2014年

''Dreams are lovely. But they are just dreams,'' television producer Shonda Rhimes '91 told graduating seniors during her 2014 Commencement address. ''It's hard work that makes things happen. It's hard work that creates change.'' What inspires your hard work? What matters to you and how do you "make things happen" to create change?
翻译：“梦想很可爱。但它们只是梦而已。”电视制片人、91届校友Shonda Rhimes在2014年毕业典礼的发言里说道。“是勤奋让梦想成为可能。是勤奋创造改变。”是什么激励你的努力？你觉得什么最重要？又是如何“让梦想成为可能”来创造改变的？
解析：AADPS分类I-a
字数限制：六选一，250-300词

Six years ago, my old school in Vientiane was shut down because it could not fund next year's program. That night, my mom bluntly told me that the other two international schools cost too much, and local schools did not teach English at all. Without much of a choice, I set off to China to continue my studies.

Studying in an alien country was unimaginable to me, and soon I found out how hard Chinese really is. For many long nights, I tried to understand the meaning of my homework with a Chinese-Laotian dictionary. For each character, I first had to find the ideographic root, then count the strokes, then follow an index ordered by these two. By the time I solved a character, I had already forgotten the previous one. After cramming for thousands of hours, my vocabulary could finally help me survive.

The studio apartment I rent in Beijing, after all these years, is still a plain room without much decoration. No morning flowers or photo wall, no Golden Retriever or widescreen television. All furniture is the same just as six years ago. But something has indeed changed. Today, I get my bearings. No longer a spoiled kid, I take good care of myself and have mastered culinary art. Having consumed my share of undercooked and burnt meals, I now make dishes that put smiles on the faces of neighbors. When pains and longings have both waned, I begin to simultaneously enjoy solitude and blend in, making the most of what my new academic community has to offer. It is always up to me to overcome the fear of uncertainty and embrace the new, boundless world.

留学文书译文（机翻）：

六年前，我在万象的旧学校被关闭了，因为它无法资助明年的项目。那天晚上，我妈妈直截了当地告诉我，另外两所国际学校的费用太高，当地学校根本不教英语。我别无选择，就动身去中国继续我的学业。

在异国留学对我来说是难以想象的，很快我就发现中文有多难。许多漫长的夜晚，我试着用一本中国老挝字典来理解我的家庭作业的意义。对于每个字符，我首先必须找到表意文字的根，然后计算笔划，然后遵循由这两个字符排序的索引。当我解决一个角色时，我已经忘记了前一个角色。经过数千小时的填鸭式学习，我的词汇终于可以帮助我生存下来。

经过这么多年，我在北京租的那套公寓仍然是一间没有多少装饰的普通房间。没有清晨的鲜花或照片墙，没有金色的猎犬或宽屏电视。所有的家具都和六年前一样。但有些事情确实发生了变化。今天，我明白了方向。我不再是一个被宠坏的孩子，我照顾好自己，掌握了烹饪艺术。吃完了我那份未煮熟和烧焦的饭菜，我现在做的菜让邻居们都笑了。当痛苦和渴望都消退时，我开始同时享受孤独和融入，充分利用我的新学术团体所提供的东西。克服对不确定性的恐惧，拥抱新的、无边无际的世界，永远取决于我。

标化条件：GPA 4.0 TOEFL 116 ACT 34

AADPS老师文书点评：如果有不同寻常的文化背景或者成长经历，一定要在留美申请文书中找机会体现出来。

家长感言：AADPS老师指导出的文书高屋建瓴，立意很不错，在细节方面也得到了很好的支撑。