2015-12-12

【Aiden in English】

        When you’re talking about the stereotypical Chinese household, you may think of Harvard acceptance letters flying around at this time of the year. Well, that’s sort of why it’s stereotypical. Chinese kids in Chinese households do get admitted to Harvard, and it can get annoying to hear about sometimes.

        It’s just my luck that my mom’s friend Joyce’s son Kevin got enrolled into Harvard of early action, and even grabbed a scholarship from New England Conservatory regarding Harvard/NEC Dual Degree in 2011. At first, I was all like WOW, THAT’S AMAZING! But after Kevin’s younger sister Amy also got accepted for Harvard of early action 4 years later, mom went berserker on how I should be inspired on the way to a holiday party we anticipated. And I always thought through those times, wow mom, you’re really funny! Even if Harvard did send me an invitation, I would give it a second thought. I sincerely congratulate those two siblings for being so brave to even think about accepting. It would be far too stressful and nerve-racking for me, although I am Chinese. You see, not all Chinese kids are Albert Einstein’s, but neither are we the average American kid. A funny joke that goes around at school is that when an American boy laughs at your fat stomach, we Asians laugh at their grades. It got me cracking up because it is true, and their grades are really funny. I mean, who’s proud of a “C” in math?

        Volunteering only gets you so far. Harvard takes it to the point of testing how smart the students are. Not that I’m not smart, it’s just that how much of a geek is needed in you to get into Harvard. To start, the GPA acceptance in 4-year high school is at least 4.04 out of 5.0. It basically means that you need A’s in all your AP classes or in college prep classes. In addition, the SAT scores need to be off the charts. Over seventy-five percent averagely is above 2100 points, and twenty-five present score over 2350 points. Like I said, it’s a joke to even try. After you pass the easiest part of the exam, it’s up to a one-on-one meeting to see what you do many extra-curriculums outside of school. That is why I can’t definitely make it happen because if it has no points involved, I’m not going.

        Harvard is the hardest school to get into in America. As for Kevin and Amy, congratulations on completing something I would never even dream of. The determination set before Harvard is nearly as hard as going through it is from the middle school on, and the amount of effort, endurance, and the immunity to sleep-deprivation is something quite awesome to see.

【紅霞譯文】

        每逢陽曆年到來之前，只要一談及正統的華人家庭，你免不了聯想起哈佛大學錄取通知。沒錯，這就是為什麼稱之為“正統”，華裔子弟確有考上哈佛大學的，因此時常聽人們聊個沒完沒了。

        算我走運，媽媽有一朋友即詠兒阿姨的公子泊寧於2011年底不但喜獲哈佛大學提前錄取，而且還一舉贏得新英格蘭音樂學院獎學金，成為擁有哈佛大學本科──新英格蘭音樂學院碩士跨校間不同領域聯合培養雙學位的傑出精英。乍聽到這一喜訊，我甚為震撼！四年後，妹妹依寧緊步哥哥泊寧之後塵，同樣順利獲得哈佛大學提前錄取資格。在參加節日聚會的路上，媽媽拿我開涮，鞭策我要以兄妹倆為榜樣，我越想越覺得媽媽離譜！即使哈佛大學發來邀請，我也得三思而後行。我衷心祝賀這對兄妹無畏挑戰，雖說同為炎黃子孫，但壓力大傷腦筋的事情我向來難以勝任，顯然並非所有華裔子弟都是阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦式人物，但我們又不能與一般的美國青少年相提並論。時下流行這樣一個笑話，美國同學嘲諷你胡吃海喝，而亞洲同胞則八卦你學習成績，這讓我忍俊不禁，因為事實如此，小美的考試水平真算傻冒，我想說有誰自詡數學考了“C”呢？

        關鍵在於主觀能動性，哈佛大學索性把它當成衡量學生聰明才智的法寶。我不是不聰明，但只有身懷絕技的佼佼者才能走進哈佛大學。首先，四年高中總平均成績至少要達到五分制中四點零四分，這就意味着所有大學預修課程即大學預科全部成績優秀；其次，學術能力評估測試分數需要好上加好，超過75%的錄取者學術能力評估測試分數在2100分以上，其中25%的高於2350分。綜上所述，凡夫俗子千萬不要白日做夢。在通過最為基本的筆試測驗以後，五花八門的課外活動將成為競爭者出奇制勝的關鍵要素，這恰好戳到了我的軟肋，既然胸無遠志，咱乾脆別抽風乾那些挑戰極限的事情。

        哈佛堪稱美國最難進的大學，恭喜泊寧和依寧圓滿拓出一條我做夢都不敢想的陽關大道。值得欽佩的是，從初中到升大學前五～六年間，他倆始終堅定自己的理想信念，並為之付出不懈努力，哪怕犧牲個人休息時間。