It was pouring outside. We all stood there1, some patiently; others annoyed2 nature messed up their hurried day. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens3 away the dirt and dust of the world.

    "Mom, let's run through the rain," a girl's voice4 me.

    "No, honey. We'll wait until it5 down a bit," Mom replied.

    The young girl waited about another minute and6: "Mom, let's run through the rain."

    "We'll get wet if we do," Mom said.

    "No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she7her Mom's arm.

    "This morning? 8 did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?"

    "Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through9.'"

    The entire crowd turned10. Mom paused and thought for a moment about11she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. 12 then, we heard, "Honey, you are13. Let's run through the rain. If we get wet, maybe we just need washing," Mom said. Then 14 they ran.

    We all stood15, smiling and laughing as they ran past the cars. Yes, they got wet. But they were16 by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the17to their cars. Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, and they can even take away your18. But no one can take away your precious 19. So, don't forget to make time and take the 20 to make memories every day! I hope you still take the time to run through the rain.

    I recently asked for a raise from a friend and she agreed.

    I met her at a playground, and told her I 1 another child in addition to my two during the week, and that I wanted to 2 it. She was actually looking for low-key care like that for her 2-year-old and the following week she 3. I threw out a 4 price. I don't know why really, I just tend to do that sort of thing.

    After weeks passed, I 5 it wasn't making much sense for me 6 to continue and I had to address it. In a text I told her I needed to up the price a bit. I 7 that the number we 8 agreed on wasn't covering my time and expenses. I threw out the amount I thought was 9 and fair, and do you know what I said next?

    Thank you.

    "Thank you for letting me feel10enough to be honest."

    What I really wanted to say was sorry. My11 was the exact thing I wanted to 12 for, but I didn't.

    Normally I would have but I consciously 13 "sorry" with "thank you". This 14 made me feel so much more 15. At first I was surprised that word choice could have so much 16 over my feelings, but then it occurred to me that it's not just my 17 that changed, but the actions I take before speaking them. 18 trying to obtain bits of 19 in apologies, I give them to myself. I no longer wait to be 20 when I've done nothing wrong and I feel a greater sense of confidence and worth. I've found the more I honor myself, the more others honor me, too.

    My l4-year-old son, John, and I spotted the coat which was hanging at a secondhand clothing store in Northampton Mass. While the other coats drooped(低垂), this one looked as if it were1itself up. The coat had beautiful tailoring, a Fifth Avenue label and a(an)2price of $28, which was popular just then with3, but could cost several hundred dollars new. This coat was even better, bearing that4of classic elegance(优雅). John tried it on and the fit was perfect.

    John5the coat to school the next day and came home wearing a big smile" Did the kids like your coat?" I asked. "They loved it," he said,6folding it over the back of a chair and smoothing it flat. Over the next few weeks, a7came over John. Agreement replaced contrariness (作对) and reasoned discussion replaced fierce8. He became more mannerly and9, eager to please. He would generously loan his younger brother his tapes and lecture him10his behavior.

    When I mentioned this incident to his teacher and11what caused the changes, she said laughing. "It12be his coat!" Another teacher told him she was giving him a good13not only because he had earned14but because she liked his coat. At the library, we ran into a friend "Could this be John?" he asked surprisingly,15John's new height, assessing the cut of his coat and extending his hand, one gentleman to another.

    John and I both know we should never16a person's clothes for the real person within them.17there is something to be said for wearing a standard of excellence for the world to see and for18what is on the inside to what is on the outside.

    For John it is a time when it is as easy to try on different approaches to19as it is to try on a coat. The whole world, the whole future is stretched out ahead, a vast landscape20all the doors are open. And he could picture himself walking through those doors wearing his wonderful, magical coat.

    It's been five years since I came to America. The year before I arrived, every weekend I was woken up by "Spring River in the Flower Moon Night", 1 by my mother on a zheng.

    My mom was always enchanted(着迷)by the beauty of Chinese traditional music2she never had the chance to learn a(n)3. In 2009, she got a zheng from a friend and has been playing and 4 ever since. Sometimes when I miss her, I search for the songs she used to play on the Internet. I 5 expected to hear them here in Boston.

    Earlier this year, as I6 a new apartment, I met Zhantao Lin, the director of the Boston Chinese Musicians Association. At Lin's house, I heard the7of the erhu. Lin later8me to his music team and I heard the rehearse(排练)for a9this year. It was beautiful and powerful — it10 brought me back to my hometown in China.

    11is also part of Lin's daily routine. Besides performing, he passed on his love of the erhu to his12. I went to one of Lin's classes and met 9-year-old London Turk. I asked him13he chose to learn the erhu. "It's much14to learn than the violin," he said. Perhaps Turk hasn't really started to15the beauty of the erhu, but his mother has always loved the instrument. "There are so many beautiful things in Chinese16: the music, the language, and the art. So we just try our best to let him have a17to explore it," she said.

    I18my mom for giving me a chance to immerse(使沉浸)myself in the Chinese musical world. The music makes me feel relaxed. It can also19me of my homesickness. If you listen to one piece, you will20its uniqueness, power, and beauty.

It was my last class before summer break, and I was finishing up the first year of a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program in poetry. Unsure if I deserved a 1 in the program, I worried I wasn't as2 as my peers. When the professor asked about our summer 3 , I panicked. I didn't want to appear idle (闲散的)，so without much 4 , I burst out "gardening". Surprisingly, my professor nodded and mentioned Emily Dickinson loved gardening. Emily Dickinson, a great American poet, studied plants as a 5 . But I was in my twenties and had no gardening 6 .

A few days later, I 7 some seedlings in a store. I thought I should get some. At least I could say I had 8 gardening. Wait, was that a jalapeno (墨西哥辣椒)? I 9 it up.

Over the summer, the plant grew, not big but 10 . I was proud. Maybe I didn't have 11 . But then I had to move out of my apartment for some reason. I 12 with my friends. It was December when I found my new apartment, and my jalapeno was suffering: its 13 had fallen off. I set it next to a window by the kitchen sink, and 14 for the best.

I 15 to work hard in school. Then spring came. My plant grew with new leaves. And it flowered when I 16 my graduate paper, a book of 17 , in May.

I was washing dishes one day when my professor called. "Your poems are strong..." he said. I'd done it! I went back to the dishes, but suddenly I found the flowers 18 my jalapeno were gone. Had I done something 19 ?  I looked closer. Where a flower had been, a tiny green fruit 20 through.

The first time you make a speech is truly a special moment, and I will surely never forget the one I gave.

As a kid, I was extremely1 and seldom said anything2 to stay quiet most of the time. When I was about to graduate from3 school I remember that my teacher pulled me aside and offered to make a4 with me. She told me how I was getting As in all of my subjects5 handwriting, in which I had only managed to receive a C. She said if I were to 6 the welcome speech at graduation, I would get an A in handwriting.

My first thought was that giving a speech doesn't sound like much7 .But who was I to complain if I could get an A so8 ? The speech I wrote was9 boring. It started with something as lifeless and10 as "Good afternoon parents, teachers, and students. Welcome to the graduation ceremony."

As you can see, my speech was nothing fancy and I am sure nobody 11 it either. But the important lesson is that I12 it and I realized the earlier you can standup and speak, the better it is. The next year in junior high school, I found it had given me more13 when I started14 the student council(学生会). Giving a speech 15 its quality was an important first step that I took and hopefully you can too.