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wholerenguru3 (厚仁学术哥)
直到现在我都记得收到哈佛的录取通知书时的喜悦,我妈妈也为我感到骄傲!
本科申请时,因为我的SAT分数较低,这意味着我与哈佛大学无缘了,我也不敢妄想能像我优秀的堂兄们一样进入哈佛。但是与任何中国家庭的孩子一样,“哈佛大学”这四个字贯穿着我整个童年,伴我长大。每当说起哈佛大学,我妈妈总是怀着崇拜和敬畏的口吻,我知道那永远是她的“梦想”。
尽管我拿着4.0的GPA,获得过预科全额奖学金,有过许多做领导者的经历,但因为SAT分数,我无法被常春藤大学录取。而在一次非常棒的访校之旅后,我被一所小型女子大学录取了。
作为一所“七姐妹”学校,我本科就读的这所女子学院被认为是最好的单性别学院之一,在这里我得到了非常好的教育。在这所学院,我结识了我的教授,参加了各种各样的课程,获得了本科的研究经费,还作出了原创性的研究和论文,也最终发表在了同行评议的期刊上。但是,我仍然梦想着去哈佛——不仅是为了我自己,也是为了让我妈妈开心。是的,尽管我出生在美国,但让我妈妈感到骄傲对我来说一直都很重要。
当我收到来自哈佛的那封录取信时,我既高兴又紧张: 我能做好吗?这是正确的选择吗?拿到这份offer后我考虑了一年,最终还是决定参加了哈佛大学的硕士项目,并专注于人类发展和心理学的研究。我也曾担心我的教育经费问题,但我的奶奶很支持我——她告诉我的父亲,他必须找到一种方法来支付这笔教育学费。
哈佛的生活正如你所期待的那样: 哈佛广场上熙熙攘攘的学生们,许多时髦的商店和餐馆在校园附近,也可以去Cambridge和波士顿市区去游玩。在哈佛期间,我发现这是一个有着悠久传统的地方。事物变化缓慢,但找寻答案似乎需要一些时间。我记得在威德纳图书馆迷路了(那可不是一个小地方!),但我也记得,这样的地方拥有巨大的资源和能力,甚至可以把最有趣的名人带到校园里来(谁会想到我会在这样一个受人尊敬的校园里看到演员梅尔 · 吉布森?)。我可以参加有趣的联课活动,这是我所修的心理学课程的一部分;我还被分配给一个内城的初中女孩当咨询指导。哈佛的巨大影响力使得学生能够轻松地与这些机会联系起来,因为它的名字本身就可以打开了一扇本来关闭的大门(或者至少是微微开启的大门)。
哈佛最令人惊奇的地方就是学生。如果你找到了合适的团体,你会被一些真正杰出聪明的人包围。是的,确实有非常聪明的人,但是就像生活中的每个地方一样,也有一些人让你奇怪:“这个人到底是怎么来到这里的? ”我记得当我看到一个本科生在写一篇关于《辛普森一家》的论文时,我感到非常震惊。我无法理解如何以动画片为主题提交作为完成学位的论文。但这正是哈佛学生的魅力所在——他们足够聪明,具有令人难以置信的创造力,并且足智多谋,能够找到教师导师帮助他们培养与众不同的智力成长。
如果你有机会接受哈佛教育,你就会知道大门为你打开。周围可能没有人不知道这个名字。对我来说,无论多么小的一个学位,这就是我更有理由让我妈妈有吹嘘的权利说她的孩子上了哈佛。
英文原文:
I still remember the joy I felt when I received my letter of acceptance from Harvard. My mom was so proud of me! My lower SAT scores meant I had no chance of Harvard as an undergraduate, and I did not dare dream I would have ever had a chance to attend Harvard like so many of my cousins had done. Similar to any Chinese child, I had grown up hearing “哈佛大学” throughout my childhood. It was spoken by my mom with reverence and awe, and I know it was always her ‘dream’.
Despite a 4.0 GPA, full scholarship to prep school, and too many leadership positions to count, my SAT score held me back from Ivy admission as an undergraduate. I matriculated at a small women’s college instead, after an amazing college campus tour. A ‘Seven Sisters’ school, my undergraduate college was considered one of the best single sex colleges and I had a wonderful education. One where I got to know my professors, took a variety of classes on my campus and at neighboring ones, received an undergraduate research grant and also designed original research that led to a thesis which was ultimately published in a peer reviewed journal. But still, I dreamed of Harvard — if not for me, to make my mom happy. Yes, even though I was born in America, it has always been important for me to make my mom proud.
When I received that letter, I was so happy and also, so nervous: would I be able to do well? Was this the right choice? Though I initially deferred my admission one year, I still eventually decided to attend the masters program at Harvard, to concentrate my studies on Human Development and Psychology. I was worried about financing my education, but even my grandma rooted for me — she told my father he had to find a way to pay for this education.
Life at Harvard is what you would expect: bustling students in Harvard Square, with a number of hip stores and restaurants to visit near campus and farther off campus in Cambridge and Boston. During my time at Harvard, I found it was a place of long-standing tradition. Things were slow to change, and finding answers could take a while. I remember getting lost in Widener Library (it’s not a small place!) but I also remember the institutions’ vast resources and ability to bring even the most interesting celebrities to campus (who would have thought I could have seen actor Mel Gibson on such an esteemed campus?). My lecture classes had interesting co-curricular activities and as part of one Psychology course, I was also assigned to mentor an inner-city girl in junior high. Harvard’s vast reach allows for students to easily get connected with such opportunities because its name alone opens doors that would otherwise be closed (or at the very least, only slightly ajar).
What is amazing about Harvard is the students. If you find the right group, you can be surrounded by some truly brilliant minds. Yes, there are incredibly smart people but also, like with everywhere in life, there are those that make you wonder, “How the heck did this person get here?”. I remember being shocked that one undergraduate student was writing her thesis about the TV show, “The Simpsons”. I could not fathom how an intellectual document submitted for completion of a degree could be based on the subject of an animated cartoon. But this is the beauty of a Harvard student – they are smart enough to be incredibly creative, and resourceful enough to find faculty mentors who will foster their idiosyncratic intellectual growth.
If you have the opportunity to get a Harvard education, you will know that doors will open for you. There’s likely no one around who does not know this name. And for me, that was all the more reason to give my mom the ‘bragging rights’ to say her kid went to Harvard, for however small a degree.
美国招生协会
AIRC权威认证
80位
美国双语导师
10年+
名校申请经验
8600+
名校名企录取
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wholerenguru3 (厚仁学术哥)