What is A Good Friend?

     From kinder garden to college, we have met and acquainted so many classmates. Some classmates will be our friends. I acknowledged that there are a lot of friends around me, but only several people will truly be my best friends. Because we have the same personality, like we are humorous and talkative, and w often play tricks on each other and we share our happiness and sadness.
 
     With the development of technology, we always use some social website to make new friends. Take Facebook for example. Facebook has gradually changed the meaning of friends. We start to make new friends by just "adding" them, only just a click and we can become "friends". However, those friends cannot be our true friends. We don't even meet with each other.

      I think a closed friend must be found with trust. One must have trust on someone at first so that they will have chance to become friends. With a relationship based on trust, they can talk more and know more about each other during the time they get along with. A good friend will respect your opinions and give you some better advices; a good friend won't leave you alone while you get into trouble, and they will also comfort you, help you and accompany you. Having a good friend just like having a new family. He or she will stay beside you and encourage you forever and ever.

Being College Dropouts (期中報告)

     Currently, there are about 8% university students who drop out of our education system intentionally in Taiwan. Despite all those different reasons of doing so, we Chinese society often consider such action irresponsible, or as simply put, bad. However, as we are living in this modern world with rapid changes, exactly why such decisions are made and where might these decisions lead us are becoming harder to say everyday.
      One of the most unfortunate reasons of why people are leaving colleges is to support their family financially. College tuition is not easily affordable for every family, so when encountering incidents like major illness of family members or sudden bankruptcy, students from such families are basically forced to drop school. Upon all the college dropouts, there are around 6.6% of students suffering from this very reason. Usually students who leave school this way will then get a job instead to support their own.
     
      Second, young adults in college are still very much vulnerable, and having friends who are bad influences around in such period of time will inevitably change a students path. Youngsters often seek senses of belonging and bonding to each other, and many can be easily convinced to care less about classes if that’s what everyone around is doing.
       Third, in some cases, there are students who are mature enough to know what they want for life exactly and are able to set a firm goal to reach other than going through college. Having a college degree won’t necessarily increase your abilities, as long as you have figured out which is the best way to take, learning inside or outside the school wouldn’t matters that much.

       There are also some effects for these reasons.
One, people can be judgmental when seeing an undergraduate even when you are doing it with good reasons, most of the time it’s hard for you to get a job as well. Although what matters should be what you can do but not which school you are from, the impression and comments of a college dropout is not likely to be improved anytime soon.

       Second, if you are one of those people who have decided that to reach your goal, it’s better to learn from the field but studying on the campus, than dropping out of university just might give you a head start. Students tend to lack professional work experience but have knowledge in only theory form; and in many career field, experiences are far more important than book theories. Without doubt, if you do get your head straight with strong motivations, gaining more experiences as early as possible will make you have advantages over others.

       Last but not the least, many students who quite school because of bad influences later become life times criminals due to the lack of both financial incomes and working skills.  Nevertheless, sometimes even when a college dropout do start out as an ambitious youngster, there are probably too much for a young mind to deal with. Since it is harder to get approval from others without owning a college degree, one can easily be deeply frustrated, then sometimes even give up on the path they drop school for and give up on themselves. If things do go down that road, there will be a huge potential of them turning into society underdogs and becoming criminals.

      There is no absolute good or bad when it comes to dropping out of college.  Of course people who do drop out might be facing some serious risks, but they are embracing different opportunities of life as well. It is like what they always say, “ It doesn’t matter how you get there, what does matter is what you can do when you get there.” As long as we do keep a positive attitude toward our lives and stay on the right track, whatever way we wish to learn and grow wouldn’t really hurt. And vice versa. After all, we are the one who actually get to decide who we want to be, not our school.

Same Sex Marriage ( Final Report )

            In the recent years, people becomes much open to the concept of sex. Many people have already accepted the same sex marriage. Some countries even pass the law to protect them. Asians concept is much traditional and conservative. They think that family has to be composed of a man and a woman deservedly. On the contrary, westerners are much open. However, there are still a lot of groups reject this behavior, even discriminate homosexuality. Why would such cause deviation?

      Everyone is equal, and the gender is equal, too. Everybody has the power to pursue happiness. We shouldn’t be stuck in the traditional conception. Family cannot be defined by law. It is a place that one can relax and comfort our hearts. Somewhere that we can be ourselves. Marriage should be composed by
love, not by anything else.

      There are also disapproval. First, in the doctrine of Christ, God has his reason to create one man and one woman which cannot be destroyed. For this reason, many radicals appear. Second, someone think that homosexuality is a disease and should be cured. Third, the education of children.They think that two Mothers or two Fathers cannot children a complete education. Last but not the least, the impression of classmates to children. It is unusual for us to see same sex marriage family. Therefore, some of us may cast curious and weird sight to them which they have to bear hard.

 

       For us, we approve to same sex marriage.

     Think differently, if this world is lead by homosexuality? We think that the situation would be exactly opposite. So we should stand  on homosexuality's position to consider. Supporting and encouraging them are the only way that we can do for them.

       However, it is hard for homosexuality to be recognized their marriage by people. Some people may suspect that how do two same sex people raise children. They may encounter many problems.(For example, two men may not understand girl's physiological problems...) But we believe that everything will be overcome by love.

 

The Ways of Teaching: Rigor and Love ( Compare & Contrast )

       Of the several forms of teaching, the two opposite extremes are teach in rigor and teach in love. If teaching in its fullest form has three parts─ mode, effect and the relationship with kids─ then teach in rigor and teach in love could be called incomplete and complete, respectively.

      At first, we will talk about their different kinds of modes. In a rigorous way, kids will be punished if their scores or behaviors do not accord with their parents’ demand. On the contrary, in the other way, parents will teach their children with love and passion, and they will be willing to listen to their different opinions.

      When it comes to effect, there is also a lot of differences between the two ways. In rigorous teaching, parents put too much pressure on their kids that will make them pretty scared and want to resist. With the way of teaching in love, parents don’t demand their children to do something involuntarily only to satisfy their expectation. They also don’t limit children’s imagination so that they can grow up happily and freely.

      Teaching in rigor and teaching in love, two different kinds of teaching will result in two extremely opposite relationship between parents and children. The former one, kids long term live under the pressure from their parents, they will be more stressed and repressed. When they grow up, they probably would keep a distance between their parents and them deliberately in order to protect themselves. Their relationship won’t be too closed. The latter one, parents respect their kids’ thought and will not force them to change. They always encourage them to do everything they want with their hearts, and they also concern more about their children. With this kind of mode, parents and children’s relationship definitely will be very closed and intimated.        

More Than Ordinary (Process)

     Cellphones have already been our flesh and blood that we cannot think of our lives without them. No one will doubt that our flesh and blood are the most important elements to ourselves. They are arts of our bodies and lives. As well as that we cannot survive without them.
     First of all, cellphones are quiet convenient that we can connect the Internet by our cellphones at any place without using computers. With the Internet, we can search many things like news reports or the weather. Also we can use social websites such as Line app and Facebook. Second, cellphones are handy, their sizes are not as big as a computer or a laptop. For this reason, cellphones are easy to carry or to hold them in the hand. Last but not the least, cellphones enable us to connect to people who are far from us even in the abroad. They don't have limitation of area and time. They conquer the obstacle of distance.
     With those above benefits, I'm sure that cellphones really have become our flesh and blood nowadays.

How to Make Almond Cookies

      During this winter vacation, because we didn't have plans to go out my aunt and I decided to make handmade cookies. We chose to make almond cookies, which was much easier for the beginner. My aunt had already prepared all materials and an instructions for the baking. All we needed were sugar, eggs, flour, some shred of almond and basic instruments like a pot, scales, a stirrer and the most important thing, an oven, which is the soul of baking. Without a oven, nothing can be made completely and successfully.
      First, we mixed reasonable amount of sugar and flour until it was stirred evenly. The way that can be told well mixed was its color had become light yellow. And then we put several eggs inside the pot and just kept stirring also until eggs were merged entirely. We extended the mixed thing inside the pot on the iron plate based on the following step. After spreading them well on the iron plate we put some shred of almond on them. In the long run, we could finally put them into the oven. Nearly twenty minutes the almond cookies were finished. The scent of cookies smelled truly wonderful that I cannot help grabbing one piece and put it in my mouth. It tasted just like I was in the heaven. I really felt a sense of achievement from baking cookies that time.   

My Favorite Place

        My favorite place is my grandmother’s kitchen. My grandmother is really good at cooking. Every time when I just walk near it, I can already smell the fragrance of the food from my grandmother’s kitchen and I always cannot help but attracted by them. I think the most wonderful time in a day is having meals. Every morning when I grow up, she has already prepared breakfast for my family. Every cuisine on the dining table tastes truly delicious, which makes me feel powerful in the begging in a day. During the lunch, she will prepares abundant of cuisine like soup, vegetables, fish and so on.

       My grandmother is not only good at cooking but also good at baking. She can make any handmade cookies. She will put raisins and chocolate on cookies, for those two are my favorite. She clearly knows what like. My grandmother can also make any kind of bread, which always has cheese in it. I like cheese so much and she also knows that. My grandmother’s kitchen is definitely my favorite place, for I can find every fresh and delicious things in there.                 

Worthwhile Exercises ( Exemplification -verbal2 )

     People nowadays value the importance of exercises more. Under the rapid development of technology, it is much easier for humans to update the information about our health. "How to benefit our bodies?" "What is harmful to us?" This has been a worldwide issue that we cannot ignore. After all, health is invaluable. To improve ourselves, let's get some exercises first.
      Doing exercises can make us much stronger. Our vital capacity and muscles can be trained so that we can have resistance to be against diseases. Exercising also can make us look much younger. Our bodies become much sturdy, both our mentality and physiology will become much better naturally. 
      Exercising can not only benefit our health but can also keep fit. Jogging has been a popular exercise recently. Everyone and every place advocates it actively. It doesn't need any equipment but a joyful and persistent mind.
      While doing exercises, we can get rid of many annoying things temporarily. Don't be a couch potato. Go outside and exercises.   
       

The Change ( Free Writing )

       Nobody is perfect. Everyone knows that. I admit that I have a lot of bad habits. I am too lazy to clean my room so it is messy all the time. But today I am not going to talk about my bad habits but my personality.
      I used to be a very very shy girl. I didn't like to join people. I was quite afraid of talking to other people let alone chatting. I was not confident, I didn't like myself, either. I thought I was too fat and my skin was so black. I was even not brave enough to look at me in the mirror when people were around me. "How ugly was I !" I complained to God all the time then. I thought everything that happened on me was unfair. "Why other people were all better than me?" "Why they had white skin, good grades, good looking.....but I didn't?" Many many"Why?" were circling in my brain. It was a hard time for me.
      Things seemed to turn better when I was first grade in senior high school. I acquainted with several good friends. They were all kind of interesting and humorous. I thought they were glamorous that I cannot help but attracted by them. I was really surprised that they were willing to talk and make friends with me. I opened my mind gradually. I would find a sense of achievement when I said something funny and they burst out laughing. Because of them, I gained the confidence little by little. Frankly speaking, I indeed left an unforgettable memory in the past three years. They are my benefactors.They had changed me.
    Now I will not be afraid of going to a new place anymore, for I am more courageous to face with every new challenge.      

My Best Companion ( Description )

       Every night when I sleep, there is always one thing accompany me. Its touch is very special for me, so I can easily tell which one is it from a pile of quilts even though they seem quite the same.
       It is my bedquilt. I have three of them. My mom bought them for me in America when I was only two years old. That is to say they have accompanied me for over ten years! Because they are blemished, their prices are relatively low. My bedquilts are light yellow. Even though they are said to be flawed, I cannot find any defect on them. I love to touch them again and again, for they are too comfortable.They are also fit for every season. They can make me feel cool in the Summer and warm me up in the Winter. I think they are so multifunctional.
        Like some girls have their lovely dolls when they were young, and even until now, those dolls still beside their owners. My bedquilts just like those dolls. They have companioned with me since I was a little kid, and I admit that I can no longer imagine the day without them. I will carry them with me to anywhere I go like dormitory or even abroad.
      They are my best companion, and I will cherish them forever.

Everyone Pays the Price

﹝Summary﹞

       It's about a story between the writer and her boyfriend, Martin. The writer came from a happy family. Her parents were still married and drug-free. She should have had a normal life instead of having a relationship with Martin, who came from a broken family and was a gang member. He committed crimes and dealt drugs. He had been sent to jail for many times. At first, she was attracted by Martin's bad-boy image and his carefree way of life. In no time, She became a gang member and used drugs all day and all night with him. She lost so many things included her family and her friends. However, jail sentence made him angrier and closer to his gang. At the end, she started to be sensible of what she had done and what kind of person she had become before. She enforce herself to move back to the right track. She had gotten sober, started college, and returned home. Even though the nightmare still existed, she still prayed 
that Martin could trade his gun for she.


﹝Reaction﹞
 
      Love makes everyone blind. You cannot differentiate what is good or what is harm to you. Like the writer in the story. Although she came from a complete family, she still fell in love with Martin, who's background was so complicated. She just attracted by his appearance and could not tell whether his doings is legal or not. The only thing that she could do is to obey.
      As far as the writer are concerned, we may think that she is really foolish. 
Having faced with so many tough and risky time with him, and why doesn't she choose to leave. Why she still chooses to stay with him and ravage her life? However, we are not the writer. We even don't know how she view with her  boyfriend. Maybe she thinks that he will finally back to the right track someday.
We cannot make decision for anyone, for everyone has their own choices.

My Little Boy ( Free Writing )

       My family has four members, but we added another one when I was first grade in junior high school. He came so abruptly that I was so surprised and excited. He was so small and so lovely that I cannot help touching him. We made a "grand residence" for him , therefore he could rest and play in it. 
       He is a cute little hamster, my dear little boy. We called him Shushu(鼠鼠). Mom took him home some day and all of us except my father love him so much. Because that was our first time to keep such a tiny animal, we truly took god care of him. We let him live cozily instead of putting him into a narrow cage. We never fed him fodder but some healthy food like fruits and vegetables. Sometimes we even gave him some deserts such as chocolate and cookies. We treated him like our baby. Mom always bathed him carefully. She used advanced "Sebamed" to bath him instead of any kinds of soaps. Our bodies became his sports field. He would run through our whole bodies again and again. Sometimes he would even pee directly on our clothes. When he was tired, he would take a nap in our hands.
        He had successfully escaped from his home twice. We had no idea how he made it. I would take a look at him routinely every morning when I get up. I clearly remember that time when I called his name nothing responded me. I thought maybe he was still sleeping. Therefore, I called his name again. But there was still no any answer. I was overwhelmed by  horror. I kept praying that he was just resting in his house so he could not hear my voice. I examined his house nervously.To my startle, he was gone. He was gone !!!  And where could I find him? Unfortunately, our house is so big that he could hide in any place. What if he ran into a small hole that we could not reach ? He would starve if no one fed him. I could not imagine the outcome anymore. I was afraid that I could not see him any longer. He was my flesh and blood!!! Suddenly, I glanced a little shadow moved behind the refrigerator, I was quite excited. "I found him!" I carefully extended my hand and stealthily approached him."Got it!" He finally came back. Both my mom and my brother were glad about that.
       Shushu had accompanied us for three years. He came to join us when I was first grade in junior high school and left us when I just graduated from it. I could clearly remember that day when he was going to die. He uttered a painful sound and moved so slowly. I was the only person beside him. Seeing that scene, I felt really frustrated. "Please don't leave me! My dear babe. How could I do to relieve your pain? You had already been my part of life. Just like my hands and my body that I could not live without." However,to my disappointment, he became more weak. Gradually, he could not move anymore. I held him in the hand. Before long, he slept forever. I could not believe it. Shushu was gone. He had left us for good. No longer would he come back. I sorrowed over my beloved little boy's death. I just kept wailing and wailing......and wailing...
        My heart was so hurt........

Terrible Memory ( Narration )

      When I was six years old, I rode a bicycle with my brother in our community in one afternoon. We found that there were other children riding bikes at the same time and at the same place with us. However, we argued with each other for whatever reason that I could not recall. Everything I could remember is I was going to chase someone with my bicycle at that time. As I was ready to turn right, I failed to notice that the ground was so wet and my speed was so fast that it was too late for me to brake my bicycle. I fell down unfortunately.
       Maybe I was too startled to feel any pain on my body. When I tried to get up from the ground, I saw a terribly hurt wound on my right thigh.Suddenly, I felt very cold and could not utter any word. I was too scared. Mom was at home at that time.When my brother knew what happened to me, he quickly ran back home and told my mom everything.
       Mom rushed to me and sent me to a clinic in no time. She kept consoling me on the way to the clinic. There were also a lot of people who were then witnessed the accident around me. They were very warm-hearted. They assisted my mom to take care of me. I got stitches ultimately. The process was badly tough and endless for me. Even though I was anesthetized and would not have any feeling during the operation, the stitch which was then using to stitch the cut on my right thigh by the doctor was definitely scare me. It was really a terrible memory that I cannot forget forever.

The Most Confused Thing That I Am Now Confronted With ( Free Writing )

      Now I am a freshman in SooChow University,but actually I should have been a sophomore in TamKang University this year. Last year, I suspended from TamKung University, for I could not adapt myself to the major that I chose before. I used to major in National Business. However, its subjects were full of mathematic such as accounting, economic, statistic and calculus, which I were definitely not good at. I was not interested in what I was studying at that time. I had temporarily lost my enthusiasm for studying. I thought I was just idling away my time, so I quit without a second thought. I stayed in TamKang only for three weeks, someone may thought I made this decision so impulsively, but to me, I thought I just did the right thing. I would rather left than still stayed there and lived my life without goal.
      After a year since I suspended, I came here this September and ready to start my "second" freshman's life. I successfully applied to my favorite English department, which I failed to apply before. However, after studying few months, I am now facing a confusion and really feel puzzled. I like to speaking English rather than to read lots of literature, which makes me feel so tedious. I suspect myself again and again. Why do I want to choose this department that is not as popular as before. Does anything I learn now benefits my jobs in the future? How should I do next? I have definitely no idea.

What is the most important skill that a person should learn in the 21st century ? ( Revise )

      I think the most important skill that a person should learn in the 21st century is communication. With a good command of communication , we could convey our ideas clearly, so that people will understand what our points are. In order to equip this crucial skill, one should make sure that his or her voice is loud enough and articulate to ensure that listener can hear what he or she is talking about first. Secondly, our thoughts should be constructive that we can converse systematically and completely.Last but not least, always keep smiling. It will undoubtedly be the best choice, which will definitely leave good impressions on people whom you meet at the first time.
     It will surely be advantageous for people who are good at communicating,for they will have more opportunities to reach his or her goal easily. If one is too shy to interact with others or too diffidence to stand for oneself, he or she may lose some precious chances.Therefore, be brave enough to seize any opportunity to practice speaking.For example, we can participate in some speech contests to not only train our speaking skills but also drill our courage. An easy and free talk between friends can also be a good option. In brief, practice makes perfect. Strive to enhance our communication skill, which is surely helpful to our future.

Start of something new ( Free Writing )

      Last Friday I went camping with my new classmates in Miaoli. This activity was held by DESA. Before I went camping, I am a little bit hesitating, for I could not decide whether to go or not.
Both of my ankles were sprained several months ago, and they are still paining. I do not want to deteriorate them any longer. However, I thought it was an important opportunity for me to get along with my new classmates, and I could even find my best friend who can accompany me during the following years. Finally, I made the decision, I joined them. And this decision did not make me feel regretful afterward.
    During the camping, I did become acquainted with a lot of people. We played together, sang together and even slept together. In the morning, our team cooperated to complete all the challenge. Although we kept losing games at the beginning, which truly disappointed us, we eventually won a game. All of us were in an ecstasy of joy. Seniors prepared a series of  performances at nights, which was so amazing and wonderful that I could not move my eyes.
    On the last day of our journey,we played water polo with each other.I remembered that I used water guns and buckets to splash others even though I do not know them. We just had fun getting along with everyone. After the "war", my body was all wet. This was a memorable experience that I never had before. Time flies, when it was time to say goodbye, I still feel that I could not let go of anything,for I had too many unforgettable memories. Nonetheless, this farewell did not mean the terminal point but meant the start of something new. I would cherish everything and start a new journal of my college life.