As a boy, John Kerr wanted to be a fireman or a park ranger (护林员). Looking back on that childhood dream, he says, “This is exactly what I was longing for.”

Instead, after graduation, he spent four decades at WGBH in Boston, one of the public broadcasting stations. He retired in 2005 at the age of 65 without any particular post-career goal in mind. After several aimless weeks, he decided to drive his camper to visit family in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

During the trip, he stopped at the Yellowstone Park Foundation, which raises funds for Yellowstone, America’s first national park. As it happened, the foundation was hiring people to educate park guests on wolves. Later, Kerr signed up for the position as an intern (实习生).

Kerr stood out in the intern crowd — most of them were college and even high school students. But, in a sense, he had been prepared for this since his youth. His outdoor adventures with his grandfather had given him a love to nature, and as an adult, he had helped out at the local fire department on medical calls.

He also had something else. There are 31 million Americans between the ages of 44 and 70 — some retired and looking for a third act, some looking for a more satisfying career — searching for something where they feel as if they are making a contribution, doing something to make their neighbourhood, their country, their world just a little bit better. Kerr also had that deep urge to do something more.

From his internship, he moved up to ranger, educating park visitors, ensuring safe encounters between guests and animals, and responding to medical emergencies. He values his stewardship (管理工作) of what he describes as one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and appreciates the moments when he treats a visitor to an up-close look at one of the park’s wolves or bears through his telescope.

“These are rich and all-too-rare moments,” recalls Kerr. “I never forget them.”

Kairo McLean was waiting for his mom to pick him up from school. She arrived with the car windows down, playing Kairo's song Easy Now as loud as the sound could go. That was when she informed him that he was nominated (提名)for the Juno Awards, one of Canada's most influential music awards, for Reggae Recording of the Year. At age 13, Kairo was the youngest artist ever nominated for Reggae Recording of the Year at the JUNOS. His Juno- nominated single Easy Now appears on his first-ever album(歌曲专辑)of the same title.

“I’m so glad that reggae music, which is originally from Jamaica(牙买加), is being rec- ognized and appreciated here in Canada, ”Kairo said in an interview. “It's really exciting that all my efforts have been recognized in spite of my young age, and it motivates me to keep struggling hard to realize my musical dream, ”he said.

“Kairo would try to play the keyboard before he was tall enough to reach it. He wanted to learn how to play the guitar before it could even fit on his lap, ”Kairo's mom recalled. “Listening to music from reggae music artists like Cocoa Tea, Yellowman and Bob Marley is a normal thing in our household. Apart from that, he really put many efforts in his interest, ” she added.

As a Canadian reggae artist outside of Jamaica, Kairo feels that music should spread a message about love and peace, not things like violence and hate. Kairo’s music is about bright light in the world, though we might be always caught in the darkness such as bullies(仗势欺人者)at school or crime in the society. “I bring up the injustices that I see in the world and I talk about them because they need to be spoken about and they need to be heard, ”said Kairo.

As a student, I heard the line “graduate school is stressful” so many times that it began to bear no meaning.

Sure, there were campus resources that encouraged healthy behaviors, including deep thought, and the benefits of self-care, but self-care sounded expensive and time-consuming to me; I had work to do. And I was not a fan of deep thought: The thought of sitting still for 30 minutes only caused me greater stress. But one thing I couldn’t stay away from was walking my dog.

Tessa is a six-year-old lovely coonhound (猎浣熊犬) that I got as a gift to myself, for completing my undergraduate degree at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. I first saw Tessa as a thin and little dog in a photo on the Internet. She was found, huddled (蜷缩) up with her friends, in a deserted house in Alabama.

Because of Tessa, I took frequent walking breaks while studying for a master’s degree in public health at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. I discovered the best corners and crannies (缝隙) on campus, including the sloping grassland behind the school, filled with squirrels and sticks-a safe place for dogs. I found a tree accidentally with a swing, overlooking the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, which offered the best sunset view in town. On our daily walks, I found calm in the woods and quiet in the early morning enveloping the city streets.

Now, as I work from home, Tessa continues to help me deal with a lonely existence. Just like in graduate school, she demands that I stop working, however briefly, and accompany her on a walk. These forced breaks throughout the day take me away from my computer and help me to stay active, greet my neighbors and comeback to work refreshed. And although I certainly haven’t escaped stress, and I am still trying to find my footing in research, I will continue to make time for walks every day. I recommend it very much.