I was once in an unusual sociology (社会学) class at Brandeis. Each week we studied the _______ we interacted with one another, and how we _______ to anger, envy, attention. We were human lab rats. More often, someone _______ crying. I referred to it as the “touchy－feely” course. Mr. Brown said I should be more _______.

One day, Mr. Brown said he had an _______ for us to try. We were to stand，facing away from our classmates and _______ backward, relying on another student to _______ us. Most of us were _______ with this, and we couldn’t let go for more than a few inches _______ stopping ourselves. We laughed in ________.

Finally, a thin, quiet girl, whom I noticed almost always wear the same clothes, crossed her arms over her chest, ________ her eyes and leaned back, just like one of those Lipton tea ads ________ the model dived into the pool.

For a moment, I was ________ she was going to fall on the floor. At the ________ moment, her partner held her head and ________ and pulled her up.

“Whoa！” several students yelled. Some ________.

Mr. Brown finally smiled.

“You see，” he said to the girl，“you closed your eyes. That was the ________. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see，you have to believe what you ________. And if you’re ever going to have other people ________ you, you must feel that you can trust them, ________， even where you’re in the dark, even when you’re falling. ”

Expect the unexpected

A couple of weeks ago, my grandfather was explaining his favorite expression, “ Nothing is ever easy.” The following day, as I tried to complete my day’s work, I happened to _________ a bumblebee (大黄蜂) on the skylight (天窗). The skylight was particularly high up, but I thought _________ the bee would take no more than five minutes. An hour later, the bee still _________.

All that had changed was that the living room was a _______ and that I was dizzy (头晕的) from _______ into the sunlight. I did not _______ to waste an hour on a tiny insect, but by doing so, I understood what my grandfather meant.

It is not only time that we tend to underestimate (低估) — we don’t take account _______ unexpected costs. We often imagine what can work _______, but we seldom think of all the _______ things that could affect us. However, it is important to remember that your day of week or year might not go as planned, and that is completely normal. It is perfectly __________ to feel challenged — even at a task you thought was simple ________ that is part of life.

If you can accept that nothing will ever be easy, then life might seem slightly more ________. In ________ school, I thought high school might be easier because I could choose the classes I wanted to take. In high school, I thought college might be easier because I could have a schedule, __________ for myself. Yet I was __________ each time. After accepting that school wouldn’t be easy, I found myself ________ a more positive attitude and ________ results.

Of course, there should be preparations made to take account of ________ or time. Doing so can only help you __________ your goals in a better way. However, there is no need to beat ourselves up (过分自责) when something stands in our __________. Maybe we cannot see a bee coming our way, but we can always give ourselves the extra time to catch it.

I never expected to go to the University of Michigan. I grew up in a small Midwest town where college wasn’t ________ by any means. Many students entered the workplace straight out of high school. For a long time, that’s where I thought I would end up.

At some point during my senior year, I started ________ everywhere, just. I had the required grades and the ACT (American College Testing) ________ , but I came from a town of nowhere. So you can imagine the emotions of________   I had when I received a big envelope in the mail with the word “ ________ ” written across the top.

Now that the opportunity was open to me, I decided to go. I had received ________ aid and scholarships, which I think was a ________ factor (因素) in the decision. And it seemed that no matter how much work I ________ , it would just be considered a waste of ________ . I often felt I was lacking ________ . I did the application all by myself. After moving to college, I did two jobs and paid for my ________ and bills.

Looking back on it now, I feel that it wasn’t ________ to be self-reliant. But in the long run, I ________ the lack of support I had at such a key point in my life which taught me to be ________ and responsible in hard times, to go beyond ________ and to try things I never thought I would ever be able to try. I believe that’s what college is all about.