留学资讯

每年，《纽约时报》都发布关于青少年涉及“金钱、工作、社会阶层”等主题的大学申请文书，而今年已迎来第十个年头。在最新一年的文书中，申请者们以独特的方式回应了一系列深刻的问题：面对父母生活方式的巨大变化，我们该如何应对？追求金钱的背后是什么动机？在财富和贫穷之间，我们应该如何建立健康的关系？随着申请季节全面展开，许多同学开始紧张地着手准备文书材料。对于招生官来说，他们究竟期待在文书中看到怎样的内容呢？这个问题存在不同的解读，对于申请者而言，他们面临着一个关键的选择：是真实展现自我，还是努力契合招生官心中的理想形象呢？下面，让我们一同领略这些优秀申请者是如何应对的吧！

 

1、为异见者而战

Sydney Carroll

Franklin, Tenn. — Battle Ground Academy

Sydney CarrollFranklin, Tenn. — Battle Ground Academy
When you meet new people, there are things you immediately know: their hair color, their height, their fashion sense. As for me, I also immediately know who they voted for, that they’re a proud N.R.A. member, or that they support the “sanctity of life” and Southern “heritage.”

That’s because I work at my family’s carwash, so naturally my first introduction to people is their bumper stickers.
I didn’t always work at a carwash in the outwardly beautiful, but decidedly fraught, Columbia, Tenn. In fact, until I was 14 my father worked on Wall Street — the New York one, not the Tennessee one boasting our county’s only Chipotle.
But when my 40-year-old aunt died, my parents engaged in radical grieving methods: having complete midlife crises, leaving their stable jobs, moving us 950 miles away to Nashville and opening a carwash. As you can imagine, my parents’ crises translated to an entirely new crisis for me. In Tennessee, it often feels as though I stick out like a blue crayon in a 125-pack of red crayons (with a sharpener attached).

When my family opened the carwash, we took “family owned and operated” to a new level. My dad traded in his khakis and button-down shirt for shorts and industrial work shirts with our logo on the pocket. My mom abandoned her past experience managing accounts with Cartoon Network and pivoted to making WindMaster signs telling people not to hit other people.

And me? I went from an eighth grader to an assistant manager.

I know things that virtually no other 17-year-olds know or want to know: how to grease equipment, the perfect mixture of chemicals to get algae off cement floors and the best way to dodge a car flying directly at you. I’ve also had the pleasure of being the on-duty manager when cars have crashed in our parking lot, leading to my trying to work a brand-new surveillance system while profusely apologizing to the police, who very obviously wished an adult was present.
There are, however, things that have happened at the carwash that are far from funny. As a female and a minor, customers have made comments and jokes when talking to me that have made me feel deeply uncomfortable, exposed and, most importantly, out of place.
It’s hard to feel I belong in Tennessee, where we’re on the news weekly for a new book ban, shooting or shutdown of a Pride festival. I’m entrenched in a place where so many interactions feel like a contradiction of everything I stand for. It’s not easy to accept that our regulars — the people I’ve grown to love who always bring me a caramel candy or a water or show me pictures of their kids — don’t believe in my right to reproductive health care. Some of them carry guns, and most of them are unvaccinated. They care about me, but they don’t care about me.
And they’re never going to truly know me, the me who marches in protests and works on political campaigns. Part of the reason for all those loud bumper stickers is that we live in a time of not only great division, but even greater hatred. I’ll admit I’m no angel, but I truly believe that activism must come from a place of love. So I’m going to keep fighting for what I believe in, not in spite of but because of the people I disagree with.

Although the carwash regulars may not fight for my rights, I love them enough to fight for theirs. I’ll fight for them to have free universal health care, for their kids’ guaranteed school lunches and for a fairer economy.
I may be ready to leave Tennessee, but its future matters to me. So while I’m here, I’m going to try to change some minds, whether it’s one door, one protest or one carwash at a time.

 

当你认识新朋友时，有些事情你马上就知道了：他们的头发颜色，身高，时尚感。至于我，我也立刻知道他们的选票投给了谁，他们是一名自豪的国税局成员，或者他们支持“生命的神圣”和南方的“遗产”。那是因为我在我家的洗车店工作，所以很自然地，我首先向人们介绍的是保险杠贴纸。

 

我之前不是在这家位于田纳西州哥伦比亚市的洗车店工作。事实上，直到我14岁，我父亲都在纽约华尔街工作。但当我40岁的阿姨去世时，我的父母采取了激进的哀悼方式：经历了彻底的中年危机，离开了稳定的工作，把家搬到950英里外的纳什维尔，开了一家洗车店。你可以想象，我父母的危机对我来说变成了一个全新的危机。在田纳西州，我经常觉得自己格格不入。

 

我家开洗车店的时候，我们把“家族所有、家族经营”提升到了一个新的高度。我爸爸把他的卡其裤和纽扣衬衫换成了带有店标志的工装。我妈妈放弃了她过去在卡通电视网管理客户的经验，转而制作“风之王”的店标志，告诉人们不要殴打他人。

 

我呢，从一个八年级学生变成了一个副经理。

 

我知道几乎没有其他17岁的人已经知道或想知道的事情：如何给设备上油，清除水泥地板上水藻的最佳化学混合物，以及躲避向你飞来的汽车的最佳方法。我也曾有幸担任当班经理，当汽车在我们的停车场撞车时，我不得不试图运行一个全新的监控系统，同时向警察道歉，他们很明显希望有一个成年人在场。

 

然而，在洗车店发生的事情一点也不好笑。作为一名女性和未成年人，客户在和我交谈时发表的评论和开的玩笑让我感到深深的不舒服，暴露，最重要的是，不合适。

 

我真的感觉我不属于田纳西州，在那里我们每周都在新闻上看到禁书令、枪击案或节日取消。我被困在了这里——这里发生的所有的互动与交流彷佛与我所代表的一切矛盾。我们的常客——那些我渐渐喜欢上的人，他们总是给我带糖果或水，或者给我看他们孩子的照片——不认为我享有生殖健康的权利，这是很难接受的。他们中的一些人携带枪支，他们中的大多数人没有接种疫苗。他们关心我，也不关心我。

 

他们永远不会真正了解我——参加抗议游行，参与政治竞选活动的我。所有这些醒目的保险杠贴纸存在的部分原因是，我们生活在一个不仅有巨大分歧，而且有更大仇恨的时代。我承认我不是天使，但我真的相信行动主义一定源自爱。所以我要继续为我的信仰而奋斗，为了那些我不同意的人。

 

虽然洗车常客可能不会为我的权利而战，但我很爱他们以至于足以为他们的权利而战。我将为他们争取免费的全民医疗保健，为他们的孩子有保障的学校午餐，为更公平的经济而奋斗。

 

我虽然可能准备离开田纳西州，但它的未来对我很重要。所以当我在这里的时候，我要试着改变一些人的想法，不管是打开一扇门，发起一次抗议，还是洗一次车。

 

2、金钱驱动者

Sam Smith

La Jolla, Calif. — La Jolla High School

There it is. The little mutant, who is supposed to be immortal, lies still, right beneath our noses.
The sun pulsates down on our backs as midday approaches on a scalding day in San Diego. The cockroach lies still, sprawled across the floor with one of its six legs pointed in each direction. An assemblage has emerged around the dead invertebrate, as our posse quarrels about what we could do with this prospect.

“Bet you won’t eat that cockroach right now,” challenges one person.

“Ten bucks says I will!” I shout confidently.

The small crowd grows into a state of silence, as heads begin to turn toward the instigator, then back to me, anticipating a standoff.

I have always been the “Money Man,” so being offered to eat a cockroach, or any other similar requests, in exchange for monetary value was a common occurrence. I cannot explain why $10 entices me to conquer obscure feats. I have had a fortunate childhood where my earned dollars would typically buy a Snickers bar for my enjoyment.
Oftentimes, I ask myself why these trivial challenges matter? My father’s job requires him to live on the other side of the globe for six months each year. His absence in my life has left me with an insecurity that no money can buy.
From a young age, I had to learn to live without a father figure. Our trips to Mission Bay Park were always cut short when his next rotation came, leaving me to teach myself how important a spiral was when throwing a football.

As a child, I quickly learned not everyone lived a life like mine. Growing up, due to my father’s job, we lived overseas, providing me firsthand lessons in the value of money. I have witnessed poverty at its worst. Living abroad opened my eyes to the sheer number of people who would consume a cockroach for an American $10 bill.

I watched children who were 5-years-old in China doing backbreaking work for their families, just to make ends meet. Or beggars lining the streets of Egypt as their prestigious neighbors parted the road in their gold-plated G-wagons, spending millions on parties and feasts rather than helping their predecessors. Or my own family members in Mexico, who begged us to bring back clean water jugs and books for them and their children.
I may be privileged, but I have seen every nook and cranny of what it takes to make it in life. So, when the opportunity comes to make an extra dollar, I understand its value and embrace it.
Maybe I am money-driven, because it is my everlasting belief that I have every reason to make it in life. I have witnessed people come from immense poverty. So, I have no excuse to not make it, because people around the globe, who have so much less than me, still manage to hustle their way to the top.

Maybe it is the belief that if I learned the value of a dollar at an early age, I would be able to help my many family members struggling on the other side of the border. Maybe that is why I took a job in construction, not because I needed the money, but because I understood its importance.

I hope attending college, something most of my family couldn’t do, will allow me to both help provide for them financially and be present in their lives. My family taught me the importance of a dollar, no matter what, even if I had to become “Cockroach Guy.” My value of money and understanding of its global meaning will hopefully help me succeed in the classroom and beyond.

 

好了，这个被认为是不死之身的小变种人，静静地躺在我们的眼皮底下。

 

在圣地亚哥炎热的一天，太阳在我们的背上跳动着，正午即将到来。蟑螂一动不动地躺在地板上，六条腿中的一条指向两个方向。一群人聚集在这只死去的无脊椎动物周围，而我们的队伍则在争论我们该如何利用这只无脊椎动物。

 

“我打赌你现在不会吃那只蟑螂，”一个人挑战道。

 

“赌十块我会的！”我自信地喊道。

 

这一小群人陷入了沉默，他们的头开始转向那个煽动者，然后又转向我，以为会出现僵局。

 

我一直是一个“金融家”，所以被提供吃一只蟑螂，或任何其他类似的要求，以换取金钱价值是经常发生的。我无法解释为什么10美元就可以诱惑我去做这些壮举。我有一个幸运的童年，我赚的钱通常会买一个士力架条给我享受。

 

很多时候，我问自己，为什么这些不重要的挑战很重要？我父亲的工作需要他每年在地球的另一端生活六个月。他在我生活中的缺席给我留下了金钱买不到的不安全感。

 

从很小的时候起，我就不得不学会没有父亲的生活。我们去米慎湾公园的旅行总是在他下一次轮换时被缩短，留下我自己教自己在扔橄榄球时螺旋球是多么重要。

 

作为一个孩子，我很快就知道不是每个人都过着和我一样的生活。在我成长的过程中，由于我父亲的工作，我们住在海外，让我感受到了金钱的价值。我目睹了贫穷最糟糕的时候。在国外的生活让我看到，有那么多人愿意为了一张10美元的美钞而吃掉一只蟑螂。

 

我看到乞丐在埃及的街道上排成一排，他们尊贵的邻居们开着镀金的马车把路分开，花了数百万在派对和宴会上，而不是帮助贫穷的人。或者是我在墨西哥的家人，他们恳求我们为他们和他们的孩子带回干净的水罐和书籍。

 

我可能有特权，但我见过生活中的每一个角落和缝隙。所以，当赚多一美元的机会来临时，我明白它的价值，并欣然接受它。

 

也许我是金钱驱动，因为这是我生活中永远的信念。我亲眼目睹了人们出身于极度贫困。所以，我没有理由不去做，因为世界各地的人们，他们拥有的比我少得多，仍然努力奋斗着到达顶峰。

 

也许我是金钱驱动，因为这是我永远的信念，我有充分的理由使它在生活中。我亲眼目睹了人们出身于极度贫困。所以，我没有理由不去做，因为世界各地的人们，他们拥有的比我少得多，仍然努力奋斗着到达顶峰。

也许是因为我相信，如果我从小就知道一美元的价值，我就能够帮助那些在生存线上挣扎的家庭成员。也许这就是我做建筑工的原因，不是因为我需要钱，而是因为我了解它的重要性。

 

我希望上大学——我的大多数家庭成员都上不起大学——能让我能在经济和生活上帮助他们。家教会了我一元钱的重要性，无论如何，即使我要成为“蟑螂男。”我对金钱的价值和对它的全球意义的理解将有望帮助我在课堂上和其他方面取得成功。

 

3、在日常生活中穿梭

 

Haley Song

Phnom Penh, Cambodia — Logos International School

Through the morning haze of dust particles, car exhaust and visible heat waves, my mind races faster than my motorbike’s 30 kilometers per hour. A world filled with incomprehensible, outdoor merchant hollers and a window pane delivery man on a motorbike tempts the curious and analytical.

As my mind races with curiosity, I am challenged as a driver. Another motorbike’s sudden swerve or a cloth thought to be roadkill makes me jerk for my handlebar brakes. Although keen, my senses are not supernatural; nothing can account for the lawless roads of Phnom Penh.

My daily drive to school is anything but monotonous. Our starting node is dropped in a gated community. Kickstand up, ignition growling and helmet firmly on, the world is new again. Amongst the houses passed, a pattern emerges of villa, Lexus and renovation — a gold spray-painted gate or a large green overshade — giving me a peek into the homeowner’s head. Although the thought of finding rushes of neural activity in their actual brain sounds endlessly exciting, I am content with deducing their aesthetic values — for now.
Before bidding the neighborhood guards farewell, I stop very carefully for the woman driving a Rolls-Royce with an infant in front while a woman pulling a tin wagon of brooms and foliage pulls up behind me. Questions of luxury car shipping, infant safety and wagon construction are trumped by the irony and tragedy of the gap I create between them.

I join the hubbub of commuters spreading like liquid particles filling in every ounce of empty space. I reject an opening to swerve through two large cars, but apparently, my depth perception fails me as another driver seizes the opportunity.
My recent failure to calculate time and acceleration fades, as I ponder humanity’s natural acclimation of skills. I take the first and second virtues of volleyball, aggressiveness and communication, to heart after my failure. A traffic light’s contradictory instructions open the traffic floodgates, but I make it through with deliberation. Every yellow light run and sidewalk driven on drops me into a thought experiment on human nature. Although for me, questions of habit, the inorganic nature of driving and social pressure rise before the innate chaos and evil of the human soul.

Signage in Khmer, English, Chinese and Korean becomes as legible as my abilities allow as my motorbike comes to a halt. A truck filled to the brim with factory workers blocks my path. The intersection’s green light flashes, and the truck continues straight, just missing the turn to the brand-new H&M in the country. It is a wonder that they didn’t make one earlier, considering how cheap the transportation fees would be.
Seeing the manifestation of global issues makes me realize that I will always appreciate Model U.N. for the large-scale awareness, but I could have never felt the weight and burdens of the world without everyday life. Ingrained systems built on poor foundations cannot be easily rebuilt. With little things like not running yellow lights or connecting impactful NGOs with students that want to help, I can try to help support a new foundation.

Through the outdoor market, past the conglomerate’s mall and turning to face a neon construction sign road, I am finally on the road leading to my school. The concept of sequent occupance has always stuck with me. From the broad effects of genocide to the more minute classification of “charred animal on spit,” everything is an amalgamation of its past and present.

The chaos, injustice and joy of the roads of Phnom Penh have fundamentally made me who I am, and I will only continue to grow as I leave them. As I pull into the parking lot, I know that my education has started far before the bell has rung.

透过清晨的尘埃、汽车尾气和可见的热浪，我的思维比我的摩托车每小时30公里的速度还要快。这个世界充满了难以理解的户外商人叫喊声和骑着摩托车的窗玻璃送货员，吸引着好奇和分析的人。

 

当我的大脑充满好奇心时，我作为一名车手面临着挑战。另一辆摩托车的突然转向或被认为会造成道路事故的布料让我猛地踩住车把刹车。我的感官虽然敏锐，但并不是超自然的；没有什么可以解释金边的道路无法无天。

 

我每天开车上学一点也不单调。我们的起始节点被丢弃在一个封闭的社区中。单腿站立，点火咆哮，头盔稳稳地戴上，世界又一次焕然一新。在经过的房子中，一个别墅出现——一个金色喷漆的大门或一个巨大的绿色遮阳伞——让我窥视到房主的头脑。虽然在他们真实的大脑中找到想法听起来令人兴奋不已，但我对能推断他们的审美价值感到满意——至少现在是这样。

 

在和社区警卫告别之前，我非常小心地为一个开着劳斯莱斯的女人停下车，她的车前有个婴儿，而一个女人拉着一辆装满扫帚和树叶的锡制马车停在了我的身后。豪华汽车运输、婴儿安全和旅行车构造等问题都被我在它们之间制造的鸿沟所掩盖，这是一种讽刺和悲剧。

 

我加入了熙熙攘攘的上班族，就像液体粒子填满了每一盎司的空间。我拒绝了一个转弯的机会，从两辆大车之间穿过，但显然，我的深度知觉让我失败了，因为另一个司机抓住了这个机会。

 

我最近在计算时间和加速度方面的失败逐渐消失，因为我在思考人类对技能的自然适应。在我失败后，我把排球的第一和第二优点，进取心和沟通能力牢记在心。一个交通灯的矛盾指示打开了交通的闸门，但我深思熟虑地通过了它。每一次黄灯和人行道上的行驶都让我陷入了一场关于人性的思想实验。虽然对我来说，问题的习惯，无机性质的驾驶和社会压力上升之前，与生俱来的混乱和邪恶的人类灵魂。

 

当我的摩托车停下来的时候，高棉语、英语、汉语和韩语的标识变得尽可能清晰。一辆装满工厂工人的卡车挡住了我的去路。十字路口的绿灯闪了一下，卡车继续直行，刚好错过了通往乡下那家崭新的H&M的转弯处。考虑到交通费会有多便宜，他们没有早一点做是个奇迹。

看到全球问题的表现让我意识到，我将永远感激模拟联合国的“大规模意识”，但如果没有日常生活，我永远不会感受到世界的重量和负担。建立在不良基础上的根深蒂固的系统是不容易重建的。通过一些小事，比如不闯黄灯或将有影响力的非政府组织与想要提供帮助的学生联系起来，我可以尝试帮助支持一个新的基金会。

穿过露天市场，经过集团商场，转身面对霓虹闪烁的建筑标志路，我终于走上了通往学校的路。“连续占用”的概念一直困扰着我。从种族灭绝的广泛影响到“吐口水烧焦的动物”的更详细的分类，一切都是过去和现在的融合。

 

金边道路上的混乱、不公正和欢乐从根本上造就了我，而当我离开它们时，我只会继续成长。当我把车开进停车场时，我知道我的教育早在铃声响起之前就已经开始了。

 

这些申请文书展示了申请者们对“金钱、工作、社会阶层”这一话题的个体思考。尽管这些思考可能并不完整，但正如《纽约时报》所强调的，关于“钱”这个主题的一些基本问题实际上是关于你自己的核心问题：我拥有什么？我渴望什么？与周围的人相比，我处于什么样的位置？我应该如何看待金钱？这些问题并没有简单的答案，也未必存在唯一正确的回答。然而，学会提出这些困难问题是向“了解你在世界中的位置”迈出的重要一步。

留学申请文书不仅是一种书面表达，更是一次自我发现和呈现的过程。在这个过程中，申请者以真实而自然的方式展示了自己的个性、成就和目标，为招生官呈现了一份独一无二的申请材料，从而提升了被录取的机会。近年来，随着留学竞争的激烈，文书的重要性愈发凸显。文书不仅仅是一份材料，更是能够扭转招生官对你印象的关键。如果同学们在文书撰写有什么问题，可以联系梦可得哦！梦可得的经验丰富文书导师团队将为提供专业指导，助力克服各种“疑难杂症”，拿下梦校offer！