《纽约时报》文书征集大赛作品欣赏

方舟

纽约时报中文网举办了一项征文活动，邀请申请美国大学课程、并成功拿到Offer的中国读者分享帮助他们拿到入学资格的申请文书。我们从投稿中挑选出了部分文稿，希望与读者分享这些优秀的中国留学生的经验。

1
生于江苏长在美国，我的身世之谜

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Maya Xia Ludtke



本文是来自Maya Xia Ludtke的投稿。她目前就读于韦斯利学院一年级，尚未决定专业，但倾向于选择环境研究。Maya生于江苏，在婴儿时期被从中国领养，在马萨诸塞州剑桥长大，2014年毕业于剑桥林吉与拉丁学校。

The first nine months of my life are a mystery.
我生命中的最初九个月是一个谜。

A tiny jade bracelet and a photograph of an inexplicably circular face on top of a torn red sweater make up my memory album.  A few stapled pages of ambiguous papers constitute my birth record. I do know that I was found in Xia Xi, a farming town of flowers and trees. Though I was nervous about shattering the stable but fragile image I had created in my mind about those nine months, this past August I went to Xia Xi and began to crack through that tableau and experience what my life could have been.
一只小玉镯和一张穿着破旧红色毛衣的圆脸女孩的照片就是我全部的记忆。几张钉好的模糊纸张是我的出生记录。我知道我是在中国花木之城夏溪被找到的。那九个月在我脑海中已存留着永久但又脆弱的影像。虽然我对破坏这些印象感到紧张，但在过去的这个八月里，我回到夏溪，走进和感受我本应经历的一切。

There, I met the girls I could have grown up with, and with them visited the places where I would have spent each day. I was overwhelmed by simultaneous feelings of deep connection and unbridgeable distance.  As we struggled to narrow the chasms created by language and culture, I found familiarity in their faces and the trees enveloping us.
在这里，我遇到了本会与我一同成长的女孩们，和她们一起去那些我本应每天都去的地方。我同时感受着亲密深切的联系和无法逾越的距离，这让我不知所措。在尝试缩小语言文化带来的差异的同时，我在她们的面孔上看到亲密，在环绕着我们的丛丛树木之中感受熟悉。

“So, what are you?” the girls asked me. “ You look Chinese on the outside but you are American on the inside.” At first, I detested this description. If the substance of my being is not Chinese, I might as well be white. Once content with describing myself as “Chinese American,” now I was hit with its vagueness. Where do I belong between being Chinese and becoming American? In some ways my new friends were right; our many fragmented conversations during the three weeks we were together affirmed the differences in how our minds had developed to perceive the world.
“那么，你是什么人？”这些女孩问我。“你外表看上去像中国人，但是内心是美国人。”最初，我厌恶这种说法。如果我的外表不是中国人，我本该是个白人。曾一度满足以“美籍华人”自居的我，如今却被这模糊的说法伤害了。中国人？美国人？我在这两者之间到底属于哪个？在某种程度上，我的新朋友们是对的。我们一起相处的三个星期里曾有过很多零散的对话，这些交谈证实我们看待世界的方式是如此不同。

“You are so lucky, you have no discipline, easy school, and freedom,” the Xia Xi girls would say with certainty and envy. “All we get to do is study.”
“你可真幸运。你不需要遵守什么规矩，学业轻松，还自由，”夏溪的女孩们会如此笃定而又嫉妒地说。“我们呢，只能学习，没别的。”

I felt guilty about my “luck” and the truth in their words. Still, their idealistic views about America and the ease of my life perplexed me. They had quickly dismissed my out-of-school activities and community service as lacking real learning. Yet, soon I realized how their understanding of “smart” contrasts with mine. Being smart is the high ranking a teacher gives them; studying is their only way of getting there.  These tight borders command their childhood.
我对我的“幸运”和她们言语中的事实感到内疚。但她们对美国和我安逸生活的理想化看法让我很困惑。她们对我的校外活动和社区服务不屑一顾，不把那看做是真正的学习。然而，我很快意识到她们对“聪明”的理解与我截然不同。老师给她们的高名次意味着聪明；而学习是唯一的途径。这些严格的界线控制着她们的童年。

I permeated those borders as we talked about growing up, gender roles, equality, and relationships. No one before me had given them the space to talk about such topics.  As a girl born in Xia Xi and living in America, I was the most foreign person the girls had ever met.  They had never come in contact with anyone who looked different than they do. When I told them about the many friends I have who look different than I do, they were astonished. Being with them gave me deeper appreciation for the diversity that my life in America gives me.
在我们对成长、性别角色、平等和人际关系的讨论中，我慢慢跨越了这些界线。在我之前从未有人给予她们讨论这些话题的空间。生于夏溪、长在美国的我是这些女孩们遇到过的最不同的人。她们从没有和看起来不同于她们的人接触过。当我告诉她们，我的很多朋友看起来比我还要不同时，她们震惊了。与她们的相处让我更加欣赏美国生活赋予我的多样性。

For those I met in Xia Xi, family is blood and ancestry. “You do not know your real parents?” strangers would ask me soon after we met, sympathetic and eager to help me find mine. “When is your birthday? What orphanage were you from?” To me, their words “real mother” sit heavy in my mind. Even if I’d spoken their dialect fluently, I am not sure I could have explained. I have a real mother, who raised me and loves me. My biological family might not be whom I romanticized them to be and finding such strangers would not instantly conjure love. Instead, it was in the welcoming care that countless strangers showed me - in placing watermelon slices in both of my hands, pulling a comb through my hair, and attempting to cool me in 110-degree heat - that I found home in Xia Xi, and that was enough.
对我在夏溪碰到的人来说，家庭是血脉也是祖先。“你不知道你真正的父母是谁？”陌生人刚碰到我时总这样问，充满同情，还热心帮助我寻找我的父母。“你哪天出生？你是从哪个孤儿院出来的？”于我而言，她们口中的“亲生母亲”在我脑海中萦绕不去。即使我可以流利地说他们的方言，我也不确定我能够解释清楚。我有一个真正的妈妈，她抚养我长大并且爱我。我的生身家人也许并不是我理想中的那样，找到这样的“陌生人”也无法立刻拥有爱。反而，爱是我在家乡夏溪中碰到的无数陌生人给我的热情关怀：把切好的西瓜塞到我的双手，为我梳头发，在110华氏度的高温中试着让我凉快些。有这些爱就够了。


2
The Passion for Media Industry Makes Me Continue the Journey
对媒体的热爱让我坚持前行

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Courtesy of Fan Yixin
本文是西北大学Medill新闻学理学硕士在读的范伊馨的投稿。她来自山西太原，曾就读于山西大学附中。2012年她从山西大学英语语言文学专业转学至明尼苏达大学德鲁斯校区学习传播学。今年她被西北大学Medill新闻、媒体与整合市场传播学院录取。下文由她本人翻译为中文。

By Yixin Fan  December 17, 2015

I always wanted to work in media industry and I have had multiple experiences both in China and America in the related field.
一直以来我都很想从事媒体方面的工作，并在中国和美国都有过相关经历。
I am currently a senior student at University of Minnesota Duluth studying Communication with a minor in Journalism.
我现在是一名明尼苏达大学德卢斯校区传播专业的大四学生，辅修新闻专业。

I was born and raised in China in a "media family" where many family members suggested me to stay away from media industry because of the intense working environment and people’s prejudice toward media professionals. My passion for the industry, however, kept me from listening to the advice.
我出生和成长在中国的一个“媒体家庭”。因为媒介工作强度大且媒体工作者承受着社会不少的非议，所以家中许多从事媒体工作的长辈曾劝我不要从事该行业，但对于这一行的热爱致使我没有听从这样的劝诫。

High school year I joined the editorial team my school magazine. I was first working as the graphic designer and copyeditor, and later the chief editor. I helped the school publish three issues and generated contents for two more issues after demission.
高中时期我加入了学校校刊的编辑团队，起先是一名美术和文字编辑，之后曾担任执行主编。我帮助学校出版了三期刊物，并且在离职后持续为两期刊物提供了稿件。

Publication design and writing was my edge back in China. Throughout the years I lived there I received many awards, including a few provincial prizes and one national prize for a short story I wrote based on Sichuan Earthquake in May 2008.
在国内时，出版物设计和写作是我的强项。我曾获得过一些省级写作和设计的奖项。2009年我的一篇以08年汶川大地震为背景的短篇小说曾获国家级奖项。
After high school I chose English major at first at Shanxi University and then went to study abroad in U.S. in 2012 at University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) for media related studies.
高中毕业后我选择就读了山西大学的英语专业，不久于2012年通过明尼苏达大学德卢斯校区与山西大学的出国项目转学到美国进行媒体相关专业的深造。

My foreign identity brought me inconvenience in many ways at first, and being unable to use English as efficiently as native English speakers made me feel like a former ballerina now spending life in a wheelchair. The feeling faded away quickly when I started to fit in. I started to publish news stories, and found out that my sensibility in culture and emotion helped me discover more stories while attending events, facing issues, and talking with others. My first published story Giant Panda home for Chinese Duluthians received the highest view count on Lake Voice News ran by Writing Department at UMD. Later I worked for Lake Voice News as a copyeditor during a summer.
初来乍到，我感受到自己的外籍身份带来的诸多不便，也为自己不能像本地人一样熟练地运用英语感到难过，好像从前的芭蕾舞者如今要在轮椅上度日。这样的感觉在我逐渐适应环境后便消失了。我开始发表新闻作品，并发觉自己在文化和情绪方面的敏感程度可以帮助我在面对不同活动、事件、和人物时挖掘出更多的故事。我发表的第一篇新闻故事《大熊猫中餐馆，德卢斯中国人的家》在当时的明尼苏达大学德卢斯校区写作系主管的Lake Voice News上获得了该网站创办以来的最高点击率。之后的夏天我在网站担任了文编。

Accomplishing a degree in communication and journalism was quite a challenging journey for an international student from which I have improved a lot; therefore I decided to continue this journey and attend graduate journalism school.
对于一个国际学生来说，完成传播与新闻类的学历并不容易，从中我也受益不少，于是我决定申请研究生来继续这趟征程。

My goal is to strengthen my skills and find a job in media industry especially in publishing and international reporting. I want to keep learning new journalistic skills and techniques to help me stay fresh in the field, and hope to work for a media company in America or start my own magazine in China in future.
我的目标是加强自己的技能，并在媒体行业特别是出版或国际新闻领域找到一份工作。我希望可以继续学习新闻相关的技能与技术，使自己在媒介领域持续处于前沿。更加长远地，我希望可以在美国的一家媒介公司工作，或将来在中国创办自己的杂志。

I organized my media related experiences and working samples in my personal website. Please free feel to check them out and hope to meet you at Medill next summer.
我将自己媒体相关的经历和写作样本整理发表在了我的个人网站上，敬请查阅。希望在来年夏天与你在Medill相遇。



3
科学与人文让我看到世界的美
I Observe the World Through Science and Arts

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金延峰
本文是来自金延峰的投稿，他目前就读于明德学院一年级，修读计算机科学与心理学双学位。金延峰来自辽宁沈阳，高中就读于东北育才中学。下文由他本人翻译为中文。

By Tony Jin  December 16, 2015

The aircraft turbulence stops. As the plane moves above the grim clouds, a bright beam of sunlight slips through the window. Outside the window is a brand new world: the once suffocating sky has opened. The sun, nature’s omnipotent artist, reluctantly bids farewell, turning the azure into tangerine. Stormy clouds boil underneath, with the size of a boundless ocean and the fury of the Yellow River…
机身的颠簸停止了。当飞机越过云层，一束阳光从窗户中溜了进来。放眼望去，外面仿佛一个崭新的世界：原本压抑的天空打开了。落日就像大自然全能的艺术家，不情愿地向人们说着再见，利用最后一丝余晖将那抹天蓝染成了橘红色。脚下，乌云在沸腾，阔如大海，怒似黄河……

"Hey Tony, what are you doing?" My friend asks.
“哎，你干什么呢?”我的朋友问我。
"The sky... it's like God’s masterpiece. How can it be so beautiful?" I mumble as my soul returns to reality.
“这天空，就像上天的杰作。怎么会这么美……”我小声嘟囔着，还沉浸在窗外的美景之中。
"Come on. You’re already in high school. Leave the sky for kids to marvel at."
“拜托，你已经是高中生了。这种小孩子的事儿你也做。”

Embarrassed, I try to defend myself, but a voice of doubt stifles my words: What is the point of staring outside?
我有些尴尬，试图为自己辩护，却因为自己心中的质疑开不了口。是啊，盯着窗外看到底有什么用呢？

I have always been attracted to nature's beauty. It makes me think. I still remember my childhood hobby of looking at the night sky and the star lights that spent years, or even centuries, to arrive at our planet. Those same lights enabled me to travel through time and visualize my dream of being a scientist, artist and innovator:
我总是被大自然的美所吸引。它的美让我思考。我还记得小时候在夜空下看星星的爱好。望着那来自几千年前的点点星光，我仿佛穿越了时空，看到了我想成为一名科学家、艺术家和创新者的梦想:

As a luminescent star trail poured into my eyes, I found myself looking through the eyes of Galileo, awed by the infinite opportunities of the universe. Tracing the outline of a quartet of celestial lights, I saw Pachelbel sitting high, appreciating his greatest masterpiece --- Canon in D. Suddenly, a bright comet raced past, leading me into a small garage, where Steve Jobs changed the world by turning pure science into a real work of art.
当一缕银色的星光流入眼中，我仿佛看见伽利略当年所看到的天空，同他一样感受到了对宇宙无限可能的敬畏。当那一点点光芒融汇在一起，我仿佛看见巴哈贝尔端坐于天际，欣赏着他最伟大的杰作——D调卡农。突然，一颗彗星划过天空，带我进入了那个实现梦想的车库。就在那里，乔布斯将科学与艺术完美地融合在了一起。

Human history recorded in those ancient lights flashed before my eyes, unfolding, dissolving. It seemed to me that life was both transient and everlasting. Just as the lights of dead stars were still decorating the night sky above us, so the accomplishments of those ephemeral lives were still affecting the way we lived every day. As a child, I naively hoped that in the future, when people look up at the sky, they would also see my story as an innovator standing at the crossroad of science and arts. That is still my dream.
这些古老的光记录着人类的历史，如电影般在我眼前展开，又逝去。生命对我来说仿佛既短暂，又永恒。那些星星可能已经死去，但它们的光芒仍然装饰着这片天空，就好像那些短暂的生命仍因他们的成就而影响着我们生活的方方面面。小时候，我很天真地希望，有一天，当人们抬起头时，他们也会读到我的故事，在那颗明星中看到一名站在科学与人文艺术交汇处的创新者。这仍是我的梦想。

Nature gives me two eyes. Through one eye, I observe the world of science; through the other eye, I appreciate the world of arts. On seeing the perfect shape of snowflakes melting in my hand, I run home to search for the formation of snow crystals. Noticing the gradual change in the color of the dusk sky, I begin to delve deeper into the scattering of lights. The sun’s daily movements inspire me to think about the rise and fall of empires and lives. The tender light of the moon that has always guarded human civilization promotes my curiosity about our ancestors’ philosophies of human existence. Viewing nature through the lens of science and arts, I truly enjoy the beauty of this three-dimensional world.
上天赋予了我两只眼睛。我用一只来观察科学的世界，另一只来欣赏人文艺术的美。当看到那完美的六边形雪花在我手中融化时，我会立刻跑回家研究冰晶的形成。观察到黄昏时天空渐变的颜色，我会更深入地去探索光的散射。每天的日出日落让我联想到帝国的兴衰和人生的起起落落。那一直守护着人类文化的柔和的月光激励我去探索古代哲学家对于人类存在的思考。通过科学和人文艺术这两种角度来看待自然，我领略到了这个三维世界真正的美。

The plane turns right and my eyes regain focus on the sky outside. Darkness falls. Clouds dissolve.
随着飞机右转，我的眼神重新聚焦在窗外。夜幕开始降临，乌云已经散去。
Below the overarching sky, the planet of human lives rotates, now illuminated by clusters of man-made sparks. In the distant horizon where nature and human civilization meet, the boundary between science and arts vanishes.
苍穹之下，这颗承载着几十亿生命的行星在转动。此时，一簇簇人造的火花已将它点亮。在那遥远的天际，自然与人类文明相遇，而科学与人文艺术间的界限也变得模糊。
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