How to write a preface for college students

Question 1: How to write the preface of a survey report on college students’ spare time life?

College is the most beautiful stage of life, a critical moment for transition to adulthood, and a moment of realization. The perfect place for self-worth. Here, college students live, learn, grow and become talents. College students who enter the ivory tower have sufficient spare time. According to statistics from relevant departments: excluding 8 hours of sleep per day, calculated based on 40 classes of 45 minutes each week, the weekly class time is 1800 minutes, and the after-school time is 4920 minutes. , almost three times the class time, so how do college students deal with these 4,920 minutes of extracurricular time per week? This survey concluded: The vast majority of college students spend their extracurricular life on the Internet, doing sports, reading, and watching movies and TV shows. , go out shopping, etc.; some choose to do some work while studying, to increase their experience, enrich their knowledge, and exercise themselves. However, not every college student can handle the contradictions in study, life, and social activities well, and arrange their spare time reasonably. In order to further understand how college students deal with and coordinate these conflicts between study and life, and help college students arrange their after-school life in a reasonable and orderly manner, so as to optimize the time allocation for study and practice. To this end, we have conducted careful investigation and research on this topic, and based on the investigation and analysis, we have put forward several suggestions based on reality.

Research Method

1. Questionnaire

I developed the "Questionnaire on College Students' After-school Life". This questionnaire aims to understand college students’ extracurricular life and their views and feelings about it.

Questionnaire content

1 Basic information of the subjects: including gender and grade.

2 Survey on college students’ spare time.

3 The frequency of self-study among college students.

4 Basic situation of college students’ main spare time (except self-study).

5. College students’ expectations and interests in extracurricular activities.

6. Time arrangements for major activities of college students.

2. Random Questionnaire

This survey was conducted through a random questionnaire and was filled out voluntarily. The sample size is 50.

In this survey, 50 questionnaires were distributed, 50 were recovered, and 50 were valid questionnaires.

3. Data Analysis

Generally speaking, college students use their spare time reasonably and can make good use of their spare time; however, some students lack reasonable arrangements for their spare time and are addicted to In the vortex of computer entertainment or wandering in boredom, a lot of time is wasted, which has adverse effects on the body and mind.

1. In this survey, 34.8% of the students said yes to the question of whether to go to the library or study room to study, and more than 61.3% of the students went to the library to check study materials. . It can be seen that libraries and self-study rooms are the main places for college students to study and play an important role in college students' lives.

2 College students mainly arrange their spare time, and the distribution of activity content is very different.

It can be seen from the survey results that self-study is an important part of college students' life. "After-school self-study", "Internet surfing, playing games" and "club activities" are the main forms of activities that college students participate in in their spare time. This shows that the Internet is becoming more and more important in the extracurricular life of college students, and college students are also fond of this new way of entertainment and leisure; college students have also realized the important role of establishing harmonious interpersonal relationships and improving interpersonal skills in real life, which has a great impact on society. Recognition of sexual values ??is increasing. College students have individual differences in allocating other time (32% of all), which is mainly determined by individual interests. Individual interests themselves have the characteristics of entertainment and recreation. They are of great significance to satisfy the extracurricular activities and leisure life of college students. They are also an indispensable way for the harmonious development of college students' personality and their own socialization.

3. There are many people who study outside the classroom

Extracurricular learning means acquiring knowledge while studying this major. In this era of knowledge explosion and abundant information, solid basic knowledge and extensive extracurricular learning are inseparable. More and more college students find that extracurricular learning is an important foundation for their success. Improve book knowledge through extracurricular learning.

Obtaining CET-4, CET-6 and other certificates is inseparable from ordinary extracurricular study. Extracurricular learning is a bargaining chip for winning in competition. I personally feel the importance of enriching myself and improving my knowledge and literacy.

4. There are many club activities

Clubs are organizations initiated, managed, planned and run by college students themselves. The wonderful thing about it is that it is closer to us and understands our needs better; although there are some unsatisfactory aspects, after all, it is made by ourselves, and we can better understand its meaning. Club activities can train students' ability to deal with things, improve their quality, and prepare for the journey... >>

Question 2: Preface to the college student team practice report How to write: Adhering to the success of the 2005 summer social practice activities and the gratifying results achieved, taking advantage of the opportunity of the 2006 World Women's Boccia Competition to be held in our college, the Department of Information Engineering of Zhejiang Industry and Trade University went to Wenzhou to spread the bocce culture in the community. and training practice teams carry out this practical activity with the purpose of "promoting the World Boccia Championships and caring for the health of middle-aged and elderly people". This year's summer social practice activities will focus on the World Boccia Championships and the health of middle-aged and elderly people. At the same time, ,In the process of practice, I combined my own majors to add meaning to this practice.

Our practice team is a practice team that goes to various communities in Wenzhou to spread bocce culture and bocce training for middle-aged and elderly people. It was established in late June 2006. From the beginning, our team has always adhered to the principle of Unity as the magic weapon for successful work. Our practice team has 1 leading teacher and 15 practice team members (with 1 captain). The entire practice activity is carried out for 7 days. The activities are mainly held in various communities in Wenzhou and the bocce ball court of Zhejiang Industry and Trade Vocational and Technical College. unfold within.

In this activity, our first advantage is that the theme proposed is in line with the needs of society and the college; each of the practice team members has become a bocce coach, which is another highlight of our team; teaching middle-aged and elderly people I also feel that we need to increase our awareness of social responsibility.

Theme: Promote the bocce culture and build a harmonious society

Significance: 1. The World Women’s Metal Bocce Championship will come to Wenzhou and Zhejiang Industry and Trade this summer. Technical College, therefore, how to prepare well before the event is the key to successfully hosting this world competition. Of course, publicity is the top priority in the preparations.

2. In the 21st century with the increasing economic development, health has become the focus of most attention. For this activity, we target middle-aged and elderly people. Through this activity, middle-aged and elderly friends can Having an in-depth understanding of the sport of bocce also helps them improve their physical fitness and through them popularizes the sport of bocce to the whole society.

3. This event highlights the exchanges between communities. In the final "community competition", friendship is established in the form of competition based on the purpose of "friendship first, competition second". It can be said that this event played a great role in building a harmonious society.

4. As contemporary college students who are about to enter the society, we rarely have the opportunity to contact the society in our daily study and life. In this practice, we have fully penetrated into the society, no matter in communicating with the outside world. Or their own abilities have been greatly exercised.

Purpose: With the purpose of deepening into society and exercising oneself, we will do our best to promote the world bocce ball championship in Wenzhou this year with the meager strength of industry and trade students, and at the same time make a little contribution to building a harmonious community. contribute.

Format: Promote bocce knowledge in the community, set up a middle-aged and elderly bocce team in each community to carry out middle-aged and elderly bocce ball summer camp, and hold a community-to-community bocce ball summer camp at the end of the training Friendly game of bocce.

Time: July 7, 2006?----July 13, 2006

Location: Wenzhou communities, Zhejiang Industry and Trade College bocce ball court

1. Preparation

In order to do a good job in this summer social practice, the team leader started planning one month in advance. After applying for this activity, team members will be recruited through interviews.

All team members invested in the final preparations one week in advance:

The community contact group is mainly responsible for contacting the neighborhood committees of various communities near Wenzhou to discuss the purpose of practice, the purpose of practice and the content of the practice, and cooperate with the coaching team to establish middle-aged and elderly places in each community. The graphic team is responsible for designing inkjet posters, leaflets, banners, etc.; the coaching team conducts their own bocce training, and works with the community contact group to form middle-aged and elderly bocce teams in each community and find relevant bocce balls. The search for knowledge such as sports rules, etc.; the logistics team is responsible for the purchase of some necessities, such as heatstroke prevention and cooling medicines, cold medicine, etc.; the communication team: mainly responsible for the collection and organization of data and some meeting minutes, etc. It should be said that the preliminary preparation work has a detailed division of labor , fully implemented.

2. Deep experience in the practice process

(1) Promotion of bocce culture

Three days before the start of the practice, we organized fitness training in nearby communities A large spray-painted poster was hung in the venue. During the community promotion period, some of our team members were busy hanging posters and others were busy hanging banners. We could be seen in every corner of the community wearing clothes with the words Zhejiang Industry and Trade University printed on them. There was a steady stream of people coming to consult the bocce ball information center over there. Although some people always mispronounced the word "throw", it suddenly became clear after our patient explanations that more residents were concerned about October 18th. At the World Boccia Championships held in Vancouver on Sunday, people are very concerned about the current preparation progress of the World Championships, and the entire scene is a lively scene. Throughout the publicity stage, we... >>

Question 3: How to write a plan in the preface of a career planning book for college students, which is to arrange time reasonably, allocate work tasks reasonably, and then execute it. But you must prioritize, that is, plan appropriately. Regarding the necessity of career planning, I would like to summarize it in four sentences: We can choose many things during our lifetime, and the events we choose determine the quality of your future life; everyone has his or her own life goals, but Their goals are different; time is absolutely fair to us during everyone's lifetime; in a limited time, the events we choose determine the quality of our future lives. Career planning is to formulate your future social position based on your personality, interests, majors, social background and other factors. When it comes to career planning for college students, it means how to position yourself professionally. We can formulate multiple positions, but the positioning is not a specific position, but a goal. We cannot change the past, but we can plan for the future. There are inevitably risks in career planning. If the planned position deviates from the track due to various unforeseen reasons in actual life, we will inevitably be frustrated, doubt our abilities, and lose our original self-confidence; another On the other hand, when we are actually making decisions, we may follow suit due to planning and miss better choices. When planning your career, you must have a correct understanding of yourself, the ability to correctly evaluate all aspects of yourself, and a clear understanding of reality. In addition, there are also some factors, such as personality reasons. In short, when designing a career, as well as during the execution process, it is necessary to combine reality and try to avoid false fantasies. Only after thinking realistically can we move down-to-earth towards the established goals. I don’t think it means that you can write a perfect career plan if you already know the company you want to join in the future, know the direction you want to take the postgraduate entrance examination, and know every key step in the future. My example should represent most people, who are searching for directions in confusion. In fact, I would also like to say thank you to the teachers in this career planning competition for giving me the opportunity to clearly and rationally analyze myself and my future positioning. In order to make my dream no longer a "fantasy dream", I decided to write a detailed career plan and show my true self. I wrote this myself when I was participating in a career planning competition. Hope it can give you some reference.

Question 4: How to write a college life essay. The preface should be a thousand words. Some people say that college is just an extension of high school, and you have to continue the hard work of high school here; others say that stepping into After entering college, your future and career are guaranteed, and you can have fun for four years. I believe that college is a blank picture, waiting for you to use your wisdom and hands to paint your own colorful youth. In the summer of 2004, with the pledge of “being sincere to others and being strict to yourself”, I entered the university.

I remember that when I was in high school, my heart was filled with endless longing for college life: a relaxed and carefree life, half a day of class, and half a day of rest. These were the best spices for the stressful and boring study in my senior year of high school. However, when I first saw the densely arranged university courses, all my beautiful fantasies were shattered. There are four periods in the morning, four in the afternoon, and sometimes two in the evening, which is more classes than in high school. At that moment, I really felt like I had just emerged from the dragon's pond and entered the tiger's den again. But when I told this idea to a netizen who was in college, she told me something Ostrovsky said in "How Steel Was Tempered": When you look back on the past , to be able not to regret for wasting one's life, and not to be ashamed of being inactive. Yes, four or three years of college is the most precious golden age in life; youth is something that everyone can only have once. How can such a wonderful age be wasted?

However, my college life was not glorious at all. I don't like learning, because I don't learn, and my subjective consciousness has become like this. I think no one can change myself, only I can change myself. While everyone was still attending exciting parties, colorful club activities, and various lectures, although each of them was full of temptation, I chose a lonely road. Is it because I am naive? Or is it because you can't withstand the storm? Studying seems insignificant to me. When school started, although I went to and from the dormitory, canteen, and classroom every day and lived a three-point, one-line life, I never studied seriously. At the end of the first semester of my freshman year, I came last in the class, which was what I expected.

But when I calm down and think about it carefully, if I continue like this, what else will I have in three years? Obviously, such a life is neither stressful nor fulfilling. A sentence I read on the Internet once gave me great inspiration: People are three-dimensional and are not just composed of certain points or faces. We should not set a certain direction for ourselves. We should try and experience all aspects, and then Just like no matter which color you prefer, it is so single that it can never form a rainbow. Suddenly, I understood that college life should not only be about studying, but also should have more colorful content. But I have nothing. I am trying my best to perform in every aspect. However, there are some things in life that you can't just ignore if you don't want to. At this time, something made me have to reconsider. I don’t know where I will be in the future. What kind of life will there be? But I have made my own decision. There may be many people who don't understand it, but that may not matter anymore. After all, they are not me. After all, their lives are different from mine. Many things in life are different, because everyone has their own life.

In fact, I am willing to be lonely when studying, but I also have a heart that is unwilling to be lonely after studying. Although I have not studied seriously since my freshman year, nor have I done any social work within my ability, my desire to actively participate cannot be denied. This includes the satisfaction of being understood and the distress of being misunderstood, but I always maintain a sense of normalcy. Everything you do is done on your own terms and with full confidence. No matter what everyone thinks of me, although a lot of it is not used in study, I feel that I am still worthy of myself. What I value most is an attempt, a passion, and a period of unrepentant dedication. They make me understand responsibility and understand Understand and learn to be strong. But things in real life are really hard to explain. I can’t do whatever I want. Although I think I am strong, I am still defeated by life. I can only be speechless. I know what will happen in the future, that is the decision I made. As for what decision it is, there is no need to say. That's just my own business, and I don't think there's any need to tell others. However, no matter what decision I made, my mind was still clear. I knew that I was young, passionate, and not afraid of failure. Just with the energy of a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, I am going to fight hard again, but there is also a bit of a gamble in it. No matter what it is, I will stick to it and won’t complain. Maybe this... >>

Question 5: How to write the preface of my college academic career plan? What is your understanding of college life, what to do, and what to accumulate for the future? Just know it.

Question 6: How to write an introduction to career planning for college students? How to write the preface of a career planning book? The following career planning preface is very unique and is specially recommended to college students.

Foreword

There is such a story: There is a small village named Bissell in the Western Sahara Desert. Because it is located next to an oasis of 1.5 square kilometers, it has beautiful scenery and is crowded with tourists. It is now a very famous tourist destination.

But before that, no one could get out of here. It is said that it is not that the villagers here are unwilling to leave this barren land, but that they have tried many times and failed to get out. In 1926, Ken Levine, an academician of the British Royal Academy, heard about this and felt very unbelievable. He used three days and nights to rush from the edge of the desert to Bissell, and asked the people here the reason in sign language. As a result, everyone's answer was the same: no matter which direction you go from Bissell, you will eventually turn back to Bissell. Serge. Ken Levine is certainly not superstitious about this statement. In order to overturn this statement, he conducted an experiment and walked north from the village of Bissell. As a result, he walked out in three and a half days.

Why couldn't the Bissell people come out? Ken Levine was very puzzled and had to hire a Bissell man and let him lead the way to see what was going on? Done After being fully prepared, they set off. Ten days passed, and they walked about 800 miles. On the morning of the 11th day, an oasis appeared in front of them, and they returned to Bissell. It turns out that the reason why the Bissell people can't get out of the desert is because they don't know the Big Dipper at all! In the endless desert, if a person follows his feeling and walks forward, he will walk out of many circles of different sizes. The final footprint will most likely be in the shape of a tape measure. Bissell Village is located in the middle of a vast desert, with a radius of thousands of kilometers. Without a compass, it is indeed impossible to get out of the desert.

When Ken Levin left Bissell, he took with him the young man named Aguter who was cooperating with him. He told the young man to rest during the day and travel at night, and at night he should always walk towards the brightest star in the north. Aguter did what he did, and three days later, Aguter arrived at the edge of the desert smoothly...

Now Bissell has long become a shining pearl in the Sahara Desert, and every year Tens of thousands of tourists come here, bringing huge revenue to Bissell. As a pioneer of Bissell, Aguter's bronze statue was erected in the center of the small town. There is a line of words engraved on the base of the bronze statue: New life begins in the chosen direction.

This story tells us that on the road of life, we not only need the courage to overcome difficulties, but also need a clear direction. Because choosing a good direction is like a hunter aiming at his prey, so that it becomes possible to obtain the "prey". Otherwise, no matter how hard you work, it will be in vain. Career planning is the Big Dipper that guides the path of life, guiding us in the direction of progress in the vast social ocean. Therefore, by designing a scientific life and career plan for ourselves, our lives will shine more brilliantly.

Question 7: How to write the preface of a literature review for college students’ graduation thesis. The preface is used at the beginning of the paper. Generally, the author's intention should be summarized, the purpose and significance of the topic should be explained, and the scope of the paper should be pointed out. The preface should be short, concise and closely related to the topic.

Question 8: How to write the preface of a survey report on college students’ employment intentions

(1) Research background

In recent years, with the number of undergraduate graduates from colleges and universities, The situation is increasing year by year, and more and more college graduates have difficulty finding jobs. Especially under the influence of the global financial crisis in 2008, the global economic downturn has reduced jobs, and many college graduates are facing the problem of "unemployment as soon as they graduate." question. The reasons for this problem are on the one hand due to the objective environment, and on the other hand due to graduates' personal factors. A series of problems such as insufficient psychological preparation for employment of graduates, unreasonable personal positioning, and insufficient understanding of employment information and policies are important reasons that hinder the smooth employment of college graduates. According to relevant data, the number of college graduates in my country has grown rapidly this year. The number of graduates in 2009 is expected to exceed 6 million, which is more than 1 million higher than in 2007.

However, from the perspective of employers, the number of college students recruited in 2009 only increased slightly, which was far lower than the growth in the number of college graduates. The first 2009 job search survey for college students and graduate students recently released by China Talent Hotline shows that nearly 70% of college students and graduate students still choose to work in the four major cities of Shenzhen, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, and Shenzhen Special Economic Zone has become the first choice for employment for many college graduates. This shows that under the current national policy of "Western Plan" encouraging college students to develop in the west, the employment concepts of college graduates are misaligned with national policies, and the employment concepts of graduates need to be changed urgently.

In the 2009 survey on the units where college students most wanted to find a job, 50% of students ranked civil service examinations first, 20% ranked public institutions first, and 20% ranked public institutions first. Students ranked large state-owned enterprises first. Civil servants and public institutions are still the first choice of college students, mainly because they believe that public institutions and state agencies have stable income and good benefits; large state-owned enterprises are more popular, mainly because of higher wages and benefits. This shows that college students’ own positioning is unreasonable and they follow blindly in their career and industry choices.

(2) Research purpose and significance

This survey mainly focuses on the areas where college students choose to apply for jobs; the industries and career choices of college students; college students’ understanding and positioning of themselves; college students’ perceptions of themselves; The four aspects of understanding the external environment of employment are to understand the new situation of employment intention of students in the College of Humanities under the background of the current financial crisis, analyze its causes, and provide factual information and suggestions for the employment guidance work of the College of Humanities. Intention, defined in psychology, is people’s activities in treating or dealing with objective things. It is manifested as people’s desires, wishes, hopes, considerations and other behavioral response tendencies. It is people’s psychological preparation state before a specific behavior occurs. Employment intention refers to The thoughts, considerations, wishes, and attitudes of employment subjects (here mainly refers to college students) regarding the relevant aspects of their future work, including specific occupations, employment units and regions, employment environment choices, and considerations of job compensation, etc.

(3) Research method

This survey adopted a quantitative statistical survey as the main method. The total population of the survey is students in grades 06, 07, and 08 of the School of Humanities of Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University. A combination of stratified sampling and quota sampling was used to select 90 samples from each of the three majors: law, sociology, and public utility management. , using self-administered questionnaires to collect materials. In this survey, 270 questionnaires were distributed and 258 questionnaires were recovered, of which 228 were valid questionnaires, with an effective recovery rate of 84.4%. Among the respondents, 44.3% were boys and 55.7% were girls. Among the three majors, law accounted for 38.2%, sociology accounted for 38.6%, public service management accounted for 23.2%, and among the three grades, 06-level students accounted for 26.3%, and 07-level majors accounted for 26.3%. Level 3 accounts for 36%, and Level 08 accounts for 37.7%. The total number of people in this survey is about 540, and the sample size accounts for about 50% of the total. The number of samples during sampling is basically evenly distributed in terms of grade, major, and gender. In summary, the samples in this survey are sufficiently representative. What needs to be explained here is that this survey did not involve students from grade 05. This is mainly because students from grade 05 are about to graduate and employment is something they have experienced. Such a survey is meaningless to them, so it is not included. go.

This survey is aimed at the employment intentions of college students. The questionnaire covers a total of 26 questions. The concept of employment intentions is operationalized to obtain four main indicators reflecting employment intentions: job search. Choice of region, choice of job-seeking industry, self-positioning, and understanding and attitude towards the employment environment. Among them, the choice of job-seeking area is obtained from four questions, questions 12 to 15. The main variables include the city or region where you most want to find a job and the reasons why, and whether you are willing to work in the western region and rural areas; the question reflecting the choice of job-seeking industry is. .....>>

Question 9: How to write the preface of a career planning book Preface 1

Life has no meaning. Everyone must define a meaning for themselves. , the result I want to think about is: I use my life to do what I love, it not only makes me happy, but also helps mankind. In today's era of competition for talent, career planning has begun to become another important tool in the battle for people.

For enterprises, how to embody the company's "people-oriented" talent concept, pay attention to employees' talent concepts, and pay attention to employees' continuous growth, career planning is an effective means; but for everyone, career life is limited, Without effective planning, life and time will inevitably be wasted. As a contemporary student, if you step into this crowded society with a confused look on your face, how can you meet the needs of society and gain a place for yourself? Therefore, I tried to draw up a career plan for myself and design my future well. Only when you have goals can you be motivated!

Preface 2

Formulating a career plan for college students is a process of self-examination, self-positioning, and self-improvement. A person's life and the value of life, in a certain sense, lie in his achievements and success in his career. In a person's limited life journey, career often plays an absolutely important role. Everyone is planning their own life and realizing their dreams: the dream is a hundred gardens, I am just a grass in a hundred gardens, but the grass also has a big ideal, so I am here to imagine my career .

"May God give me a calm heart to accept the things I cannot change; may God give me the courage to change the things I can." For what we can control, we should do our best to Go ahead, because it is up to us; for things that are uncontrollable, we should develop a mind and tolerance to accept them calmly. We must hold a belief that if we don’t do it, we will do it. If we do it, we must do it well. Do your best to change things that are still undecided. At work, work hard, be proactive, and strive for excellence. Only in this way can you win the harvest.

A person never knows how many difficulties he will encounter in his life, many of which are unforeseen. This depends on our ability to adapt to circumstances and to remain calm in the face of unexpected troubles. Keep a calm mind, be resourceful in a hurry, and come up with good solutions. Wise people are good at analyzing the development of things, able to grasp the characteristics of things, have a well-thought-out plan, predict events like a god, and successfully predict the development direction of things. Career planning is a process and an attitude toward career development. The seeds may not sprout immediately, but as long as you wait patiently, everything will come true slowly. We yearn for a better tomorrow, so we keep fighting for the dream in our hearts. The career planning of college students, understood from another perspective (qQzF), is a description of the blueprint in our hearts. We have carried out career planning and design for ourselves, which is to give wings to our dreams. Great ideals are always built on solid ground. Youth is short. From now on, we should strive to take the initiative, plan the future, and draw this blank paper of life.

Preface 3

Today’s society is a society with rapid economic development and a society full of competition. Only by making a life plan that suits you and evaluating individuals correctly and accurately Only by using your own characteristics and strengths can you determine your career direction, re-recognize your own value and increase it through continuous learning, provide yourself with motivation to move forward and give full play to your personal advantages in your career. Therefore, I tried to draw up a career plan for myself, hoping to guide my career plan and point out a way for myself when I am confused.

Preface 4

Competition in today's society is becoming more and more fierce. If we do not step up our pace, follow the pace of the times, and enrich ourselves through continuous learning, it will be difficult to have a long-term success. progress. And a plan for your future is one of the main means to compete with others. The personal development plan represents my greatest ideal at this stage of life, and it is also the one that should be put into practice in the near future. Whether it is implemented or not will determine the success or failure of the rest of my life.

Question 10: Why is it written in the preface of the graduation thesis about the current situation of college students ***? His feet are not as flexible as before and he still needs the support of adults. The little boy is in the hospital

< p> In the past few months, he has endured great pain, and his family members are extremely heartbroken.

Let everyone be filled with love for each other, let the world be filled with love, and let us work together to create a better place. world!

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

Let the world be full of love

Let’s talk about the title “Fill the World with Love”! I don’t think it’s necessary to donate money, clothes, books, etc. Actually

As long as we can use what we have around us