申请季结束了。 作为一个深陷DDL困扰中的IB学生，似乎没有太多时间来发表情绪。不过，很久之前就想将文书贴出，因为被抄袭的风险而暂时作罢。既然申请季已然结束，那么就没有什么好担心的了。 本文是CommonApp主文书，题目为Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
Silence is sin.
I stare at the subheading of my personal blog site for a moment, then click the “Publish” icon. The new article appears at the top of my website. With a long sigh, I stand up to relax my wrists. Through RSS and social networks, the message soon reaches everywhere. Blogs have taken the power of publishing from newspapers, but I feel that people too often neglect that power, preferring to shouting irrational positions or simply retweet the viewpoints of others. I believe strongly in the power of sharing well-formed opinions. It began, if I’m honest, as a way to feed my ego, but it’s not about me anymore.
My passion for sharing my views started in middle school, when I was able to understand new concepts faster or find unique ways to solve questions in math and physics classes. My teachers gave me frequent chances to share my ideas on the blackboard, under the focus of every eye in the classroom. It was exciting. It was vanity.
In high school, our astronomy club held several public activities. The first one I helped organize was a two-day field trip that attracted 92 schoolmates. For most of them, it was their first time to see amazing sights like meteor showers and the Milky Way. For astronomy club members, it was our chance to show that the stars we loved, the ones that twinkle in the night sky, could outshine the ones our schoolmates loved, the stars who sing or dance.
I initially resented feeling like an astronomy baby sitter, fielding stupid-seeming questions like why there are 88 Constellations but only 12 Zodiac signs. My resentment continued from the preparation to the trip itself, but when I climbed onto the shuttle bus back to the city, head aching from lack of sleep after a night stargazing, I opened my social media, and find the screen filled with posts about our field trip. The joy in their words and photos punched a hole through the dam of my heart. I smiled. I had been bitter because my “tour guide” role had kept me too busy to take any decent photos of the stars. Instead, I took a screenshot of their posts and commented on my social media: “Seems everyone is happy.”
I’m discovering that the happiness of sharing my knowledge lies in what I create for others, rather than showing off.
In May, I participated in an activity aimed at helping more people understand LGBTQIA+ issues. We spread knowledge, distributed rainbow flags, and asked people to hug people of different sexual orientations. When I came home, I saw homophobic comments under our post online. At first, I replied to the commenter in spare minutes while I was doing my homework. As the tension increased, I put my hands on the keyboard instead of the practice book more frequently. When our anonymous troll typed “Whatever, I should sleep now,” the feeling was like I had just defeated someone physically in a fight. I looked at the clock; it was 11 p.m. and indeed time to sleep. Although our teacher criticized me the next day because I hadn’t finished my homework, I still felt the time I’d spent was worthy when I see my friends who came out are treated much more warmly now. I am understanding that sharing opinions is the weapon that I wield to change the world.
Step by step, I’m exploring the essence of sharing my ideas throughout my teenage years. I am proud to express my opinions in public, and will pursue the spread of truth for my whole life. Think one person can change the world? With the power of speech, so do I.
I refresh the web page; a red dot signals me that there are new comments on the blog I just posted. Now, what do they say?
其实关于sharing idea的认识是一个很长期的过程，也没有文书中所写的那么戏剧性。不过我仍然记得初中时某同学的一声“哗众取宠”，我也时常回温那条关于天文观测的朋友圈。 最后，我真的很开心身边有一群什么事都愿意和我讨论的朋友。