《赢在转折点，迈向普林斯顿大学》-3--sample essay

普林斯顿大学要求从四个作文题目中挑选一个进行写作。

璐璐选择：你性格当中的哪一点是让你最自豪的，它又是如何影响你的人生的（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：

在课堂上我们曾进行过一个活动，用一个车牌来代表自己。我选择了tK4JiF，然后画了一只蜘蛛、一棵仙人掌还有一个苹果。我的朋友们都很奇怪我为什么用这些字母缩写和画这些图画，其实这是因为我想用它们来代表我的随意性。我追求热情火花的自然迸发，人生旅途之中若是没有热情，没有意想不到的兴奋，生命就会变得太过简单无味。随意不需要理由，就像坠入爱河时你不能解释为什么你会爱一样。每周阅读的时候，在eBay上出售货物的时候，在我做饭的时候，收集刻有总统头像的每一个硬币的时候以及为苏联鳄梨农场写一首乐曲的时候，随意的火花随时会出现。我不需要花上许多时间去想一个字谜，可以随意地把“红色兔子”反写变成“贿赂老鼠”。虽然最初我只是为我的小提琴调音，我却可以试图模仿达·芬奇那般顺畅地反写，将钢琴曲的几段拼凑在一起变成乐章。这些火花是由我身体自然迸发而出，我内心的艺术细胞，像明亮的便利贴，一块一块拼凑起来，表达着我对生命的热爱。我的随意让我对万事万物充满着好奇，让我去学习，去拥抱所有的挑战还有新奇的事情。我相信，生活不是一系列目标明确而组成的路途，它充满随意的朝气与活力。我们为生活设立了种种目标，因此我们能够知晓我们位于何处，但有些时候，我们只需要随心扬帆起航，不去理会种种目标，随心而行。这便是我的随意性。

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.

评语：性格特点是随意性。随意让她追求热情火花的自然迸发，对万事万物充满着好奇，让她去学习，去拥抱所有的挑战还有新奇的事情。

——来自《赢在转折点，迈向普林斯顿大学》下篇节选