Water Pot A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at t

Time isn’t on my side. Another year has passed, and the completion of my junior year is the essence of my thought. What a year it has been. I ritually write a column summarizing the new theories of each of my years. Now I’m a 20-year-old

When did you last write - I mean in the real sense, i.e. a handwritten letter - to your parents, brothers, sisters, other relatives or friends who live apart from you? To this question, most people would answer "years ago".I know I would be

For the grassroot masses, the policies-setting report delivered at the once-every-five-year national congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is probably too multifarious and too macro-sounding to study.The one passed by the just conc

DiggingSeamus Heaney  Between my finger and my thumbThe squat pen rests; as snug as a gun.Under my window a clean rasping soundWhen the spade sinks into gravelly ground:My father, digging. I look downTill his straining rump among the flow

The idea of spending a year away from home is something that appeals to nearly everyone. So why is taking a gap year still considered the wildcard? For a teenage student, the prospect of providing for yourself, miles away from home, can be

As a little boy, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday aftemoons at my grandfather's farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of winding stonewalls, the house and barn provided endless hours of fun for a city kid like me. I

We all have one of these. Some of us have more than one. By which I mean, a friend who we may laugh with, cry with, work side by side with, but who we know way deep down in our gut, in the place where intuition lies, doesn't wish the best f