友情是无条件的、无偏见的。友情是以相互尊重、彼此欣赏为基础的。这些“权威人士”永远不会懂，为什么我们其中一人做了一些坏事、糗事，其他人都会以此为乐好长一段时间。我们在一起，即使什么都不做，也一样快乐。朋友的陪伴总让我感觉特别充实。我们不去谈论什么歌剧、莱温斯基，或者天气，我们只是随便走走。我们在一起也不会费尽心思去一较高下。我也明白大人们是担心我的朋友会让我误入歧途。其实我也很替他们担心，但是我不会离开他们。很多时候我会告诉他们那样做是危险的，或是建议他们三思而后行。但是我不会去责备他们，更不会嘲讽他们。当艾丽莎说她因为宿醉而翘课的时候，当玛丽安说她的新男友在匪帮里混的时候，我就会告诉她们，她们的这些做法让我很不安。但我决不会拿“绝交”这样的话来威胁她们。电视上有这么一则广告，说：你身边的朋友可能正在吸食毒品。但实际上，根本不会有人看完这则广告就有意识地去调查他的朋友是不是吸毒。
大学三年级的时候，在一堂美国历史课上，雅各布森老师曾说：“我打赌你们谁都没见过毒品交易。”他很肯定地看着教室里的所有学生，脸上露出诡异的笑。“我曾经看过。”我回答道。教室里的每一个人都转过身，用那种既好奇，又半信半疑的眼神看着我。我知道也许这些经历与大部分的优等生有所不同。尽管我有着与大家不同的经历，但我仍然有些非常棒的优等生朋友，比如优格特、耐婷、汉娜斯、威莎尔、尼克等。我和耐婷都喜欢美食和购物。我们一起购物的时候，甚至会对高营业税，以及福利制度的作用的看法不同而争论不休。优格特和我总是一块去图书馆借书，然后去她家读。我喜欢和这些积极向上的朋友一块儿完成我的学习任务。我也很喜欢我的那些“失败者”朋友，因为她们更忠诚、更真实。
回首过去，九年级的经历是我永不想改变的。因为我从那些朋友身上、从老师和家长的偏见里领悟了很多人生哲理，朋友的危险经历也让我明白了什么事情不该做。在将来的时间里，除了学习我会继续帮助青少年。通过“改变”这个项目、对更多青少年的接触、以及不懈的努力，我获得了1998年度的“杰出青少年”奖。我对青少年情况的了解加强了我的认同度和影响力。我将会是一个成功的人，因为我很乐意和任何人合作，我愿意给每个人机会。我也希望会有机会把其他孩子的生活变得更加美好。
Life‘s Little Wonders 生活中的小小惊喜
Still madly in love，we challenge ourselves to keep our relationship exciting，filled with surprises and most importantly the unexpected.
I still remember this day like yesterday. It was my birthday and I worked all day. I came home expecting to go out for supper with friends and get to bed early，but，my God，was I in for a surprise...
As I pulled up in the driveway I noticed a note tied to this great big teddy bear on the steps to my home. I smiled，and slowly started to open the note... it read“H”.
As I opened the door，there was my dog，waiting with another note， which read“A”.
I wondered what he was up to as I went up the stairs to the master bedroom. The bed was full of roses and there lay another note，this one read“W”.
I noticed a ring box on the night table and immediately started to tear it open... as I opened it，there was a little piece of paper with the letter“A”
on it. I started to laugh and call out his name，still wondering what he was up to.
I pulled myself together and went to the kitchen looking for him or more letters. As I do every day after work，I started to make myself a cup of tea when I noticed him，waiting，as beautiful as ever，next to the front door，with the most amazing smile，the type of smile that makes you melt，and then I heard，“How was your day，my love？”
I walked towards him and smiled，and said，“Wonderful，honey.”
He asked，“Did you notice what was in the fridge？”I started to laugh and went to see. As I opened the fridge door，I saw the letters“II” on my birthday cake.
I turned to him and asked，“Honey，what you are up to？”
He replied，“Put all of those together and I’m going to be waiting for you outside.”
I stood there placing the letters together... H-A-W-A-I-I！ By the time I realized what I was reading and got outside，my love was standing there with my suit cases and a beautiful flower necklace ready to go... to wonderful Hawaii！
I had a wonderful time in another of life‘s little wonders.
幸福有时是两看生厌的争吵，幸福有时又是左手摸右手的麻木，幸福存在于生活的每一个角落，幸福来源于思绪的每一次跳动。
参考翻译（高昆）
热恋中的我们将保持激情视为对自己的挑战，总想让生活充满惊奇。更重要的是，要有意外的惊喜。
我对那一天仍记忆犹新：那天是我生日。工作了一整天后，我期待着回家与朋友们外出共进晚餐，然后早早上床休息，但是，天哪，我竟遇到了惊喜……我把车开进家门前的道上时，看到一只大玩具熊在房前的台阶上放着，熊身上系着一张纸条。我微笑着把纸条慢慢打开……上面写着“H”。
打开家门后，我在狗狗那里看到了另一张纸条，上面写着“A”。真想知道他这是在做什么。我走上楼梯，进了卧室。看到床上满是玫瑰花，上面还放着另一张纸条，这张写着“W”。我发现床头柜上有一个圆盒子，便迫不及待地把它打开……里面也有一张小纸条，上边写有字母“A”。我笑了，喊着他的名字，但仍迷惑不解。我抑制住兴奋的情绪，进厨房找他或者更多的字母。就像每天下班后所做的那样，我开始为自己泡一杯茶，这时我发现他在前门等着，如往昔一样迷人，脸上洋溢着灿烂的笑容，那笑容甚至能将你融化。我听到他问：“亲爱的，生日过得怎么样？”
我走向他，笑道：“很好，亲爱的。”
他问：“你看到冰箱里的东西了吗？”我马上笑着跑过去看。冰箱门一打开，生日蛋糕上的两个“I”字母就映入我的眼帘。
我转过身，问他：“亲爱的，你在做什么啊？”
他答道：“把所有的字母拼在一起看，我在外边等你。”我站在那里将这些字母放在一起：H-A-W-A-I-I（夏威夷）！此时，我才恍然大悟。于是来到门外，看到他站在那里，手上拎着行李箱和一个漂亮的花环，一切都准备好了--奔赴神奇的夏威夷！
生活中又一个小小的惊喜让我度过了欢乐的时光。
Allow Your Inner Light to Guide You 寻觅心灵之光There comes a time when you must stand alone. You must feel confident enough to within yourself to follow your own dreams. You must be willing to make sacrifice.
You must be capable of changing and rearranging your priorities，so that your final goal can be achieved.
Sometimes，familiarity and comfort need to be challenged. There are times when you must take a few extra chances and create your own realities.
Be strong enough to at least to try to make your life better.
Appreciate yourself by allowing yourself the opportunities to grow， develop and find your true sense of purpose in this life.
Don’t stand in someone else‘s shadow when it’s your sunlight that should lead the way.
Work hard at what you like to do and try to overcome all obstacles. Laugh your mistakes and praise yourself for learning from them.
Pick some flowers and appreciate the beauty of the nature. Say hello to strangers and enjoy the people you know.
Don‘t be afraid to show your emotions，laughing and crying make you feel better.
Love your friends and family with your entire being they are the most important part of your life.
Feel the calmness on a quiet sunny day.
Find a rainbow and live your world of dreams，always remember life is better than it seems.
用你的全部来爱你的朋友和家人，因为他 们是你生命中最重要的部分。
参考翻译（王伟明）
人生总有些时候我们要自立。你必须对自己有足够的信心来追逐你自己的梦想。你必须愿意作出牺牲。
你必须能够改变和重新安排你优先做的事，这样你最终的目标才能实现。
有时候熟悉和舒服需要接受挑战。有时候你要抓住其他的机会，创造属于你自己的可能。
要足够强大，至少让你的生活更好。要自信满满不让日子得过且过。
给自己机会成长，以此欣赏自己，开发并且找到生活的真正内涵。
在本该是属于自己的阳光指引方向时不要站在别人的影子后面。努力做自己想做的事情，尽力克服所有的困难。学会自嘲并为自己能从错误中学到东西鼓励自己。采摘一些花朵，学会欣赏自然的美丽。
对陌生人微笑，和认识的人友好相处。不要害怕表达自己的情感，笑出声来和大哭会让你舒服很多。用你的全部来爱你的朋友和家人，因为他们是你生命中最重要的部分。
在风和日丽阳光明媚的天气里感受平静。寻找彩虹，生活在充满梦想的世界里，永远牢记生活比它看起来好得多。
How to Find True Love 如何寻找真爱
I began to learn about love in dancing school，at age 12. I remember thinking on the first day I was going to fall madly in love with one of the boys and spend the next years of my life kissing and waltzing.
During class，however，I sat among the girls，waiting for a boy to ask me to dance. To my complete shock，I was consistently one of the last to be asked. At first I thought the boys had made a terrible mistake. I was so funny and pretty，and I could beat everyone I knew at tennis and climb trees faster than a cat. Why didn’t they dash toward me？
