再没有比这篇更无聊的ESSAY了。你可以说它是我的克星。听起来似乎很戏剧化，超级无敌戏剧化。但，即使有人这么说，还是不能否定这500个单词的意义。这是我对自己ESSAY的评价。一位招生官曾好意提点我：“一篇ESSAY可以成就你的梦想也可以打碎你的梦想，谨慎但无需有过多压力。”
我，紧张坐立不安。想象着在一个阳光明媚的午后，坐在电脑前，敲击着ESSAY，毕竟，再怎么说，它也不过是一篇写作而已，不是吗？我这样自我安慰道。但是，没办法，我就是这么不淡定。我就像一只深处迷宫的惊慌之鼠，为了ESSAY四处乱窜，问好友问家人，希望可以得到密钥。
“要不写一件你人生当中最有意义的经历吧。就写你快9岁的时候移民到了美国，那时除了字母外，你对英语一窍不通，但是你却努力克服困难战胜它。切忌一点，在描写这段困难历程时候不要忘记把重点放在人物塑造方面以及这段经历带给你的自信和决心，清楚吗？”这是母亲大人给我的建议。
“大学招生官喜欢意志力坚定的学生。不妨写一写这8年来你和中国扬琴的故事吧！可以抒发一下你对中国悠久文化和音乐的那份炽热之心。而且你还是乐团第二代主席，不是吗？”这是我好友的建议。
听了以上这两个矛盾的意见之后，自己仿佛掉入了万丈深渊，深不见底，周围一片漆黑。“太假了”。这次，我彻底没有了主见。猛然间我看到了曾经在当地书店购买的一本迷你ESSAY佳作选集，眼前一亮。前言写了这么几句话，“写作没有捷径。建议越多，可能会适得其反。”没错！就是这个道理。
接下来的一周，我就抱着这本宝典，如饥似渴。里面收藏了很多题材很好的ESSAY：譬如，形象生动的描写一次深刻人生的经历；用力量和理智战胜悲剧人生的感人故事；毫无疑问，每一篇都与众不同，别具特色。我想要努力找出串联它们的共同点，但是，找不到。
我的完美佳作再一次泡汤了，我又回到了原点。经受这次打击后，我开始努力的把自己浓缩在这500个单词里。我写了很多版本，每一版都是一个不同的我。但没有一个成功的我向我尖叫“我是最完美的，选我选我选我。。。。。。”数不清的细胞构成了我们所指的生命或人生，而这么多篇ESSAY可以塑造一个更加真实的我，而不是碎片式的我。我即刻顿悟了：ESSAY不是自传，不是描写我是谁，而是我要成为一个怎样的我。
想明白这点，我重新开始构思，像打广告似的，相比之前，现在没有那么畏惧了，即使这个广告很挫：我身高175cm，有着一头乌黑发亮的头发和一双深邃的桃花眼。我喜欢美式足球，酷爱经济学，特别享受漫步在沙滩上感受夕阳西下的美丽。
ESSAY赏析
90年代风靡全美的一部喜剧片《宋飞正传》（Seinfeld）。而这部剧出彩的点就在于影片没有主题。单纯的讲述了四个普通人的生活，即咱老百姓自己的故事被称为是“20世纪最伟大的剧集”。
不管是电视剧还是这篇ESSAY，都很冒险。但是，作者做到了。运用诙谐机智的表达反应出了他自己的个性和兴趣爱好。
通过这篇ESSAY，我们了解了多方面的作者——
l 来自中国的美国移民
l 和当地人相比，英语还存在缺陷
l 会一门中国古典乐器-扬琴
l 细胞生物学
l 经济学
l 音乐
l 文学性
本篇ESSAY突出优势：轻松阅读，更重要的就是作者诙谐的手笔共同向哈佛展示了这样一个想法新鲜独到、写作步伐迅速、语调轻快、主题活泼有趣的全方位、智慧、谦虚、个性十足、比较乐观积极的高中生形象。
* But maybe that’s too dramatic—and dramatic is bad, so we’re told.
—Naveen Srivatsa
全文参考
(28)ROBERT THWAITS—“COLLEGE ESSAY”
A senior’s worst fear: the dreaded college essay. You can even call it the bane of my existence. But that’s too dramatic. And dramatic is bad, or so I’m told. Yet, the significance of these five hundred words cannot be denied. As one admissions officer kindly informed me, “Your essay can make or break your application for you. Write it wisely.” No pressure.
I panicked. I dreamed of sitting down in front of my laptop on some sunny, bright afternoon, clacking out an essay on the keyboard. After all, the college essay is just a sample of my writing, right? Instead, I frantically ran around asking for advice from friends and family, sort of like a startled rat in a maze, but not nearly as furry.
“Write about a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Describe how you came from China just before turning nine, knowing nothing but the alphabet, and proceeded to conquer the English language,” my mom suggested. “Be sure to include how this difficult obstacle has shaped you and given you determination and confidence to succeed in your endeavors,” she added.
“Colleges like continuity. Show the college your passion for Chinese culture and music through your eight years of playing the Chinese hammered dulcimer,” said a friend over ice cream. “You are second chair in your orchestra, aren’t you?”
Upon hearing this conflicting advice, I sank deeper into the ubiquity of a dark, engulfing abyss. Scratch that—too dramatic. But I was definitely confused. As a solution to my problem, I finally settled on a mini anthology of successful application essays that I had picked up in the local bookstore. To my dismay, however, the opening words of the book were, “There is no one foolproof method for writing a winning admissions essay.” As a matter of fact, “most of the advice you are given will contradict itself.” Great. Back to square one.
So over the next week (so much for a short sunny afternoon), I scrutinized the book, one great essay at a time. There were ones narrating vivid memories of remarkable events, and there were ones depicting personal tragedy handled with such strength and maturity. Of course, each piece was unique in its own way. Finding some common thread linking those literary jewels together was impossible, though I can’t say I didn’t try.
My plan for the perfect essay went down the drain. It was back to the drawing board, as the cliché goes. Thus beaten before I even began, I started trying to capture my personality in roughly five hundred words. I wrote several essays, each covering some facet of who I am. Yet none screamed out to me, “I’m the right essay, pick me!” Much as cells varied in function come together to produce that emergent property we call life, so my essays together formed a synergy greater than the sum of its parts—me. It was then that I had an epiphany of sorts. The college essay isn’t an autobiography describing who I am; it is about being who I am.
Now that I look at the college essay as something along the lines of a personal ad, it’s not nearly as daunting. Here is who I am: I’m five feet nine inches, with jet-black hair and deep mahogany eyes. I enjoy soccer, economics, and long walks on the beach gazing at a romantic sunset. . . . Oops, wrong type of personal ad.
COMMENTARY
Fans of ’90s sitcoms will remember the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and George are sitting in an NBC office struggling to cast actors for their new show peculiarly fashioned after Seinfeld itself as a show about nothing. Well, the gimmick worked, and the episode was a success.
Breaking the fourth wall, whether in television or in writing, is risky, but this author pulls it off by writing an essay about writing his essay. Not only that, but he does it humorously and intelligently in a manner that also conveys multiple aspects of his personality, his heritage, and his interests.
We learn much about the writer. An immigrant from China, he was at a disadvantage compared to his peers when it came to reading. He quickly caught on but held on to his Chinese roots, playing an instrument unheard of in the United States but native to his homeland. He doesn’t tell us this directly, which makes this compelling story all the more honest and all the less boastful. Moreover, his intellect shines from his seemingly casual mentioning of cell biology, economics, music, and appreciation for “literary jewels.”
Underlying this essay’s success is the ease with which it can be read. The variety of forms of delivery—dialogue, narrative, and a smattering of after-thoughts—does not leave readers bored, and the humor makes the essay enjoyable. The ideas in each successive sentence are fresh, and with a pace that’s quick, a tone that’s light, and a topic that’s fun, the character of a high school senior who’s well rounded, talented, humble, witty, personable, and ultimately a likely-to-be positive contributor to Harvard’s campus surfaces.
But maybe that’s too dramatic—and dramatic is bad, so we’re told.
—Naveen Srivatsa
