Sometimes, accidents are a good thing.
SAS senior Ivy Fan describes her tour at Yale as an 'accidental visit'. 「Over summer I was going for college visits on the East Coast and Yale was on the way. Initially, we didn’t go for a tour but just walked around the campus. I didn’t expect to love it, but when I got there it was beautiful.」
It turned out to be a fortuitous visit. 「I got accepted into Yale College.」
有時候，機緣巧合也是一件美好的事。
在上海美國學校高中畢業生Ivy Fan看來，她的耶魯之行著實是一次「偶然的拜訪」，「我趁暑假參觀了美國東海岸的幾所大學，並順路參觀了耶魯大學，原計劃只是在校園內走走看看，並沒有想到我會愛上那裡，但當我走進校園的時候，才發現那裡簡直美極了。」
這次參觀雖純屬偶然，但也是一次意外的收穫。接下來她便得知「我被耶魯大學錄取了。」
The moment Ivy heard that she was accepted by Yale is one of those memories that will last for a lifetime. Ivy recalls that last day before Winter Break, when she was at the counseling center. 「I was pretty sure I was either getting rejected or deferred because Yale has a very low acceptance rate. And I was prepared for that. But that morning I was checking my phone, and read 『Ivy, Welcome to Yale College』. I was literally stunned.」
As she just couldn’t believe the news at first sight, Ivy showed the message to her friends. She walked away from the counseling center thinking, 「If the message is still there when I come back, it is probably real」. Later that day, as she called her parents, the news started to sink in. 「My dad normally speaks Chinese to me but he reacted in English saying, 'That’s great, Ivy.』 I began to realize that this was real when I found myself actually crying."
收到耶魯大學的錄取消息的那一刻是Ivy將銘記一生的回憶，她回想道就在寒假開始前一天，她還在接受高校諮詢中心的輔導，「我當時已經確信我不是被拒了就是被延遲錄取了，因為耶魯大學的錄取率極低，而且我已經準備好接受這樣的結果了。但那天早上我卻接到了一條信息寫著『Ivy，歡迎來到耶魯』，我被這條信息震驚得說不出話來。」
起初Ivy根本不敢相信這個好消息，於是她又給朋友們看了這條信息。當她走出高校輔導中心時還在想，「如果等我回來的時候這條信息還在那兒，那就應該是真的吧」。那天晚些時候，當她在電話裡告訴父母這個好消息時，她才真正地開始接受這個現實。「我爸爸平時一般都用中文和我交流，但那天他用英文脫口而出，『太棒了Ivy。』在眼淚奪眶而出的時候，我才真正相信這一切都是真的。」
We sat down with Ivy to talk about how she earned it:
Ivy與我們促膝詳談她是如何成功被耶魯大學錄取的:
What made your application stand out?
「When I was writing the application, all of the answers were really 『me』, and I wrote the things I really wanted to say. For example, Yale has a couple of short answer questions–just one or two sentences. One of the questions was, 『If you were going to be a different person for one day, who would you be, and why?』 I thought about this for a long time because I didn’t want to go with someone like Albert Einstein or Elizabeth Blackwell although they are my 『intellectual idols』. Instead I wrote about an 『ordinary 7-year-old on an ordinary Wednesday』, because I am no longer a kid and I think I have forgotten what it is like to be one. The only thing that I can say about my application is that I wrote myself into it. Somehow, that caught someone’s eye and made them want to fight for me."
怎樣讓你的申請材料脫穎而出？
「我在填寫申請材料時，所有的答案都基於真實的「我」，都表達了我的真實想法。例如耶魯大學申請材料上有些問題只需申請人用一兩句話簡要作答，其中一個問題是，『如果你在某一天會變成一個不一樣的人，那麼你想成為什麼樣的人，為什麼？』我思考了很長時間，因為我並不想成為阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦或是伊莉莎白·布萊克威爾這樣「我原本的知識的楷模」，我反而回答說我想成為「在一個平凡的星期三的一個平凡的7歲孩子」，因為我再也不是孩子了，我覺得我也已經忘了回到童年是什麼感覺。」
What was the most difficult part of the application process?
「The hardest part of the application process was definitely the writing, because on one hand you want to be honest, you want to say who you are, but at the same time you have to be selective about which side you want to show. I had to be sincere while also showing the best possible version of myself.
It’s not so much reflecting on myself as it is defining myself. That is the crux of the matter when it comes to both writing the personal statement and the school-specific essays."
申請過程中最困難的部分是什麼？
「申請過程中最難的部分莫過於寫作了，因為你既想誠實地展現你自己，同時又必須謹慎選擇你想要展示自己的那一面。所以我決定在保證真誠的前提下展示最好的自己。」與其說是對自己反思，倒不如說是對自己的定義。這就是既要寫下個人陳述，又要寫下針對特定學校的問題的文章的關鍵所在。」
How did SAS help you through the application process?
「First of all, there are the counselors and the teachers. They are always willing to talk to you about your future. So I had long discussions with my math teacher and my Capstone teacher about college. In junior year, the college counselors organized a workshop where they showed us what it is like behind the scenes in a college admissions office. During this workshop I also participated in smaller sessions where we would brainstorm about our personal statements. Later on in the process, I received all the support I needed for my recommendations. Second, the other students have all been very helpful just bouncing ideas off each other. There is definitely a strong sense of community at SAS, and we have all been helping each other through the application process.」
上海美國學校在申請過程中給你提供了怎樣的幫助？
「首先，學校的顧問和老師們總是樂於和學生們探討他們的未來。所以我與數學老師和Capstone老師就大學申請進行了促膝長談」，高三時高校顧問們組織了講習班向我們展示大學招生辦的幕後工作是怎樣的，同時我還參加了講習班的小組討論會，集思廣益地討論如何撰寫個人陳述。在申請後期，我的推薦信也得到了校方的全力協助；其次，同學們自由發表的真知灼見也都非常有幫助。上海美國學校的群體意識相當強，同學們在申請過程中都能互幫互助。
What are you most excited about?
「I know some of my peers have very high expectations, but I went through the application process thinking that I would be alright at any college. As long as I make the most out of it. That’s still true right now. Even though I』ve gotten into a great college, at the end of the day it’s still about me and what I will get out of it. So I would say that I am most excited about college in general. Making new friends, living on my own, trying to manage my time while not stressing out that much. I think it will be fun.」
你最興奮的一點是什麼？
「我知道有些同學們胸懷大志，但我覺得我只要能順利申請到一所大學，無論哪一間大學都可以，只要我盡力就行，我當下的心態依舊如此。儘管我進入了一所優秀的名校，但到最後仍然是看我自己，以及我能從學校裡學到什麼。所以最讓我感到興奮的是大學生活本身，在那裡我可以交到新朋友、獨立生活，在避免過度勞累的同時自己分配時間，我覺得這將會是有趣的經歷。」
Congratulations Ivy! We are so extremely proud of you.
Ivy’s graduating class marks the 10th anniversary of the first graduates at SAS in Pudong, and the 100th anniversary of the first graduates at Shanghai American School. Our seniors are off to amazing places around the world and we are excited to be sharing those stories. Keep an eye out for the next 「Next Big Thing」 with Bradley Chen, who was recently accepted by Cornell.
恭喜你，Ivy！我們都太為你感到自豪了。
Ivy所在的高中畢業班是上海美國學校浦東校區培養的第10屆畢業班，同時也是上海美國學校培養的第100屆畢業班，我們的高中畢業生遍布全球各地名校，我們也非常樂於分享這些求學故事。請繼續關注下期「下一件大事」。下周，我們將分享2017屆畢業的Bradley Chen的故事。他被康奈爾大學錄取了。
Founded in 1912, Shanghai American School (SAS) is the largest and oldest international school in China with two state-of-the-art campuses located in Puxi and Pudong.
創建於1912年，上海美國學校是中國最大的也是歷史最悠久的國際學校。學校共有兩個設施先進的校區，分別坐落於浦西和浦東。
www.saschina.org
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