Being a good person means more than just doing things for others. In order to truly be good, you will have to consider what ‘goodness’ means to you. Perhaps this means doing good for others, or simply being an honest and kind person. 【小题1】

Determine what being a good person means to you personally. Some people think that being a good person is as simple as not doing harm to another. But it is not always about what you don’t do, but what you do for others. 【小题2】 You have to decide what you believe being a good person needs.

【小题3】 Try to understand that some have something better than you, but many have something much worse. When we make ourselves miserable by comparing ourselves with others, we are wasting time and energy that we could use in building our own inner resources. Praise yourself every morning. Being happy makes you a more positive person, which helps you put those positive vibes out into the world.

Be yourself. 【小题4】 Don’t try to be like somebody else; just be yourself and do good things as simply as you can. Being yourself helps you be a genuine person who can reflect positivity into the world. Staying true to yourself helps you find focus and understand your core values and what you find important.

Love yourself. Learn to love yourself in every way. Practice unconditional self-acceptance. The only way you can truly love others is to first have confidence and love yourself. What you do and what you believe must make you feel good as well as others. If you try to do things for others without taking care of yourself, you can end up resentful (感到愤恨的), angry, and negative. 【小题5】

Adjusting to a new job can be a fearful challenge. You'll meet new people and do new work in the new place. Here are some steps to make the process smoother.

Get the facts.

It's absolutely fine to ask questions ahead of time. Depending on your organization, you can ask the Human Resources representative or your supervisor any questions. 【小题1】 Find out about your work schedule, the hours per week you are expected to work, salary, benefits, and any information you need to successfully come on board.

Check on the company's social media policy.

Some companies don't care about employee's posting on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites during working hours. 【小题2】 Find out what is acceptable before you start posting.

Be nice.

Being nice goes a long way, too. People like nice people, and if you're nice to everyone you're going to get ahead. Remember that some of the people at the bottom know more about the inner workings than those at the top. 【小题3】

Don't be afraid to ask for advice.

【小题4】 Your employer would prefer that you ask. That's easier than having to fix a mistake. You won't be expected to know everything, and it's better to ask for help than to guess.

Try not to stress too much.

Think of your new job as the next exciting step in your career path. Don't expect to learn everything at once. It's all new to you, and it will take time. 【小题5】 Try to turn that into new energy and initiative that will make you stand out among your new colleagues.

Dear students, I taught my first freshman writing class more than 40 years ago. Your class will be my last. We began this term with 36 students. On the first day I thought I would probably end up giving final grades to half that number. If I had been stricter about dropping people, I would have been right. But I let lots of students off. That was no good because now I am forced to give grades that will narrow future options for people who might have gone further, if they had only tried.

If you were one of the students who missed more than five or six classes or who failed to turn in most of the homework, you need to ask yourself if you’re making good use of your time. There are always excuses for not showing up, or not handing in homework. I’ve heard them all. But lives built on excuses generally don’t turn out well.

There were handful of people in this class who made it here every day, always with the given writing task completed. If I were an employer, these are the employees (员工) I would want. But I have never liked to think of myself as working to screen employees for your future bosses. I like to think I’m working for you, and helping build your futures as more fully rounded human beings.

Few people care whether you succeed or fail. You are not showing up to class for your teachers or even your parents. You’ re not doing the homework for anyone but yourselves. In that light, some of you have failed this term. You’ve failed yourselves. As a result, some of you learned very little and showed no noticeable improvement in your writing, wasting your time and mine.

I never find it pleasant or productive to guilt-trip (使愧疚) students. But if just one of you reads these words and decides to take your education a bit more seriously, it was worth writing them.