Master Gardener Volunteers Wanted
Why Become a Master Gardener?
The Master Gardener program is an all-volunteer organization where you can develop your own leadership and teaching skills while teaching the younger youth about healthy eating, agriculture, and so on! Master Gardeners involve people in activities to improve their general well-being and overall enjoyment of life by helping them find sound management practices for home and urban natural resources, by creating pleasing environments through people-plant interactions and horticultural therapy (园艺疗法), and by contributing to a safe, abundant food supply through home fruit and vegetable production.
What Qualifications Must You Meet?
Anyone can apply to be a Master Gardener—you don't need to be an expert or have a degree. You do, however, need to:
●Have certain experience or know a little about gardening or landscape management.
●Be willing to share horticulture information with others.
●Be willing to attend a training program and can devote time to volunteering and continuing education.
Besides, to become a Master Gardener volunteer, each applicant needs to complete an application, prepare background screening paperwork and schedule an interview with Extension staff.
What Does the Training Involve?
Training sessions are offered one day a week over a three-month period and are led by expert educators in the region. Approximately 60 hours of classroom instruction and field study and 60 hours of volunteer internship (实习) work are required to complete the program and become certified. In order to remain a certified Master Gardener, 30 hours of volunteer work and 10 hours of continuing education or advanced training are required each year.
This week, my social media feed was flooded with pictures of a festival that is typically celebrated in March in Nepal. For me growing up, the festival, which is a Nepalese tradition, had less regional significance and was largely cultural, providing me with a day to play with color and water with my beloved family and friends.
As an international student, being away from home means being disconnected from cultural traditions. While a cultural disconnect is unavoidable, when I see the news headlines or posts that friends share on social media, being ignorant about what's happening hack home fills me with penitence. It had been a while since I read articles about what was happening in Nepal. Even catching up with family members and old friends takes weeks to achieve.
In all honesty, I don't know how to do a better job of keeping up to date with everything when focused on classes and work, and adjusting to college life. The news cycles in the US and at home are changing constantly, and can sometimes feel astonishing. But at least here in Rochester, the everyday chat keeps you knowing what's happening outside the campus. Keeping up with news from home, however, requires the extra individual effort I just can't spare time for while dealing with everything else I have to do here.
Talking to other international students, I find the feeling seems to be common for many of us. Maybe that's just the reality of living abroad, and all we can do is our best. But with the opportunity to celebrate the festival away from home with friends at the university and learn to forgive myself for not staying up to date with what's happening in my country, I know what I have at present is exactly what I need to hold dear and deserves my deep gratefulness.
The fish eggs, all 200 of them, were settled and ready to go. The ground crew had counted the eggs carefully, and sealed them tightly within a plate filled precisely to the edge with seawater.
The countdown, and then—ignition (点火)! For two full minutes, the precious eggs suffered a violent shaking as the rocket's engines exploded to life, and then rise to the heavens. These eggs were on their way to low Earth orbit. Next stop: the moon.
Well, they haven't actually left yet. But after a recent simulation (模拟) designed to re-create the intense shaking of a typical takeoff, researchers in France found that the eggs survived. It's a crucial discovery in the progress of the Lunar Hatch, a program that aims to determine whether astronauts could successfully raise fish on a future moon base.
Finally, Cyrille Przybyla, an aquaculture (水产养殖) researcher at the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea who led the research, dreams of designing a lunar fish farm that uses water already on the moon to help feed residents of the future Moon Village set to be established by the European Space Agency (ESA).
Przybyla's hope is to offer lunar residents fresh, inviting, protein-rich fish—not just packets of freeze-dried food. "I proposed the idea to send eggs, not fish, because eggs are very strong," he says.
Besides, Przybyla suggests there will be other benefits for astronauts who may one day find themselves raising animals in space. "From the psychological point of view, it's better to have a reminder of Earth–you have a garden; you have a tank with fish," he says.
Designing self-contained and self-supporting systems for food production beyond Earth will be crucial for future space exploration programs, says Luke Roberson, a researcher at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And he says Przybyla's study is "a great first step" toward showing that aquaculture is a practical part of that future.
I major in Mechanical Engineering and Political Science. When someone hears what I study, I'm usually meant with two reactions. First up is a small smile with the word "overachiever" on the tip of their tongue. The second is a look of confusion, followed by an exaggerated (夸张的) "why?". The short answer: I want to be a problem solver, and engineering teaches me how to become that type of person. In addition, I also want to be able to look at the bigger picture.
It's the beginning of a new year, and a lot of first-years have plans for double or triple majors. However, as most of us quickly realize after that first fall semester, college is a lot! We are unavoidably forced to make choices - do we keep trying to make our double or triple majors work or do we completely switch gears? The thing I wished someone told me on day one is if you're passionate about something, it's not going to feel like work. Political Science can be challenging, but to me, it's fun to read the Constitution (宪法) and see the impact each word has on our interpretation.
This may sound hard to accept, but if you are double or triple majoring because you think you're in a race with your peers, you're only running yourself into the ground. Don't double or triple major if you are doing it for a mark on your resume (简历), because then your life will be a living hell for the next four years. What is going to make you impressive is the passion that you have - whether it be in your study, career, or something else your career and study will enable you to do.
Always think about your "why" when it comes to the schedule a double or triple major entails. Because at the end of the day, it's going to be you doing the homework - so try to enjoy what you're doing along the ride for what it's worth.
Many people find it hard to say no, even when they are over-stressed, over-booked and just too busy to take on anything else. . But it's important to learn how to say no to people and their requests. Being unable can contribute to more stress, which may eventually turn to resentment (怨恨).
. This article discusses some strategies you can use to set boundaries, protect your personal time and say no more often.
I'm sorry – I can't do this right now
Sometimes, it helps to wait and think about whether you can take on a commitment. It's usually best not to rush into things. . Most reasonable people will accept this as an answer, so if someone keeps pressuring you, they're being rude.
Let me think about it
If you're uncomfortable being firm or are dealing with pushy people, it's OK to say, "Let me think about it and get back to you." .
This strategy also allows you to think about whether you want to say "yes" to another commitment. To decide, do a cost-benefit analysis and then get back to them with a yes or no.
If you would really like to do what they're requesting, but don't have the time, it's fine to say no to all or part of the request but mention a lesser commitment that you can make. This way you'll still be partially involved, but it will be on your own terms.
A. I can't do this, but I can do that
B. If you struggle with this, then you're not alone
C. I wish I could, but I have a lot going on right now
D. This gives you a chance to review your schedule and consider your options
E. Luckily, you can learn how to say no to people without causing hurt feelings
F. If pressured, reply that it doesn't fit into your schedule and change the subject
G. You have every right to ensure you have time for the things that are important to you
My job is to help clients find jobs and return to school for training. One day, a lady came to my office with a dream to become a registered nurse. However, her family did not 1. With young children to care for and her husband unemployed, she simply didn't have the 2 to return to school.
It was clear that this lady had a(n)3for the nursing profession, so I encouraged her to realize her dream. I4her with necessary information to apply for nursing school. She left my office, and I never 5whether she followed her dream or not.
Many years later, I was diagnosed (诊断) with breast cancer. I was6 to hospital. The surgery was successful. It was, 7 ， very painful. Though I 8 myself on not being a bell ringer, one night the pain was so 9 that I had to call for a nurse. I rang the bell and waited for10. A nurse came through the door and offered to help. I 11thanked her for coming to my rescue. I said, "I am not usually like this."
To my 12 , she said, "Oh, I know that, Mrs. Bryenton." It13 that she was just the lady who I had encouraged to follow her dream years before. She subsequently (随后) returned to school for upgrading and later 14nursing.
You never know what 15 your encouraging words will have on someone. It is amazing that many of my clients would return to say thanks to me.
Young Chinese are fighting against society through a simple act of resistance: lying down. Examples of the "tangping", or "lying flat", way of life (include) not getting married, not having children, and refusing to work extra hours or to hold a job at all. "I stay at home and sleep and watch television series." said Zhang, who described herself as "lying flat" for the last two weeks leaving her job in the film industry in Wuxi.
"Tangping" (emerge) over the last few months. Some compare them to the 1950s Beat Generation in the United States. (other) call their behavior a form of nonviolent resistance. "People realize there is no upward mobility," said Yicheng Wang, a PhD student in political science at Boston University. The term developed after April post on the Tieba forum, whose author, unemployed for the last two years, described a low-effort, low-cost lifestyle consisting of just a few months' work out of the year.
"Lying flat is my movement," he (write), referring to the Greek philosopher Diogenes, who was known for living in a large container. He posted a picture of himself lying in bed in the middle of the day with the curtains (draw).
But as "tangping" gained (popular), it also brought a level of dishonor. Nanfang Daily called the philosophy "shameful". Global Times made light of it describing "lying flat" as "not a serious philosophy".
For Zhang in Wuxi, lying flat is not about giving up or withdrawing from society. "Many people want to lie down because 996 is too (tire)," she said, referring to the constant hours common in tech industry, the staff are expected to work from 9 a. m. to 9 p. m. , six days a week. The philosophy is also about giving oneself a break.
Christmas Day was coming. I was just a kid then, and my big sister told me there was no Santa Claus. I fled to my Grandma because she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told me the truth. Grandma was home, and I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus!" She shouted. "Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad."
"Now, put on your coat, and let's go."
"Go where, Grandma?" I asked. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store. the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. "Take this money." she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.
I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people competing to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, holding that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy and who to buy it for. I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker, who was a kid with bad breath and messy hair. He sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class.
Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess(休息) during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough, and he didn't have a coat. I fingered the ten dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red one, which looked really warm, and he would like that.
"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes."
The nice lady smiled at me, put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.
注意：
1）续写词数应为150左右;
2）请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper.
……
Grandma and I waited breathlessly in the bush for Bobby Decker's front door to open.
