2012年

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?
翻译：告诉我们一个对你重要的个人品质、才能、成就、贡献或经历。这一品质或成就哪一点让你感到骄傲了？它与你的个性有何关系？
解析：AADPS分类I-b
字数限制：至少250词，与上一题一起不超过1000词

The most life-changing experience for me is moving from Medford to San Luis Obispo more than a year ago.

I lived in the small Oregon town during my first three years in the United States. Studying abroad was new to me, yet I never found it to be much of a challenge: The coursework was a piece of cake; the little community of Chinese students made the transition rather painless; I even had the luck of living with a caring host family that satisfied my every need. Until an unexpected call changed everything. My parents decided to take an investment opportunity in California, and it turned out that only my mother had the liberty to come to the States and oversee the project. “It can’t be! You know mom barely speaks English and has a poor physical condition.” I argued on the phone, “I must transfer to California, too!” Moving to California marked a watershed between who I was and who I am now: a more responsible, mature individual.

After mother and I settled down in a hotel in our new city, the first challenge for us would be finding a proper residence. I jotted down a dozen or so addresses from Craigslist. I told myself that I would visit every one of them with mom, and find the most suitable place. Yet when we met the owner of the first house, a tall, muscular Caucasian male in his 40s, I lost my words immediately after the small talk part. Since mother could not help much either, the awkward encounter ended in an unproductive way. Though she tried to soothe me on the way back, I still felt deeply ashamed.

Nevertheless, my sense of responsibility took over in the end, and I decided to find a solution. I called my English teacher, who shared quite a few helpful tips and phrases. Then, I adopted the old-fashioned way, writing possible dialogue options down and rehearsing them again and again in my head. Thank to this special training session and extra field practices, I became more and more fluent in communicating with the house owners. Though we were turned down time after time, we still gained much confidence and kept broadening our search. My optimism and determination finally led us to a decent home with security systems installed. Struggling not to stammer, I impressed the landlord enough to secure us a lease.

This success, however trivial it might sound, made me feel invincible. In the next few days, we went to furniture stores and supermarkets to fill the room. I was always the one in charge, trying to relieve mom’s stress of living in a foreign country. Moreover, having realized that I had to take her to the hospital should she ever get sick, I scheduled the tests, crammed traffic regulations for a whole week, and swiftly earned a driver's license. Mom was quite concerned at first, for she did not believe a seventeen-year-old could harness all that horsepower. Only by sitting beside me and watching my every move for hours did she become happy again.

Years back, I could never see myself driving a U-Haul, installing lawn sprinklers, or fixing a leaky roof. It took me eight hours and a quarter to move from one place to another. But to find the true meaning of adulthood and the immense potential that comes with it, it takes a leap of faith and one must face every obstacle head-on.

留学文书译文（机翻）：

对我来说，最能改变生活的经历是一年多前从梅德福德搬到圣路易斯奥比斯波。

我在美国的头三年住在俄勒冈州的一个小镇上。出国留学对我来说是件新鲜事，但我从来没有觉得这是一个很大的挑战：课程作业是小菜一碟；中国学生组成的小团体使这一转变相当轻松；我甚至有幸与一个体贴的寄宿家庭生活在一起，满足了我的一切需要。直到一个意外的电话改变了一切。我的父母决定在加利福尼亚州投资，结果只有我母亲有权来美国监督这个项目。“不可能！你知道妈妈几乎不会说英语，身体状况也很差。”我在电话里争辩道：“我也必须转到加利福尼亚去！”搬到加利福尼亚州标志着我过去和现在的分水岭：一个更负责任、更成熟的人。

我和母亲在新城市的一家酒店安顿下来后，我们面临的第一个挑战是找到一个合适的住所。我从Craigslist上匆匆记下了十几个地址。我告诉自己，我会和妈妈一起去拜访他们每一个人，并找到最合适的地方。然而，当我们遇到第一栋房子的主人，一位40多岁的高大、肌肉发达的白人男性时，在闲聊之后，我立刻失言了。由于母亲也无能为力，这场尴尬的遭遇以徒劳的方式结束。虽然她在回来的路上试图安慰我，但我仍然深感羞愧。

尽管如此，我的责任感最终占据了上风，我决定找到一个解决办法。我打电话给我的英语老师，他分享了很多有用的提示和短语。然后，我采用了老式的方式，写下可能的对话选项，并在脑海中反复排练。多亏了这次特殊的培训课程和额外的野外实践，我与房主的沟通变得越来越流利。虽然我们一次又一次被拒绝，但我们仍然获得了很大的信心，并不断扩大搜索范围。我的乐观和决心最终使我们找到了一个安装了安全系统的体面家园。我努力不结巴，给房东留下了深刻的印象，为我们赢得了一份租约。

这一成功，无论听起来多么微不足道，都让我感到不可战胜。在接下来的几天里，我们去了家具店和超市来填满房间。我一直是负责人，努力减轻妈妈在国外生活的压力。此外，意识到如果她生病，我必须带她去医院，我安排了测试，整整一周的交通管制，很快就拿到了驾照。妈妈一开始很担心，因为她不相信一个十七岁的孩子能驾驭这么大的马力。只有坐在我身边，看着我的一举一动几个小时，她才重新变得快乐起来。

几年前，我从未见过自己驾驶U型运输机，安装草坪洒水器，或修理漏水的屋顶。我从一个地方搬到另一个地方花了八个小时零一刻钟。但要想找到成年的真正意义以及随之而来的巨大潜力，需要信念的飞跃，并且必须正面面对每一个障碍。

标化条件：GPA 3.6 TOEFL 100 老SAT 1980

AADPS老师文书点评：在没有特别亮眼成就的情况下，文书素材可以更多从不同寻常的细节着手。不管是独特的爱好，曲折的经历或者特殊的背景，只要积极向上，符合美国大学对于diversity的认知，均可以尝试讲好一个引人入胜的故事。

家长感言：非常感谢AADPS老师对孩子耐心细致地引导，从一个看似寻常的经历着手，挖出了不少有意思的细节，体现出了孩子的真实形象。