Blog #6 English played many roles in my life

        Honestly, in the past, I disliked English because it never brought benefits to me. I liked many subjects except English. I liked math, physics, chemistry, and biology because one formula could solve a series of problems. I liked history and politics because I could know many interesting stories. I liked Chinese because I can use it every day. However, I learned English just to pass the tests. Actually, English changed my life, it lowered my GPA, so I could not go into the university that I liked. I felt depressed and helpless, and English as a nightmare followed me many and many years.

Unfortunately, I had to learn English because I wanted to get the master degree. Not only the USA, but also China required the English scores. As many people said, trying to accept somethings that you can’t change, I decided to accept English. Accepting something that you disliked before was agonizing, so I used a long time to try to adjust myself. After a long time, I became more patient than before. I could control my mood when I could not achieve my goal. I became braver than before. I treated English as an enemy, and I wanted to beat it.

In this semester, I just got some benefits from English. One day, I was surprised that I can read the English news. I used English to find out a lot of information that I could not gain by Chinese reports. I was super happy because I finally felt that English was useful! Some days later, I felt that I was not as nervous as before when I talk with some people who were not speaking Chinese. Now, English is not an enemy for me, and it is a helper.

In conclusion, English played many roles in my life. It was a nightmare following me many years; it was an enemy that let me wanted to beat; it is a helper helping me to gain more knowledge now. When can it be my partner in the future? I will wait and see.

blog 5 - One man's life

“Get up! You are always very lazy!” said by his mother. “you are 30 years old, but still living with us! No money, no house, no girlfriend, and even no boyfriend!!!”

          Every day’s morning, he woke up with his mother’s hoots. He was a good motor mechanic, and actually he was not lazy. He could use various tools such as pliers, spanner, and screwdriver to fix any brand of car. However, due to the bad economy, fewer people own the cars, especially mid-range and premium cars. His salary has fallen by more than 75 percent in these years. He had to move out his apartment and lived with his parents again.

          One day, when he was waiting the customers in his boss’s garage with depressed emotion as before, a mysterious man who wore sunglasses, baseball cap, and scarf came to the garage. He drove a cheap and old car, and the car couldn’t move any more. He was excited, because no car has been to here three days. Though it is a cheap car, one car is better than nothing. He fixed 4 hours. After he finished, the car’s owner gave him a note when he checked out. Then the man left.

          He opened the note, and the note said that “I can help you to change your life two times, but you can’t go back. If you want, you can read imprecations that is written on the note.” He was very happy, because he didn’t want to tolerate this life any more. He read the imprecations immediately…

          On a wide and golden plain, he rode a horse with his wife, and they smiled very happy. Yes, his life has already changed. he had a large farm and a big agriculture company. He married a beautiful woman, and he was the richest man in this state. However, good times did not last long, he was kidnapped. The kidnappers killed his wife and robbed his property. Moreover, the kidnappers decided to kill him. When the gun aimed his head, he remembered the imprecations. He didn’t have any other choice, he read the imprecations…

          “Where am I? Who am I?” he asked himself. He took sword and shield and wore the helmet, and he heard horse's hoofs and slogans. “I am a general! I am in the ancient Rome” he was excited. Nevertheless, he realized a serious problem that he didn’t have the horse and soldiers, and the dead bodies that dressed same armors lay around him. In addition, the worst of all, he was surrounded by the enemy. Suddenly, one arrow past through his body…

          Regretting, regretting, and regretting. “I want to go back. I just want to be a common mechanic…” he thought with tears…

Blog #4: "TED Talks" Listen & Respond

          The summaries of ted 8 (Dan Pink: The Puzzle of Motivation)

Karl Duncker used an experiment that called the candle problem to try to find the best motivation in the business and some other area in 1945. The candle problem experiment is that using a candle, some thumbtacks, and some matches to attach the candle to the wall, and the wax doesn't drip onto the table. The people were divided into two groups. He told to the first group he just wanted to know the average time of solution progress. Furthermore, he told to the second group he would give 20 dollars to the first one and 5 dollars to the top 25% people. However, the second group was slower than the first group 3.5 minutes. In addition, Karl had done this experiment for many times, the results were same.

In conclusion, only when the people do the mechanical skill or bonuses work, the higher pay can show the better performance. However, when requiring the cognitive skills, a large reward led to poorer performance. Because the large reward narrows the people’s focus and possibility, the financial incentives can result a negative impact on overall performance.

Due to this result, the company’s managers need to rethink about their reward system. The tradition “carrot and sticks” (reward and punishment) management maybe is not the best solution. Nonetheless, some companies have tried a new way to encourage their staff, such as spending 20% of working time on anything the staff want, and they received some good effects.

Blog #3 - Confession

When I read this title, I recall a deep memory that happened when I was ten years old. I was an athlete in my primary school, and my sports majors were javelin and shot. Thus, the other athletes and I had to take the sports exercises every day. In the every day's morning, we had to run about three kilometers for warm-up. Usually, our coach didn’t check us, and he trusted us, which gave us the chance to cheat. We found a good place to hide and play, then we appeared in our coach’s office after thirty minutes. We enjoyed this way, and keeping cheating more than two weeks. Until one day…

As a Chinese proverb said: “walking on the beach often, your shoes can’t keep drying forever”, we were caught finally. Our coach found out we didn’t run and follow the route, and we were playing in that time. The terrible thing has happened… Our coach required us to fast run six kilometers again, and he drove the motorcycle to supervise us; furthermore, we couldn’t run slower than his motorcycle, or we would get another punishment! It is obvious that I was super exhausted on that day, and we never cheated again…

Many years later, I am an adult now. Interestingly, the exhausted felling was temporary, but the happy memory is sustained. I always remember this story with a smile. In addition, I am particularly grateful to my coach, because my many good qualities were fostered by him. My coach is a serious but considerate man, he taught us to be an honest, persevering, and strong person, and many knowledge that we couldn’t learn from the book and class can be learned from him. 

Blog #2-Proverbs

  Proverbs are the essences of wisdoms. Some proverbs can encourage people to work harder; some proverbs can sum up the experiences of predecessors; some proverbs can warn people. Interestingly, different countries sometimes have similar meanings of proverbs, which show the truth is in common. There are two proverbs influence my life.

  First, nothing is difficult to the man who will try. This proverb is a Chinese proverb, which was come from the former president of China, Zedong Mao. I like this proverb, because it gave me power. When I wanted to give up, it encouraged me to persist. Furthermore, it was the first proverb which I knew when I was six years old. Thus, it is not only a proverb but also a motto for me.

  Second, great trees are envied by the wind. This proverb is totally same with my country, and it is very fit with Chinese culture. When I was a young girl, my parents and teachers told me that don’t show too many your abilities, or you will be disgusted by other people. In China, most of people believe that modesty is a kind of virtue. Indeed, sometimes, the second is better than the first.

  In short, these two proverbs influence my life. In fact, many other proverbs also influence me, and they are deep in our lives. They give us powers, experience, and warnings.

Blog #1-Nicole’s Introductions

Nicole’s Introductions

Hello, everybody, I am Nicole, and I am glad to be a classmate with you! I come from Beijing, China, which is a very big city, and nearly 30 million people live in this city. Welcome to Beijing, you will visit Great Wall, the Imperial Palace, and the Olympic Stadium.

I like Beijing, but I also like Los Angeles and Orange Country. The weather in here is very good, and the oranges are delicious. Furthermore, here is not as crowed as Beijing. I have been to the USA to study more than 1 year. I want to be a graduate student in the CSUF. My Undergraduate major is accounting, and I aspire to the economics master. I have a lot of hobbies, for example, watching movies, swimming, and traveling. In the future, when I have enough time, I will go to some other cities in the USA to visit.

English is hard for me. Fortunately, I have past the hardest time. Nowadays, I feel that studying is easier and happier than before, and I think that we can spend a fantastic semester together!