在我们2016-17年度的美本申请中，有这样一位神秘的同学T，他一共斩获了斯坦福大学，宾夕法尼亚大学，康奈尔大学，西北大学，圣路易斯华盛顿大学，莱斯大学6所名校的录取，之前我们就分享过他的申请故事（阅读一名澳洲高中生是为何被斯坦福大学和常青藤同时录取的？！），今天我们来读一读他写给自己，写给51UStudy，以及写给未来申请同学的一篇心得，这既是对他自己申请和准备经历的回顾，但愿也能给未来的你一些启发和鼓舞。
我们51UStudy将邀请T同学在6月18日下午2点在我们的墨尔本办公室和大家面对面分享自己的心得
活动地点: Level 6, 388 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000
活动时间: June 18, 2017 (Sunday), 2pm
请填写下面的表单报名 本次活动完全免费
(原文为英文，我们进行了翻译。原文附于文末)
By: T同学
“过去的几年对我来说是一段谦卑的旅程，我的志向和个性发生了很多变化，与此同时发生变化的是我的想法，热情和能力。当我现在往回看，大约六七年前的时候，那时候我还是一个能量无穷的孩子，过着天真烂漫的日子，生活里充斥着各种活动，体育赛事，音乐表演等等课外活动。而当现在，六年以后我发现，现在的自己虽然依然是那个被宠爱的，充满活力的年轻人，但是我的内在已经发生了很大的变化，我的好奇心驱使我不断地在探索，尽管有时候这种探索并不被人看好，甚至受到反对；但我发现在生活彰显魅力的另一面之前，我变得很卑微，这一点让我惊讶又兴奋；而这另一面就是是我的梦想，我的追求，我的自我价值和我对成长以及变得更好的渴求。在过去的这两年里，我确实经历了这样一种自我成长，因为我极其幸运遇到了51UStudy，正是他们帮助我展开了实现梦想的路，将我和我对世界最高学府的渴求联结了起来。
确实，澳洲有一个很好的教育系统，为年轻人提供了很多很好的发展选择，然而由于地域，历史，文化等等原因，导致澳洲缺乏一种全球性的氛围，让我觉得在身边的人群里少了一些多样化和趣味性。我第一次产生这样的感觉是在我十年级的时候，我参加了斯坦福大学的夏校，相较于澳洲平庸的校园生活，我被深深地震撼了。我身边的同学们个个充满活力，聪明无比，但又勤奋，热情，充满求知欲和解决问题的精神。这段大开眼界的经历让我开始思考，我应该如何去改变自己，改进自己呢？作为一所远负盛名，海纳百川的名校，斯坦福大学，或者任何一所美国的知名学府或者常青藤学府，都为全球各地的有志青年提供一个广阔的舞台让大家来施展抱负，全面发展。于是，追求这样的名校变成了我的心之所想。
我真的很幸运，51UStudy帮助我为了实现这样的目标，有效并且精准地提供了必要的台阶，从SAT的辅导，申请的规划，选校的战略到最后申请工作的展开。我常常觉得，常青藤名校就像是隐藏很深的巨型城堡，有着沉重的铁门，如果想要进入，你需要展现出很强的能量（力）来打开这扇门，这就像是申请的过程。在这其中，51UStudy对我的帮助就如同是门把手一样，它教会我用更有效的方法来开启这些神秘之门，更重要的是，它教会我在这其中不断认识自己，改变自己，突破自己，从而使我可以今后自信满满地在世界一流学府与同道中人共同奋斗，甚至可以遇见如Evan Spiegel（Snapchat创始人）或者Mark Zuckerberg（Facebook创始人）。
具体来说，51UStudy对我的帮助在于，老师们的精心规划避免我走了很多弯路，节省了我在12年级宝贵的时间，无论是在活动的策划实施还是在申请文书和其他材料的准备上。他们不仅仅简单地告诉我应该做什么，而是给了我指导和空间让我专注于自己动手，发掘我的潜力。例如，基于我对物理的兴趣，他们建议应该建立自己的物理俱乐部；因为我对编程感兴趣，他们建议我应该用这项兴趣和能力帮助他人，于是我在同学复习HSC期间，开发了一个方便大家复习MCQ的app。
最后还是诚挚感谢51UStudy在过去两年里对我的不懈的帮助，支持和关爱。没有Ray和他的Team，我不可能坚持不懈地追求我对物理的热爱，他们教会了我守护自己最初的兴趣，教会了我用辩证思考的精神去看问题，教会了我要将我的这些特质体现在课外活动和一套简单而让人记忆深刻的申请材料中，而这些正是美国名校在录取中看中的东西。我的这段路程很长也很短，如果说我还有什么希望可以做得更好的，那就是希望还可以探索一些其它的领域，例如机器人，工程，古典音乐等等很多我也感兴趣的。如果你也是和曾经的我一样，有志于去向如斯坦福一样的全球顶级学府，那么我会建议你勇敢地去尝试吧，不要畏惧于身边人的看法，尝试不同的学科和活动，从而发现的你真正的兴趣所在，这正是高中最重要的意义之一。”
原文：
The past few years has been a humbling journey. My ambitions and character have developed naturally together with my friendships in and outside school and so have my ideals, passions and skill sets. As I look back to my old self – 6, 7 years ago – I see a young energetic child, spoiled by the multitudes of activities, sports, musical opportunities and containing all the naivete a child possesses. As I look at myself now 6 years later, though I still see the spoilt energetic youth whose curiosity compels him to explore and probe around dangerously, oftentimes met with scoldings, I also see myself humbled down by the greater, more enchanting aspects of life – my dreams, my purpose, my sense of self or in other words, my desire to develop. This self-development process solidified during my last year where I was extremely fortunate to have 51UStudy with me to tie up my journey into tailored applications that opened gateways for my future in the US.
Though Australia does provide a great educational system with great career options, a worldly experience is narrowed down by the lack of diversity in surrounding people. This feeling first emerged when I attended Stanford’s summer course and compared it to the dull school life I was accustomed to everyday. This eye-opening experience provided me an insight – a first step -to my place in this world and the ongoing quest to self-improve. As a universally recognised institution that accepts students around the globe, Stanford,or any other US institutions for that matter, provides an excelling platform for character and aspirations to develop. 51UStudy provided me steps required for me to reach my goal efficiently and accurately. In my imagination, the Ivy Leagues were like iron barred doors of a gigantic castle, hiding away a portion of possibilities of my future filled with life changing experiences. Those doors were large and heavy and required a lot of energy to push open by yourself – that was similar to the application process. However, having 51UStudy there with me was like having the doorknobs to those iron doors. It provided me witha much more efficient way to open to iron doors and access what hid behind – the possibility of being nurtured up in a world class institution where you could meet the next Evan Spiegel or Mark Zuckerberg.
51UStudy relieved me of hours of tireless planning and structured ways for me to access and write my application essays in a cohesive and inviting manner. It simplified my journey massively and provided me with a clear goal inmind. Rather than telling me what to do, 51UStudy allowed me to grow and focus on things in which I was interested. To name a few examples, I was interested in Physics so I started my own Physics Club in school. I was also passionate about programming and developed a multiple-choice application that could help my peers in their HSC.
I have grown exponentially during the past year and I would like to thank 51UStudy for the incessant undivided support and attention they have given me. Without Ray and his team, I would never had efficiently projected my Physics interests that underpins my extracurricular and research subjects to the US institutions from a set of succinct and impressive application materials.That is what they are looking for – for students whose authentic passions and critical thinking will challenge and broaden their peers’ way of thinking and is demonstrative in their extracurricular activities. My experiences throughout my journey has been long and short. I wish I could have explored more in other areas that I might have been interested in. My advice for students currently in high school would be to explore everything and discover what your passion is. High school definitely is the time for self-exploration.
