Kerry Anderson – A Cinderella Story

Kerry Anderson, now 26-year-old, graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in government a few weeks ago. It’s an honor to graduate from one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Kerry’s background makes her even more special.
When Kerry was 12 years old, she and her young brother began to travel with their mom, Linda, a cross-country truck driver. They were home-schooled for many years while riding in the cab of a big rig crossing America. They learnt the basics of reading and writing not only from books, but also from the trips. They helped their mother plan travel routes and calculate how long it would take to reach a new destination - a practical education in geography and math.

By the time she was ready for college; Kerry took a break from the road and converted into conventional classroom studies at Valencia Community College in Central Florida. It was a different experience. She had to learn how to study in a new atmosphere. With her steely confidence and can-do character, she got very involved in extracurricular activities, student government, and community service projects. She earned a place on the dean's list and was also named 2007's distinguished graduate by Valencia's Alumni Association, giving her the honor to address more than 4,500 classmates at graduation.

After graduating from Valencia, Kerry wasn't sure where she was going to do next. Then she received an e-mail from someone claiming to be a Harvard University recruiter and wanted her to transfer with a full scholarship. At first, she and her mom thought the invitation might be a scam. After spending considerable time researching the unbelievable offer, they concluded it was genuine. Although Harvard turns away thousands of applicants every year and seldom takes transfer students – let along from an unknown community college, her story touched the recruiter who liked her experience. Now her experience and story become part of the university's.

After graduation, she is preparing to go to law school and eventually has a career in foreign policy and international relations. Her unique experience provides her with the perspective to deal with different people and things. As she said, "You need to understand how things started in order to learn how to fix things."

We wish her success in her future endeavor.

Inception - Ellen Page

This week’s thriller Inception gave us another chance to see the lovely young Canadian actress Ellen Page. She was well known for her role as the title character in the film Juno which got her both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress in 2007.


Although being described as Hollywood’s next rising star and nominated for Time's 100 Most Influential People list in 2008, Ellen Page isn’t interested in being a celebrity. She reckons it’s best to stay out of the paparazzi spotlight of Los Angeles and keep things low key. “I think if you want it and you want to live that way, you can.”, she admitted during an interview, “and you can also choose to totally not live that way. I’m from Nova Scotia. I don’t know, it’s just not me. And I think you can avoid it.” He lives in a small apartment in her home town in Canada, drives a used car. “I think you can lose your equilibrium,” she once said. “But I think that has a lot to do with how your personality chooses to handle it. I mean I have my own place in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and that’s where I like to spend my free time. I think being here where I’m from – which is a small city on the east coast of Canada – there’s just a different mentality here.” She adds: “I’m doing it (movie) because I feel really passionate. If I wanted to be in LA and do that thing, I could do that. But Halifax is my homebase.”

“Acquiring things fills me with anxiety,” says Page, now 23. “I’m constantly trying to give away things.” Her un-Hollywood-like lifestyle does not seem to hurt the easygoing young actress’s career. This week, she co-stars with leonardo DiCaprio in the highly anticipated sci-fi thriller Inception. With regarding to her future project, she said “I don’t think I have any rules. I just love to go with the flow and be happy and creative and still feel that passion. I definitely don’t want to lose that.”

Ellen Page was born on February 21, 1987, the daughter of a teacher mother and a graphic designer father. She began acting at age 4 and first acted in front of the camera in 1997 at age 10 in a television movie. When she was 13, she was offered a role in a high profile sitcom but her parents made her turn it down, telling her she was too young to handle the pressures of fame. She’s glad her parents refused to let her become a child star. While she admits to being angry at that time, she now sees their decision was “a good thing”: “I would have had to move to LA and I can’t even imagine what I would be like now. [My parents] said keep up your grades and then you can act.

This reminds me Lindsay Lohan, another Hollywood young actress of almost the same age. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in 1998 at the age of 11. She certainly has her talent as an actress, model and pop singer-songwriter. Unfortunately, what we know most is the significant publicity surrounding her personal life, including rehabilitation for drug and alcohol addiction, and DUI convictions

You can choose your life, right? Sometimes, maybe not.

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton, born in a "dirt poor" family with twelve children, as she described it, is certainly one of the most-honored female country performers of all time. She is a singer, songwriter, actress, and philanthropist. She is an American icon and the 'The Queen of Country Music’ with the great ability to tell stories through song.

In the past four-and-a-half decades, she remains one of the most-successful female artists in the history of the country music with 25 number-one singles, and a record 41 top-10 country albums. She has received

- 7 Grammy Awards and a total of 45 nominations
- 3 American Music awards with18 nominations
- 10 Country Music Association awards and 42 nominations
- 7 Academy of Country Music awards and 39 nominations.


Dolly was awarded the Living Legend Medal by the U.S. Library of Congress in 2004 for her contributions to the cultural heritage of the United States. In 2005, she was awarded with the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given by the U.S. government for excellence in the arts and is presented by the U.S. President.

Ranked as one of the wealthiest country-music stars, Dolly is also a successful business woman as co-owners of a theme park and a film-and television-production company. She has supported many charitable efforts, including Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library which distributes more than 2.5 million free books to children annually.

Behind her flamboyant dress and voluptuous appearance is her natural talent, perseverance and hardworking. She is well known for her candid comments, including joking about her own physical image, which are always full of wit and wisdom.

“I hope people realize that there is a brain underneath the hair and a heart underneath the boobs.”

“What people do behind closed doors is certainly not my concern unless I’m behind these with them.”

“After Mama gave birth to 12 of us kids, we put her up on a pedestal. It was mostly to keep Daddy away from her.”

“I am more apt to count my blessings than my money.”

In May 2009, Dolly received an honorary doctorate degree in Humane and Musical Letters from the University of Tennessee for "her career not just as a musician and entertainer, but for her role as a cultural ambassador, philanthropist and lifelong advocate for education.” She also gave the Graduating Commencement Address which was about her life lessons, and she encouraged the graduates to dream and care more.

“Do not confuse dreams with wishes. There is a difference. Dreams are where you visualize yourself being successful at what's important to you to accomplish. Now dreams build convictions. Because you work hard to pay the price to make sure that they come true. Wishes are hoping good things will happen to you. But there is no fire in your gut to put everything forth to over come all the obstacles. So you have to dream more. And never ever ever blame somebody else if it doesn't happen. That is in your department.”

“Did you ever notice that there are a whole lot of people that do things just well enough to get by? But, caring is about striving for perfection. It's about how you look. It's about how you prepare. And how you keep your commitments.” “And in my business I truly love and respect everybody in my audience. I've always been so proud of my relationship with my fans. And of course it would just kill me to disappoint them for any reason, because they pay my bills. I always think, these fans are spending their hard earned money on me. So it would just embarrass me, and hurt my feelings as well as theirs, for me to do a mediocre job. So I do my best at all times.”

It may be more proper to end with another quote from Dolly’s speech:

“If you truly care for people, you won't judge them. And then you will learn to appreciate the uniqueness in every single soul.”

Thank you, Dolly!

From FEAR to Reese Witherspoon

In the past weekend, I came across the 1996 thriller film, Fear when watching the TV. It was directed by James Foley, starring Reese Witherspoon (Nicole Walker), Mark Wahlberg (David McCall, boy friend), and William Petersen (Steven, father).

Nicole Walker, a fairly innocent, and to some extent rebellious, teenager, lives with her father, stepmother, and stepbrother. Her life totally changed after she met and fell in love with David. What happened next becomes every parent’s nightmare. Her seemingly polite and handsome boyfriend turns out to be a violent psychopath. At the end, her family has to fight for their lives.

The movie raised an interesting question. At some point of a girl’s life, she may be in a dilemma to choose between her “sweet” boyfriend and seemingly “overprotective” parent. In all these situations, the girl is in the driver seat and should have a clear mind. This is not always easy as saying goes that people in love are blind. There have been many real life tragedies due to angry and obsessed suitors. Before making any emotional decisions, a girl should always remember that her parent always love her with ultimate intention to protect her. She should never expose herself and her family to a dangerous situation like in this movie.


This was one of the early movies by Reese Witherspoon. Later on, she was well known for her leading roles in Legally Blonde (2001) and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003). She received worldwide attention and praise for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line (2005), which earned her an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

As one of the most beautiful, the most likable, and also the highest-paid actresses, Witherspoon is also actively involved in children's and women's charitable organizations. She is a long-time supporter of Save the Children, an organization that helps children around the world through education, health care, and emergency aid. She also serves on the board of the Children's Defense Fund, a child advocacy and research group. She once said, "As a woman and a mother I care deeply about the well being of other women and children throughout the world and through the years, I have always looked for opportunities to make a difference."

Witherspoon certainly inherited a lot of intelligence from her parent. Her father is an otolaryngologist (physician specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of ear, nose, throat, and head and neck disorders) who previously served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army reserves. Her mother has a Ph.D. in pediatric nursing and works as a professor of nursing at Vanderbilt University.

Father's Day

Today is the Father's Day Centennial Celebration. Father's Day was originated through the efforts of Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington. When Sonora was 16 years old, her mother died in childbirth with her sixth child.  Her father was a Civil War veteran and was left alone to raise the family of six children. Sonora was the only daughter and shared with her father in the raising of her five younger brothers. After listening to a church sermon in 1909 about the newly recognized Mother's Day, Dodd felt strongly that fatherhood needed recognition as well. She wanted a celebration that honored fathers like her own father. The first observance of Father's Day is believed to have been held on June 19, 1910.

Officially reorganization of Father’s day went through a difficult route for decades. Until 1966, President Lyndon Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Six years later, it was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972. It is also celebrated in more than 55 countries.

Sonora Smart Dodd died in 1978 at the age of 96. She was buried in Greenwood Memorial Terrace, Spokane Washington, USA.

A father has a special relationship with his daughter as he wants to protect her by instinct as soon as she comes to this world, while she will judge all men by his standard.

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, step-fathers, fathers-in-laws, godfathers and everyone who plays the role of a father.