Christa Barfield of Germantown starts each day by drinking a cup of hot tea. When she lifts the cup to her lips, she smells the tea gently and looks forward to the day ahead. "Drinking a cup of tea is a form of self-reflection," Barfield said." When I'm doing my praying or meditation（冥想）, drinking tea allows me to sit in the moment and be present."

Barfield, 32, fell in love with tea in 2018 after taking a trip to the Caribbean Island of Martinique where every morning with her breakfast she was served a hot cup from the couple she visited. There, the host would take live herbs from his garden, put them in a cup, and pour hot water over them. "It was very different from what we do in America," Barfield said. "The tea had a fresher taste."

When she returned to Germantown, she was inspired to start a tea company of her own. In August, she started Viva Leaf Tea, a company that sells blended（调配的）teas from herbs and plants that Barfield grows from seed. The name of the company, Viva Leaf Tea, is a nod to the fresh herbal teas she drank in Martinique.

"I started a tea company for wellness reasons." Barfield explained, "It helped me to keep my 10 years of healthcare experiences and reuse them in my own way," Before starting Viva Leaf Tea. Barfield worked in healthcare management at several private practices in Philadelphia. In 2018, she earned a bachelor's degree in healthcare administration from Saint Joseph's University.

"We take all of our herbs very seriously," she said. "There are thousands of tea companies all over the world. But you don't really know where the tea leaves come from." Barfield provides a "farm to cup" experience for her customers. With every order, customers are provided with information about the origins of the herbs used and their possible health benefits.

People have always been attracted to rock-climbing and plenty of accidents have resulted from this hobby. Seventeen-year-old Wendy Sherlock has fallen three times without any injury while rock-climbing, but after her latest accident last Saturday, she is lucky to be alive.

Wendy has been in hospital for two days after an eight-metre fall from a rocky cliff in the Sanderson National Park. She doesn't remember much about the accident, and it's not surprising considering her injuries.

“I've got quite a bad head injury — that's the worst thing." Wendy explained. “But I've also broken my arm and a couple of my ribs (肋骨) and there's a problem with my left shoulder." She doesn't know how long she will have to stay in hospital, as the doctors haven't told her yet. However, she is realistic about her recovery. "I'll be in here for a while, and I need time to recover because I hit my head when I fell on the ground. That's why I can't remember anything about the accident.”

Wendy's doctors are certain that there's no long-lasting damage, but they've advised her to give up her dangerous sport. However, Wendy is undeterred. "Since I was a child, I've always loved climbing and I decided to continue doing it," she said. "I think this accident is simply a reminder to take a little more care. I've started to feel better already, and I can't wait to start climbing again."

Anyanna Philipps is no ordinary teacher. She’s an admired kindergarten educator for whom teaching is a mission. She believes that self-respect and strong relationships are the real building blocks of educational development and the path to self-actualization in life. And Philipps, known as Cool Miss P, continues to win hearts on social media, as well as in the classroom, with millions of views on TikTok and Instagram.

Philipps, from Georgia, in the US, is on a mission to put self-respect into the little ones she works with. She has hung a mirror on her classroom door so the children can practice daily “mirror affirmations (肯定)” as she enthusiastically encourages them to “be the best that you can be”.

Since she was young, Philipps was told by people around her that her love for children would make her a great teacher one day. She was also inspired by several of her own teachers. Then a serious accident last year made her feel grateful for living and encouraged her to bring joy into her classroom. She tries to make sure that her students are happy by putting her heart into developing the teacher-student relationship.

Philipps shares one of her Instagram posts: “I am sticking to my purpose. I am a teacher, working to impact, inspire, and elevate all of these precious little lives. For young kids, positive affirmations can help make them feel capable of doing more ‘big kid’ things. They can also help increase kids’ self-respect and make them more resilient (有承受力) to bullying and other negative life situations.”

Cool Miss P puts this idea into action each and every school day to inspire all her young students. So it’s not surprising that so many people viewing her posts leave comments saying that the world needs more teachers like her.