前兩篇達茅文書鏈接：
2023達茅成功文書（1）
2023達茅成功文書（2）
今天接著談第三篇，《Red Cabin Taught Me》
They say home is where the heart is, and while my body is in Abington, Pennsylvania, my heart is always 350 miles north, tucked away in a rustic, red cabin along the shore of Messer Pond. As I memorize endless lists of Spanish verbs, revise dozens of rhetorical analysis essays, and calculate countless derivatives, my personal Walden is never far from my mind.
While I feel an emotional attachment to this cabin, its presence has also catalyzed an awakening within me. My daily life feels like a sprint with a finish line constantly moving farther away. An initial 100-yard dash lengthens into a 3-mile jog, which extends into a marathon. I ace a calculus test; I lose a field hockey game. I pass my driving test; I don't make varsity. Each success comes with its respective failure, yet I run faster. This cycle continues, and I increase my relentless, exhausting pace, only pausing when I recall my experiences at Messer Pond.
However hectic my schedule is, I always feel a sense of peace and fulfillment at the cabin. Whether I am kayaking, hiking, or swimming, I focus on the journey, not the finish line. Motivated by the cadence of the earth, I reach my destination: the neighbor's dock; the mountain's summit; the pond's island. In contrast to the cacophony of deadlines, commitments, and schedules, nature's rhythms are steady, calculated. Each beat complements another, creating a symphony of wind gusts, pond ripples, and dragonfly wings. The tempo shifts from easygoing to explorative to enigmatic, and I enjoy every verse.
The melody becomes more contemplative at night as I stare at the constellations and infinite galaxy above me. These stars, light years away, form animals, heroes, utensils. It is not my infinitesimal existence that occupies my mind as I gaze at this integral of the universe. Rather, in these moments, my perspective broadens. As I take in this tapestry, its all-encompassing nature amazes me. It contains every disagreement, from an argument between siblings to a battle between world powers; every birth, from a screaming baby to a newly independent nation; every brilliant mind, from Tolstoy to Newton. When a vast world offers so much to learn and experience, why should my inconsequential marathon occupy my mind?
Although I realize how minimal my existence is in this tapestry of the universe, I still want my thread to stand out. I must transform my beige strand into a golden fiber that illuminates and strengthens the fabric. I must continue my marathon. I must sprint every mile. I must persevere, not to achieve glorious recognition, but to create consequential change.
However, the cabin has taught me to focus beyond the finish line-I'm not sure if the finish line even exists. I now run to nature's pace, driven by the wind shaking the tree branches and the determined buzzing of worker bees. After adopting this new perspective, I am finally able to appreciate each moment. While this change did not happen all at once, I gradually found myself enjoying classes instead of feeling held captive by school bells and deadlines. An English assignment is a chance to explore interpretations of dystopia, not an item on my to-do list. Physics class is a time to enjoy problem-solving, not to focus on memorizing formulas. Each day brings a new viewpoint; an additional thread comes into focus as I appreciate more and more of the mysterious tapestry.
I hope to one day admire this work in all its glory, but I realize that thought is naive- the tapestry will never fully emerge from the shadows. Just as I will continue to learn and grow, the universe will evolve. I cannot learn everything or understand every perspective; I'll never finish this race. Yet, the journey is so enjoyable that I appreciate its endless essence.
Mile after mile, the marathon persists, and I'm finally glad to be running.
【凸某評三】
打開這篇首段，讀到Spanish verbs，rhetorical analysis, derivatives，你肯定想到了那兩篇同樣捆綁著classroom subjects的哈佛文《Backyard four corners》和《Colors of everything》，都是帶著係列的比喻捆綁。但這篇《Cabin》的classroom subjects不用喻，而是硬綁。這種感覺，初來是突兀，漸漸讀下去卻又感覺真實。無論誰，在木屋裏學習的時候，腦子裏都不會想到什麽成係列的比喻的。
第二段，讀到success and failure交互的時候，這篇Cabin文的最突出的優點，就開始顯現了，a sprint with a moving finish line。如今的每個高中生，還有正在讀著這篇的AO，誰都能感受到這裏的真實情緒。在名校長的research paper和名校生的business plan都充滿造假的年代，真實算不算個赤裸裸的優點？你說吧！
第三段，主題“beyond the finish line”出現。Beyond Finish Line，這就是成長，每個人都有的成長。但T10裏，如果沒有幾塊medal幾個x-th place，已經很少有人敢於直接拿它來表達自己。在一個到處是別人琳琅滿目的finish line的環境裏，能有這份beyond自信的不多吧？聽熟了的“友誼第一、比賽第二”邏輯你，這裏讀不出耳中起繭的虛偽，倒是似曾相識的熟悉感。
後麵的段落，請您各自讀吧。這篇裏，figurative language有，但不必多說了。我想說的，是最後這個結尾句,"I am glad to be running"挺幹脆利落地再次點題。給你一個新時代的文書技巧：要麽在起首，要麽在結尾，給一句話的入題或者點題，這樣讓頭大了的AO能有心情欣賞你的文書故事。
如果要改，開篇“They say home is where the heart is, and while my body is in Abington, Pennsylvania, my heart is always 350 miles north, tucked away in a rustic, red cabin along the shore of Messer Pond”太長了，改成“My body is in Abington, Pennsylvania, but my heart is always in a rustic, red cabin, tucked 350 miles north ashore Messer Pond”。
