转发公众号文章：English with Ellen 暑期忙着教课，也没写什么公众号，只贴了一批小广告，看着没什么意思，非常抱歉。一直想写篇关于大学申请文书的文章。去年的这个时候，我正对着各大学的文书题目绞尽脑汁，回想起来还似乎是昨天一样。没开始的时候会困惑到底该写哪个方向和角度，等都完成了以后，我觉得大家只要投入了相当的时间，仔细去思考，还是都能清楚表现出自己的特点。请大家切记要早点开始！不要像我一样最后赶工。 我是EA申请的芝加哥大学，同时还EA了MIT。可能芝加哥大学看出来我的诚意还不够，因为他们学校有两轮ED。当初如果申请了ED的话，可能录取的机会能大一点。EA截止时间是11月初，刚着手写文书，经验也还不够，EA的文章没有RD阶段的写得好。 最后我并没有录取到芝加哥大学，所以这篇文书仅供参考。到底是加分项还是减分项，大家只能自行猜测了。我自己觉得这篇文书是比较轻松的口吻，在紧张的申请阶段，可以给大家放松一下。另一方面，文书中想表达的意思，也是我想向申请大学的同学们说的：不要太紧张，一切都会好的。在十二月份，我被芝加哥和MIT双双defer。这之后我埋头狂写半个月，最后在RD阶段录取了哈佛、普林斯顿、斯坦福、杜克、西北等大学，还有威廉姆斯Amherst和Swarthmore等文理学院。这个过程中的体验，刚好和一开始我写Anna的建议是一样的，回头看看，还有些戏剧性。 芝加哥大学的文书题目很有意思，前几年一直有个很有名的题目，叫Find X。我一开始写的是这篇，到提交前两天改变了主意，改写了今年的新题目： What advice would a wisdom tooth have? 以下是我的文书： Dear Ellen, Hey there. It’s me, Anna. I’m the wisdom tooth at the bottom left of your mouth. I know this is a stressful time—I can tell by how much you’re grinding your teeth in your sleep—so here’s some advice from me, the wisest tooth in town. First of all, have faith in yourself no matter how discouraged you are. Not to brag, but I am an example of this. I know your dentist always complains about me when you go to your appointments: something about me “being in the way” and “making everything difficult”. What you probably don’t know, however, is that my kind was the top of the world thousands of years ago, when your ancestors needed extra teeth to help grind down tree bark, rabbit hide, and whatever other prehistoric foods they had to eat. Now that the quality of food has improved, human jaws have shrunk over time, and there’s no longer space for poor old Anna. I have fallen from being the lifeline of survival to a tiny, undeveloped tooth that stays dormant for almost two decades before breaking the surface. Have my abilities deteriorated at all? I certainly don’t think so. Recognition is not always representative of my true value. Maybe you’re still doubtful of yourself. Sure, you’re good at what you do, but there are so many people that do it better. Trust me, I know how you feel. “Wisdom tooth” is what people call me on the streets, but my legal title is actually Third Molar. Before me comes the Second Molar, and before that comes the First Molar… I feel lost sometimes, because there are so many other teeth that do the same job. About your competition—I’m sure it’s tough as well, but finding the niches in yourself is a great way to gain some confidence. Every tooth has a different destiny; Your incisors and primary molars will stay with you for life to perform the crucial task of eating. As for me and the other wisdom teeth in your mouth, I’m sure life has other surprises in tow. I heard about your decision to remove me, and that’s okay. It’s not going to be easy to say goodbye to my toothy friends, but I’m looking forward to a brighter future elsewhere. The same goes for you: you don’t have to force yourself into someone else’s way of life. In my case, being removed from the mouth isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it’s probably a good thing because your mouth is crowded enough as it is. You remember Dave, of course. He was the wisdom tooth across from me until you had to remove him to make room for braces a few years ago. You complained about him all day long back then, but I think he served a great purpose in the end. After all, you wrote a whole book about dental hygiene because of how much of a nuisance Dave was. Even though he is no longer with you, the book helped spread a lot of positive awareness and saved thousands of other teeth from potential cavities—now Dave is a celebrity among teeth. Now that I’m about to go join Dave, I’ll find myself a great job with the Tooth Fairy. Maybe I can even be a consultant for her. After all, most of the teeth she takes in are baby teeth, who are definitely not as smart as me. Anyways, that’s all I have for now. Think hard about my advice, and don’t forget to brush the rest of your teeth twice a day. They work hard for you; they deserve it. Oh, and remember to put me under your pillow after I’m removed, so that the Tooth Fairy can hire me. She’ll pay you a hefty amount of quarters, I’m sure. I am the wisest tooth in town, after all. Sincerely, Anna the wisdom tooth 这篇文书里提到过，我写了一本绘本书，长达67页，叫A Journey to Perfect Teeth《好牙成长记》，其中有一颗智齿Dave（小德），在书里小德被挖掉，就安息了。在这篇文书里，小德在牙仙女那里找到了新工作，我觉得这种解决方式可能还更有趣一些，以后没准我会在第二版的时候把这个书里的情节改一下。 希望大家听进去智齿Anna的建议，相信自己，一切都会好的。 以下是《好牙成长记》里的部分内容，有很多在换牙和整牙的小朋友告诉我这是他们最喜欢的绘本书。作为一个作者，我想这应该是我在创作过程中最开心的一部分。 挑着截的不太连贯，总之，最后牙很好，人也很开心。 祝大家申请顺利，心想事成！ Ellen Pan其他的绘本书：
暑期忙着教课，也没写什么公众号，只贴了一批小广告，看着没什么意思，非常抱歉。一直想写篇关于大学申请文书的文章。去年的这个时候，我正对着各大学的文书题目绞尽脑汁，回想起来还似乎是昨天一样。没开始的时候会困惑到底该写哪个方向和角度，等都完成了以后，我觉得大家只要投入了相当的时间，仔细去思考，还是都能清楚表现出自己的特点。请大家切记要早点开始！不要像我一样最后赶工。 我是EA申请的芝加哥大学，同时还EA了MIT。可能芝加哥大学看出来我的诚意还不够，因为他们学校有两轮ED。当初如果申请了ED的话，可能录取的机会能大一点。EA截止时间是11月初，刚着手写文书，经验也还不够，EA的文章没有RD阶段的写得好。 最后我并没有录取到芝加哥大学，所以这篇文书仅供参考。到底是加分项还是减分项，大家只能自行猜测了。我自己觉得这篇文书是比较轻松的口吻，在紧张的申请阶段，可以给大家放松一下。另一方面，文书中想表达的意思，也是我想向申请大学的同学们说的：不要太紧张，一切都会好的。在十二月份，我被芝加哥和MIT双双defer。这之后我埋头狂写半个月，最后在RD阶段录取了哈佛、普林斯顿、斯坦福、杜克、西北等大学，还有威廉姆斯Amherst和Swarthmore等文理学院。这个过程中的体验，刚好和一开始我写Anna的建议是一样的，回头看看，还有些戏剧性。 芝加哥大学的文书题目很有意思，前几年一直有个很有名的题目，叫Find X。我一开始写的是这篇，到提交前两天改变了主意，改写了今年的新题目： What advice would a wisdom tooth have? 以下是我的文书： Dear Ellen, Hey there. It’s me, Anna. I’m the wisdom tooth at the bottom left of your mouth. I know this is a stressful time—I can tell by how much you’re grinding your teeth in your sleep—so here’s some advice from me, the wisest tooth in town. First of all, have faith in yourself no matter how discouraged you are. Not to brag, but I am an example of this. I know your dentist always complains about me when you go to your appointments: something about me “being in the way” and “making everything difficult”. What you probably don’t know, however, is that my kind was the top of the world thousands of years ago, when your ancestors needed extra teeth to help grind down tree bark, rabbit hide, and whatever other prehistoric foods they had to eat. Now that the quality of food has improved, human jaws have shrunk over time, and there’s no longer space for poor old Anna. I have fallen from being the lifeline of survival to a tiny, undeveloped tooth that stays dormant for almost two decades before breaking the surface. Have my abilities deteriorated at all? I certainly don’t think so. Recognition is not always representative of my true value. Maybe you’re still doubtful of yourself. Sure, you’re good at what you do, but there are so many people that do it better. Trust me, I know how you feel. “Wisdom tooth” is what people call me on the streets, but my legal title is actually Third Molar. Before me comes the Second Molar, and before that comes the First Molar… I feel lost sometimes, because there are so many other teeth that do the same job. About your competition—I’m sure it’s tough as well, but finding the niches in yourself is a great way to gain some confidence. Every tooth has a different destiny; Your incisors and primary molars will stay with you for life to perform the crucial task of eating. As for me and the other wisdom teeth in your mouth, I’m sure life has other surprises in tow. I heard about your decision to remove me, and that’s okay. It’s not going to be easy to say goodbye to my toothy friends, but I’m looking forward to a brighter future elsewhere. The same goes for you: you don’t have to force yourself into someone else’s way of life. In my case, being removed from the mouth isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it’s probably a good thing because your mouth is crowded enough as it is. You remember Dave, of course. He was the wisdom tooth across from me until you had to remove him to make room for braces a few years ago. You complained about him all day long back then, but I think he served a great purpose in the end. After all, you wrote a whole book about dental hygiene because of how much of a nuisance Dave was. Even though he is no longer with you, the book helped spread a lot of positive awareness and saved thousands of other teeth from potential cavities—now Dave is a celebrity among teeth. Now that I’m about to go join Dave, I’ll find myself a great job with the Tooth Fairy. Maybe I can even be a consultant for her. After all, most of the teeth she takes in are baby teeth, who are definitely not as smart as me. Anyways, that’s all I have for now. Think hard about my advice, and don’t forget to brush the rest of your teeth twice a day. They work hard for you; they deserve it. Oh, and remember to put me under your pillow after I’m removed, so that the Tooth Fairy can hire me. She’ll pay you a hefty amount of quarters, I’m sure. I am the wisest tooth in town, after all. Sincerely, Anna the wisdom tooth 这篇文书里提到过，我写了一本绘本书，长达67页，叫A Journey to Perfect Teeth《好牙成长记》，其中有一颗智齿Dave（小德），在书里小德被挖掉，就安息了。在这篇文书里，小德在牙仙女那里找到了新工作，我觉得这种解决方式可能还更有趣一些，以后没准我会在第二版的时候把这个书里的情节改一下。 希望大家听进去智齿Anna的建议，相信自己，一切都会好的。 以下是《好牙成长记》里的部分内容，有很多在换牙和整牙的小朋友告诉我这是他们最喜欢的绘本书。作为一个作者，我想这应该是我在创作过程中最开心的一部分。
Ellen Pan其他的绘本书：