It’s the week before school starts. Alice is shopping for clothes with two friends, Nina and Vicki. Alice puts on a black jacket, turns to her friends, and says, “Hey, what do you think?”

The girls look at her and both start laughing. “No way, Alice!”

Nina laughs. “That’s a man’s jacket.”

Alice feels a little angry. “Yeah, well. I like it.”

“Yeah,” says Vicki, “but what will people at school say?”

Alice thinks for a moment. Then she takes off the jacket. “Yeah, you’re right.”

We all know about it. Your friends wear certain clothes or listen to certain music. You don’t want to be different. So you do those things too.

Fifteen minutes later, Alice is still thinking about the black jacket. “Yeah, there’s peer pressure to follow others.” She explains. “If your clothes or hair are different, people make fun of you. You know, they laugh and point.”

Vicki agrees, “It’s true. You even have a certain kind of boyfriend or girlfriend! I think these ‘rules’ are childish (幼稚的). But when you’re different, you feel like an outsider. And that’s hard.”

Alice walks away.

“Hey Alice,” calls Nina. “Where are you going?”

“To get the black jacket. I don’t care what others think. I like it, and I’m buying it.”

Tree houses are great places. They are houses that are built in the trees. Children can play and have fun with their friends there. Some children don’t play in a tree house because they can’t climb trees or they are afraid to stay in high places. But for some disabled(残疾的) children, tree houses are only a dream.

So Bill and Philip want to build tree houses for them. They wish everyone can have a good time in the tree houses. Their neighbors(邻居) come to help them, too. After about 7 days, they finish one tree house.

They ask Catherine and Jessica to visit the tree house. Philip asks, “What do you think of it?” “It is so cool,” Catherine answers. “It is also very big. I can get into it easily.”

Jessica thinks Catherine is right. “It is great! Now I can get into it by myself and don’t have to ask others for help,” she says.

Bill and Phillip are very happy about that. They think, “It’s a good way to make friends with these disabled children.”

June 3 was a big day for Lin Jiale. The 18-year-old girl wore a beautiful white dress to celebrate her high school graduation (毕业) in Virginia, US. After graduation, she will prepare for her college life at New York University.

Four years ago, Lin went to the US alone to study. At first, she felt huge pressure due to the many new things she had to face. In order to relax, Lin started posting fashion outfits (穿搭) on Xiaohongshu. She did that just for fun, but her posts unexpectedly brought her more than 12,000 followers.

Talking about her love for fashion, Lin said homework always comes first on her list, followed by her interests such as reading fashion magazines and keeping up with new fashion brands.

“What I love most is discovering new styles. I will never get stuck to a certain way of dressing for too long,” Lin talked about her fashion secret. “Sometimes you just need to be brave and go out of your comfort zone (舒适区). Then you will find a lot of amazing surprises.”

She keeps finding out about different styles. “I always end up with some truly special, stylish (新潮的) finds,” said Lin.

Lin thinks that thanks to her habit of time management, she can experience many things that she enjoys while being a straight-A student at school. “Manage your time well. Be brave to try more. This is the secret not only to making you stylish in outfits but also to making your school life stylish,” Lin said.