This year GoodPop will be joining forces with Good Deeds Day (a global movement of doing good) to support the communities they serve and spread good in a big way. The “Good” in the company name isn’t just about the ingredients （材料） they use or the way the products taste; it’s an important part of their duty to use their frozen （冷冻的） treats as a vehicle to do social and environmental good.

As a college student, Goetz was looking for something cooling on a hot day and went to buy himself a sno-cone (an icy sweet treat). At the sno-con e stand, he asked, “What’s in that syrup （糖浆）?” and the staff member responded with a headshake.

“I thought there had to be something better that was delicious and made with healthy ingredients but I couldn’t seem to find it. Everything was full of coloring and unpronounceable ingredients. So I set out to make a frozen pop made with fresh fruit and simple ingredients,” said Goetz, GoodPop’s founder.

“This is our first year working with Good Deeds Day and we could not be more excited to raise awareness for this day. Our focus at GoodPop is making the world a brighter place with more generosity and acts of kindness,” Goetz explained. We believe that every single person has the power to make a positive impact in their community and our goal with Good Deeds Day is to get as many people joining in as possible to create a ripple effect （连锁反应） of goodness.

“It is GoodPop’s pledge （保证） to always do good in the communities we service and encourage others to promote acts of goodness by pledging a good deed too. We have a goal of five million pledges by 2025 and expect that our partnership with Good Deeds Day will raise awareness of this effort. Just think of all the good we could do in the world if five million people pledge to do a good deed!” Goetz stated.

I thought I knew a lot about Hamlet. As a high school student with English literature as one of my main subjects, I have to! Shakespeare’s Hamlet is probably the most important play by the most important writer in English. Almost everybody knows “To be, or not to be”, right? Having seen quite a few productions of Hamlet and read the play many times, I was full of confidence-until the Peking Opera will came to town!

Dating back to the 18th century, Peking Opera has a over two hundred years of history. Does this mean it’s easier than a Shakespeare play to understand? To find out the answer, I just had to go and see The Revenge of Prince Zidan — the Peking Opera version of Hamlet.

...The costumes and masks were amazing. The performers of course sang in Chinese, but the music, exaggerated movements and mime helped get the meaning across to the audience. The voice themselves sounded really unique-some of the female voices were so high that I was sure they could break glass! And the stage was really simple: a decorated whip represented a horse, and a screen with Chinese characters, a study. Using such techniques, the opera had transformed a small stage into the whole universe. Easily my favourite part of the show was how the characters moved on stage. I had never seen Prince Hamlet do a backflip before! That was simply incredible. It was so dazzling and energetic that I wasn’t sure if the characters were performers or athletes!

Before experiencing The Revenge of Prince Zidan, I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it. But, in fact, I was on the edge of my seat! Feeling the strong emotions of love, anger, fear and grief in the performance, I could easily recognize the me of Hamlet. So, if you want to see a show that combines music, singing, drama, poetry and costume design with explosive effect, The Revenge of Prince Zidan ticks all the right boxes.

I applied to be a first-grade teacher’s assistant. The job paid the lowest wage, and I could hardly afford to pay my rent. I had no desire to go into education, so I didn’t know why I was attracted to this position. Working with children was not my motivation at that time. But later I found that it was all I wanted to do.

There was a student, Ashley, in my class who was very creative and interested in writ-ing. I helped Ashley write her first short story. Ashley and her mother Shirin walked into our classroom every morning. Shirin often volunteered to work in our classroom and would always give me a hug. She asked me questions about her daughter and my writing. At that time, I was working on a new romantic comedy script, and Shirin gave positive comments when I told her the plot.“I can’t wait to see this in the theater!” My confidence increased. I would also exchange some ideas with her. We became very good friends. Shirin also showered me with gifts. For holidays or my birthday, she’d get me some nice gifts. She was always finding ways to wrap me in love and encouragement.

I had worked as a teacher’s assistant for three years. Then I decided to start teaching cre-ative writing. Shirin and I had stayed close, and she kept encouraging me. I was forever grateful that I became a teacher’s assistant and met Shirin. She appeared in my life at just the right time.