half the oxygen 12 in each breath compared to at sea level. That leaves many people with severe headache. Yet Mik always had a smile and a positive attitude. It had an enormous impact on mo, giving me the 13 to keep going. 

    Even today, when I find myself 14 with anything in life, I just think back to Mik and his smile. A great attitude can bring joy to those around you, or even 15 strangers to the top of a mountain.