I first began experiencing anxiety and depression at the age of 14, after being bullied(欺凌)at school for years. While at first anxiety and depression would come and go, it eventually became a constant part of my life.

I was so eager to find the solution to overcoming my anxiety and depression that I tried everything from when I was in college to graduate school: mood-changing medication, special teas, yoga, anything I read about in books, and advice give by doctors. Despite this, I still felt I hadn’t even come close to managing the problem.

But one afternoon, my eyes fell upon an article in a magazine I was reading that talked about how dogs were able to help people with anxiety and depression. The very next day, I decided to get a dog—a corgi. When I brought my little corgi, Buddy, home, I didn’t realize how much he would change my life. It didn’t happen right away, however.

Once the “puppy excitement” went away, my anxiety and depression came back as usual. One morning, I woke up with those familiar feeling again. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I turned to pull the covers back over my head and give up . That’s when I saw Buddy.

Buddy started jumping all over me, licking my face, letting me know that it was time to go outside. It was as if he were saying, “There’s no time to be sad; the world is amazing!” And for the first time in my life, my life was changing. I really was a new person. This was my new beginning.

It’s been more than a year since that day, and I’ve never spent another morning unable to get out of bed. I’ve not cried myself to sleep or spent my days stuck with fear and regret. Sure, I still have days when I feel sad or anxious. But with Buddy, my best friend, by my side, I’ve finally learned how to manage these feelings and emotions.

It has been two months since I moved to China, but its digital advancement hasn’t stopped impressing me ever since. One of the major things that I cannot imagine living without anymore is mobile payment. There are two major mobile payment apps here, Alipay and WeChat Pay. Both have similar payment features, though WeChat is more like a social media. That’s why I will focus on this “super app”.

So far, I’ve been overwhelmed by how convenient life can be with WeChat. It is present in every aspect of people’s daily life, from paying water and electricity bills, meals, cinema tickets to hailing a taxi, following news, and chatting with friends. Most merchants have adopted it, from tiny local street food stalls to high - end stores. A cashier may be surprised if you do not pay with WeChat or Alipay at the grocers or in restaurants. And it seems like the entire payment industry has encouraged this shift to mobile payment, equipping payment terminals (终端) with QR code scanners to simplify payments. Mobile payments are so common here that I realize that I can perfectly survive if I forget my wallet at home one day because most days I just don’t take it out of my bag!

As mentioned earlier, WeChat is also a major social media platform with about one billion daily users, which is more than the entire population of the European Union. So I have to say Chinese technological and digital development is a real miracle.

Have you used “um…” “like…” “you know…” in your speech? Catch words(口头禅) are unnecessary words used to fill up dead paces while you speak. Speaking too many catch words is like a bad habit that we are unaware of. While most people tend to ignore it in everyday conversation, in a formal speech or an interview, too many catch words can make even the best presentation look bad. 【小题1】

Stop when we are in doubt. Catch words are used more often when a person is unsure about the sentence to use next. 【小题2】If you are lost or in doubt over what to say next, just stop speaking, take a long pause, breathe in , figure out what to say and start again.

Speak consciously and slowly. If the speech is too long and you talk continuously without thinking, then you might also be pushing in a few catch words in between.

【小题3】It is best to memorize the tricky parts of the speech, like the introduction and the conclusion where a majority of the catch words are used.

【小题4】 Preparing for the speech is very important when trying to remove catch words. Make it a point to pause when there is a comma or give two pauses at the end of the sentence. If certain words in the speech need to be emphasized then underline them and practice them as they need to be said.

Avoid catch words in conversations. Get a friend or your partner to help you out when rehearsing a conversation. 【小题5】 Although it can be an unpleasant and often embarrassing process, but in the long run it helps in cutting down on catch words.