I met Mrs. Neidl in the ninth grade on a stage-design team for a play and she was one of the directors. Almost instantly I loved her. She had an Unpleasant voice and a direct way of speaking,1 she was encouraging and inspiring. For some reason, she was impressed with my work and me.

    Mrs. Neidl would ask me for my 2  . She wanted to know how I thought we should3 things. At first I had no idea how to answer because I knew 4  about stage design! But I slowly began to respond to her 5 . It was cause and effect: She believed I had opinions, so I began to 6  them. She trusted me to complete things, so I completed them perfectly. She loved how 7  I was, so I began to show up to paint more and more. She believed in me, so I began to believe in myself.

    Mrs. Neidl's 8  that year was, "Try it. We can always paint over it 9 !"I began to take10 . I had been so afraid of failing but suddenly there was no failing--only things to be11  upon. I learned to dip my brush into the paint and12  create something.

    The shy, quiet freshman achieved success that year. I was13  in the programs "Student Art Assistant" because of the time and effort I'd put in. It was that year that I14  I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing stage design.

    Being on that stage-design team15  Mrs. Neidl changed me completely. Not only was I stronger and more competent than I had thought, but I also16  a strong interest and a world I hadn't known existed. She taught me not to17  what people think I should do: She taught me to take chances and not be18 . Mrs. Neidl was my comforter when I was upset. Her 19 in me has inspired me to do things that I never imagined20 .

    I have written a poem called Flying Kites, in which a man 1 his son to fly a kite. After a few minutes, the child2 drops the string and lets the kite soar(高飞). With joy in his eyes, he watches it climb until it disappears 3.The father realizes that 4 he'll have to loosen the string that ties him to his son. And he 5 ,“Will I release the tie as unselfishly as that?”

    Many years later my son, Gary,6 he wouldn't finish his college career. I tried to talk him out of it. But none of my reasoning made any 7 . At the end of the semester Gary moved back home.

    Gary managed to find a job at a nursery and went at it with 8enthusiasm. I,9, was deeply disappointed. What was a college professor's 10  doing at a job that any high school dropout could perform? Then I tried to11 him. “Look,” I said, “In a few years you'll be at your high school reunion with 12 classmates who became doctors, lawyers, and engineers. Do you think you'll be able to 13 that?”

    “Yes, Dad,” he replied without 14. Then he fixed his eyes on mine and said, “But the real question is: Can you?”

    Shame suddenly 15 me. I wasn't thinking about my son; I was thinking about myself and what my friends would think. The problem wasn't Gary's pride; it was mine. All at once I remembered my  16  and the question it asked “ Will I release the 17 as unselfishly as that?”. At that moment I knew I had to let go. Gary was  18 enough to make his own choices.

    Today Gary has a successful career working for the city. I am very 19 of who he has become.20I let go of my pride, I've been able to sit back and enjoy watching him soar.

    One day all the employees of a very famous company reached their office and all saw a big sign on the main door which said this:

    "Yesterday, the 1 who has been stopping your progress in this company 2. We invite you to join the funeral（葬礼）in the room that has been 3 in the gym."

    In the beginning, they all got 4for the death of one of their colleagues（同事）, but after a while they started to 5who was that person that stopped the 6 of their colleagues and the company itself?

    The7 in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd 8the room. The more people 9the coffin（棺材），the more the excitement heated up. Everyone thought,"10is it that was holding me back?"

    One by one the intrigued（引起好奇心的）employees（雇员）got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it, they 11 became speechless.

    They all got to stand near the coffin, and felt shocked and 12, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their 13.There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked 14 it could see themselves! There was also a sign next to the mirror that15

    "There is only one person who is able to set 16 to your growth and IT IS YOU!" Your life does not 17when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents change, when your husband or wife changes…

    No, your life changes when YOU change, when you go 18 your limiting beliefs inside.

Examine yourself; watch yourself. Don't be afraid of 19, impossibilities and losses. Be a winner, build yourself and your reality.20, it's the way you face life itself that makes a difference.

    You and I have principles (原则). We also have opinions. I have1about what I think is right or wrong, or good or2, but they're only opinions. Sometimes, what I think 3 be wrong, but I will try to 4my principles and correct my mistakes.

    A 15-year-old boy learned a very5lesson about life principles. On his way home he found a woman's wallet that had $1276her identity card in. He jumped onto his bicycle and went over to her7—about a mile away. He told her he found her8. She thanked him and gave him twenty dollars.

    That evening the boy told his family about what had happened that day and his9said, "I don't think you should have10twenty dollars for doing what you should do. A person shouldn't be rewarded (奖赏) for being11."He thought about his father's12and decided to13the money. He biked to the woman's home and14her back the twenty dollars. She didn't want to take it, but he15her she had to. He said his father16him something that he had never17before. Principles such as honesty and always doing the right thing actually18our every action and decision. These great principles change our lives and give us character. That boy is19to be raised by a good father who is20to say, "Those are my principles."

    When I was in middle school, I tried my best to be popular. However, one afternoon, I had a(n) 1 with my mother, which changed my mind eventually.

    We were sitting in the dining area of a local restaurant. I told her that I wanted to be 2. She asked me why I felt that way. 3, I had never stopped to think about why I felt the need to fit in. I 4 did.

    My mother told me a story. My grandmother made her several 5 sweater vests. Although those were hardly “in style”, my mother really 6 to wear them. What was surprising was that many other female students at my mother's school began 7 sweater vests after a few weeks. My mother had started a 8. What she wore became fashionable because the other students saw the 9 with which she dressed.

    At that time, the information was too much for a thirteen-year-old girl to 10. I didn't believe her. I thought my mother was 11. So I continued to wear the same clothes, seeking popularity as usual — I had not yet seen the 12 at the end of a dark tunnel (隧道)then. However, our conversation that day 13 over and over in my mind.

    I thought long and carefully, and then I 14 that my mother's words might have some 15. I began to check my wardrobe (衣柜) to find which items I'd bought because I truly like them. I also16 my actions, trying to determine how many of them I wore to 17 the crowd. Gradually, I found myself 18 less and less what people thought about me. I was greatly 19.

    The conversation I had with my mother was a 20 lesson for me. Sometimes swimming against the current can only make me stronger.

Jake and Max Klein are twin brothers who have a passion for volunteering. Their family have always done community 1 .At a young age, they chose to 2 family's gifts at their birthday parties, but asked them to donate money to a charity. When they were seven, Jake and Max were interested in 3 with a family friend at the local homeless shelter to help cook. 4 ， he turned them down because they were too 5 and they had to be fourteen to cook. This led them on an endless 6 to come up with a way to help other kids who were also facing a 7 challenging: wanting to help but 8 because of their age.

So, Kids That Do Good was 9 to "show ways to kids or adults, at any age, they could join the community and make a 10 .The small 11 has grown into a large website that brings thousands of 12 visitors each year. Jake and Max say that their website brings 35,000 unique viewers, of those viewers, Kids That Do Good has 13 kids to 16,000 organizations.

Jake and Max are 14 with school and after-class activities and other community service promises. Kids That Do Good also has blog posts that advise kids on 15 their own charitable event.