《贏在轉折點，邁向普林斯頓大學》-3--sample essay

普林斯頓大學要求從四個作文題目中挑選一個進行寫作。

璐璐選擇：你性格當中的哪一點是讓你最自豪的，它又是如何影響你的人生的（200 ～ 250 字）？

[What attribute of your personality are you most proud of and how has it impacted your life so far (200 ～ 250 words)]?

璐璐的作文：

在課堂上我們曾進行過一個活動，用一個車牌來代表自己。我選擇了tK4JiF，然後畫了一隻蜘蛛、一棵仙人掌還有一個蘋果。我的朋友們都很奇怪我為什麽用這些字母縮寫和畫這些圖畫，其實這是因為我想用它們來代表我的隨意性。我追求熱情火花的自然迸發，人生旅途之中若是沒有熱情，沒有意想不到的興奮，生命就會變得太過簡單無味。隨意不需要理由，就像墜入愛河時你不能解釋為什麽你會愛一樣。每周閱讀的時候，在eBay上出售貨物的時候，在我做飯的時候，收集刻有總統頭像的每一個硬幣的時候以及為蘇聯鱷梨農場寫一首樂曲的時候，隨意的火花隨時會出現。我不需要花上許多時間去想一個字謎，可以隨意地把“紅色兔子”反寫變成“賄賂老鼠”。雖然最初我隻是為我的小提琴調音，我卻可以試圖模仿達·芬奇那般順暢地反寫，將鋼琴曲的幾段拚湊在一起變成樂章。這些火花是由我身體自然迸發而出，我內心的藝術細胞，像明亮的便利貼，一塊一塊拚湊起來，表達著我對生命的熱愛。我的隨意讓我對萬事萬物充滿著好奇，讓我去學習，去擁抱所有的挑戰還有新奇的事情。我相信，生活不是一係列目標明確而組成的路途，它充滿隨意的朝氣與活力。我們為生活設立了種種目標，因此我們能夠知曉我們位於何處，但有些時候，我們隻需要隨心揚帆起航，不去理會種種目標，隨心而行。這便是我的隨意性。

璐璐作文英文原文：

In class we made license plates representing ourselves. Mine said tK4JiF and portrayed a spider, cactus, and apple. While my friends puzzled over acronyms, I had simply chosen random letters to represent my spontaneity. I follow spontaneous spurts of passion, journeys without those goals tamed to sit in resumés. I don’t see spurts coming; they don’t further my career path; they simply feel undeniably exhilarating, like falling in love and not being able to

explain it. These spurts are reading a book each week, selling tools on eBay, adding lime to every dish I cook, collecting dollar coins of every president, and writing a fictional musical about avocado farms in the Soviet Union. They are the hours spent creating anagrams, blabbering deliriously about“ red rabbits” being“ bribed rats.” They are the melodies I weave together as I compose piano pieces, while all I meant to do was tune my violin. These spurts are born from my ego, attempting to mimic Da Vinci through fluency in backwardswriting, and my inner artist, expressing optimism through a collage of bright post-its. My spontaneity has made me curious to learn about everything, and willing to embrace what may be challenging or novel. I believe that life is more vibrant and dynamic than a structured series of goals. We set goals like eyes on the horizon so that we can journey there, but sometimes, we need to set sail on journeys and allow ourselves to wander without clinging to a horizon. That is spontaneity.

評語：性格特點是隨意性。隨意讓她追求熱情火花的自然迸發，對萬事萬物充滿著好奇，讓她去學習，去擁抱所有的挑戰還有新奇的事情。

——來自《贏在轉折點，邁向普林斯頓大學》下篇節選