Obesity

    Child obesity attracts more and more attention these days, for it cause a series of physical, mental and behavioral problems.  Current childhood obesity shows the rate has been increased three times in the past thirty years in the US.  The US has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, one of three children is overweight or obese. Boys are more likely to be obese than girls.

            Some possible factors include economic development, life style, reduce physical activities, unhealthy food, and society’s tolerance.

            To fight against childhood obesity, we need attention and action from individuals, their families and the whole society, children should be educated to have healthy food and enjoy more physical activities. At the same time, their families and schools should provide a supporting environment. The whole society will encourage a healthy life style.

            For most people childhood obesity is not a disease, but it calls for more attention and action.

A Reflection on “Born to Run”

"Born To Run" is an old song released in 1975 by singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen. Bruce can write, compose and perform his own musical material. This song is ranked as number three at BillBoard 200. It is rock music and many young teenagers loved it at that time. Even today, there are still a lot of people who love this song.

I was born in 1994, much younger than this song, but it can still hit me when I listen to it. The melody is very fast and exciting at the beginning. It immediately caught my attention. The song not only shows the emotion and feelings of young people, but also tells a story of looking for love. The song shouts out the determination of leaving for a new life. We can see the dreams, doubts and courage of the young people when it comes to “We gotta get out while we're young 'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run”.  Young people always want to make some change, escape from the present life, and to find a better place far away from the world around. They have nothing to fear and nothing to lose. They have more courage to take a risk.

            This song makes me think about my experience. When I was graduating from high school in China, I got accepted into a big university in a big city. But I doubt what I can get from the education in China. I thought I had enough with 12 years of education. Because the Chinese education requires the students to obey and there was little freedom of choices and space for creativity. I feel like being produced in a line, every student is the same, without personality. I would like to see something different, a totally new education system. So I made up my mind and came to Western Illinois University (WIU). Life is harder for me in WIU, I need to face a lot of difficulties and challenges. I am trying my best to adjust. I do not want to be alone, so I make some friends around. We meet every weekend and have a lot of fun in a place far away from our homes.

It gives us power to leave our town behind, and look for a new future. I hope all the run-aways can find their dreams and vision come true in the far away place. Every one can be young, with the courage to run.

Helen Keller

This world is filled with people having a variety of roles in the daily life, while some are heroes who have significant influence over the world.  Heroes are always regarded as models full of power, wisdom and strength, people look up to them and waiting for them to guide their way of life. The influence can be long lasting to several generations.

But what makes a hero? Somebody think that a hero is born. If a girl who was deaf and blind from childhood, was it possible for her to be a heroine? Helen Keller, a heroine that was famous all over the world, showed a positive answer. An analysis of the life of Helen Keller may show some factors related to her success, from a personal perspective, a family perspective, and the friends and supports around. A look into her life will also help the young people understand the hardship she experienced and the contributions and care to people around, especially to the disabled.

Helen Keller was a very clever girl when she was born. She was curious about everything around her. It was very painful to be both deaf and blind before two year old. Helen Keller spent her time in the silent and dark world. She never gave up her life and tried to do everything that she thought possible.   Learned sign language was very difficult to her. Generally, a deaf person can rely on his eyes to learn the body language, and a blind person can rely on hearing to learn how to speak. But Helen was both deaf and blind, which made it extremely hard to learn sign language. However, she finally learned sign language by her teacher Anne Sullivan and her own effort. It was miracle for anybody who heard this message. Because of her unremitting spirit and refuse to the destiny, she had the great achievements.

Though it is hard to change the misfortune in one’s life, at least one can still keep hope. She can try her best to do whatever she can to make some changes in the life. When we can change our lives, we may find we also have the power to help others to make a positive change.  Helen Keller said "We are never really happy until we try to brighten the lives of others." (Keller, 2014).  Even with too many obstacles and difficulties ahead, people will turn themselves into heroes if they follow Helen Keller. Everyone can be a hero。