毛里求斯小哥哥如何用魔方敲开沃顿商学院的大门

魔仙姐姐

小哥哥母语是法语，会玩魔方 如何用魔方来展示自己

以下是小哥哥的口述

2018年6月28日凌晨4点，我还沉醉在一场难忘的毕业晚会中。真奇怪，只有在这种迷糊的时候我的脑海中才会思考这个问题：“接下来我要面对真正的生活了，要怎么做呢？”

June 28 2018, it's 4 a.m., I’m still recovering from an unforgettable graduation party. Strangely, it is only at these ungodly hours that the question rolls into my head: “Real life starts now. What the hell am I supposed to do?”

我成长在印度洋小岛毛里求斯上。你可能会问，小岛有多小？这么说吧，65个毛里求斯才抵得上一个英国那么大。可以想像，在这么小的地理范围内，上大学的选择是多么的少，想要争取到国外学习的机会更是得面对激烈的竞争。

I was brought up in Mauritius, a tiny island in the middle of the Indian Ocean; how tiny, you ask? Well, let’s just say you need 65 Mauritius to cover England. Given the geographical limitations, you can only imagine the limited options for tertiary education, not to mention the competition for a spot abroad.

我很幸运，整个高三直到毕业都不用做这样的选择，我决定毕业后到中国那个让人向往的城市——上海进行一年的“间隔年”生活，在上大学前经历一些学习以外的东西。做出这样的选择是想提高自己的中文，同时给自己一点时间思考今后想去哪里学习。

Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to make this decision during my senior year of high school, or even during graduation as I decided to take a gap year in China, in the sensational city of Shanghai. I made this choice to improve my Chinese so as to give myself time to be sure about where it is I wanted to study.

于是我来到了上海。时光飞逝，不知不觉就到了做选择的时候。我已经知道自己今后想从事金融行业；这之前我进行了很多实习，父母也问过我无数次“确定不想学医吗?”我更坚定了自己的想法。在上海以后，有幸结识了中国的王老师，在无聊的时间里学会了魔方，然后迷上了它。当时并没有意识到这个可以改变我的一生。

So I arrived in Shanghai. Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, I had to make a decision. I already knew that I wanted to work in finance; after countless internships and the innumerable amount of times my parents had asked me, “Are you sure you don’t want to pursue studies in medicine?” This I was sure of. After I was in Shanghai, I was lucky enough to get to know Chinese teacher Wang. I learned Rubik's Cube in a boring time, and then I fell in love with it. At that time, I didn't realize that this could change my life.

让父母和自己放心之后，接下来得选择上哪所大学。我坚信大学不仅是培养职业技能的地方，也是培养“人”的地方，在这里我们可以尽情享受自由。

Reassuring my parents and myself aside, I now had to choose which university I wanted to attend. I firmly believe university should not only be a place that prepares you as a future professional. It should also prepare you as a person. It’s the place where we can truly emancipate.

这就是我选择学校的指导原则。很幸运高中时我的成绩优异，可以在世界一流大学做选择，因此美国和英国的大学成了我的主要目标。

This was my guiding principle in selecting which universities to apply to. I was fortunate that my high school grades allowed me to aim for top-tier universities just about anywhere in the world, so naturally the US and the UK were my targets.

想清楚了理由就开始着手申请了。我的母语是法语，所以申请美国大学就还得参加托福等其他考试，得花很大的功夫，下很大的决心。

With my reasons sorted, I set my eyes on application. Given that French is my mother tongue, the American qualifications unfortunately meant that I would have to take extra examinations and a lot more time and determination to obtain the required credentials to attend.

因此，英国和美国相比，申请英国学校更容易。我已经完成了很多申请材料和论文，可以用法语文凭申请，而且我已经通过了留学生必须要参加的语言水平考试。另外，从毛里求斯到英国有直达航班，这一点我的父母很喜欢。

For these reasons, England was definitely the easier option of the two. I had already done most of the entrance paperwork and essays, I could apply with my French Baccalaureate, I had passed the English proficiency tests required for International applicants, and, much to my parents delight, the UK is only one direct flight away.

虽然申请英国大学相对容易，但假如没申请美国的大学我也还是会后悔的。我从没去过美国，这个国家培养了众多具有影响力的世界级领袖，我也知道让自己变伟大的最好方式就是与伟人同行。

Even so, given the ease of applying to the UK, I would have regretted not applying to the US. It's a country I had never been to, and most of all, it is known for making so many inspirational and influential world leaders. I figure that the best way to become great is to rub shoulders with the greatest.

英国只能选择5所学校申请本科学习，在这5个选择中我最后选择了伦敦政经学院（LSE）。这是我最想去的学校，主要原因有两个：1.学校教学质量高；2.学校位于伦敦市中心，而伦敦这个大都市吸引了来自全世界的人。此外，我还申请了其他4所学校作为被LSE拒了的备选。整个申请过程很简单——提交学习成绩、个人陈述（相当于自荐信）以及老师的推荐信。这些步骤要在12月前完成。

In the UK, where you can only apply to five universities, I chose LSE (London School of Economics), which was the one I really wanted to get for two main reasons: 1. Great teaching and education 2. It's in heart of London, a metropolis attracting people from all over the world. I had also applied to four other schools in England to act as a safety net, in case I didn't get into LSE. The process is pretty straightforward—you submit your results, a personal statement (which acts almost as a letter of recommendation), and one teacher recommendation. All of this has to be done by December.

完成英国学校简易便捷的申请后，我很不适应美国学校复杂漫长的申请程序。而且，我申请得相当晚。很多人提前一两年就开始了，而我是在截止日期前四个月才着手。此外，我还常常听人说，“想上美国大学，你得付出前所未有的努力”——真是给人压力的好方法啊，不是吗?

After dealing with such a straightforward application system in the UK, I really didn't expect the application system for the US to be so complex and long. But it was, and I was joining the race very late. Many of the other students applying had started a year or two earlier. I was starting four months before the deadline. In addition to this, I kept hearing, "You gotta work harder than you ever have, if you want it"—good way to put on the pressure, don't you think ?

时间紧压力大的情况下，我缩小了学校范围。我的确很想去美国，但只想去那些顶尖学校，不仅是冲着那些学校的名声、教育质量和教学设施去的，还是因为想接触的人和建立的人际关系网。

With time and odds stacked against me, I began to narrow down the list of schools I wanted to target. I honestly had the desire to go to the US, but only for a top-tier school. Not only because of the prestige, the education, and the facilities, but also the people I would be exposed to and the connections I could make.

所以我的目标定在哈佛、斯坦福和宾州的沃顿商学院，很明显难度更大了。整个过程十分复杂，特别是还要参加入学考试和SAT／ACT，简直是挫伤人积极性。还得花很长的时间准备论文，一共要写6篇不同的论文，主题从“对你来说，什么最重要？为什么？”到“就一个对你很重要的道德问题展开讨论”。我之前从没思考过这些问题。经过数月的艰苦准备，终于在2018年12月30日截止日期前一天把材料准备齐全了。

So I settled on Harvard, Stanford, and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, which, obviously added an extra level of difficulty. The process was quite complicated, especially because of the entrance exam, the SAT/ACT, which was ridiculously frustrating. The essays took a long time to prepare, and I had in total six different essays, whose subjects ranged from, "What's important to you, and why ?" to "Discuss an ethical problem that has a personal importance to you.” These were questions I had never before asked myself. After months of effort, I eventually managed to wrap up everything a day before the 30th December 2015 deadline.

然后要进行面试，好吧，那又是一次特殊的体验。申请英国学校时我一共参加了5次面试，而美国学校中只有沃顿商学院要求面试。那是我经历的最重要的面试之一，我很清楚自己必须得表现出色，给面试官留下深刻印象。那是视频面试，所以不太容易表现出我的个性和交际技巧。

Then came the interviews. Well, that was another experience. I undertook five interviews for the UK. And for the US, only Wharton asked for an interview. To date, it has been one of the most important interviews I've had, so I knew I had to make a difference. I had to be memorable. The interview was conducted by video call, so it wouldn't be as easy to convey my personality or my people skills.

面试官是沃顿商学院的校友，这是惯例。作为一个每年申请者上万的学校（宾州大学2020届申请人数达到38000人）的面试官，他肯定面试过无数成绩以及申请理由与我相当的学生。不过我知道，有一样东西与众不同，那就是⋯⋯我！

The person conducting the interview was an alumni of Wharton, as is typically the case. As an interviewer for a school receiving thousands of applications every year (over 38,000 applications for the entire University of Pennsylvania class of 2020), he must have interviewed countless people with my same test results and level of motivation. But I knew there was something they could never be, and that was...me !

我花了很长时间来分析自己的独特之处。后来想到可能可以展示一下自己平时的一项兴趣爱好：魔术表演。由于是视频面试，没法让他选张牌让我变魔术，那么就得想出个简单快速的魔术抓住面试官的眼球。

I tried reflecting on what set me apart from the rest, for a long time. I figured that maybe I should make use of one of my passions; performing magic tricks. As the interview was a video call rather than in person, I couldn't get him to pick a card, I had to find a simple and quick idea to capture the interviewer's attention.

所以最后我决定在他面前迅速拧好一个魔方，当我用了15秒完成魔方还原的时候，面试官看了我的表演后立刻震惊了，大呼不可思议。那一刻我就知道他肯定不会忘记我。

Therefore, I finally decided to quickly twist a magic cube in front of him. When I finished the restoration of the magic cube in 15 seconds, the interviewer was shocked immediately after watching my performance and cried out in disbelief. At that moment I knew he would never forget me.

所以，这个故事告诉我们：必须得给人留下深刻印象。我觉得最重要的就是向面试官展示你的特别之处，而不是试图去证明自己是最好的。

So the moral of the story: be memorable. I think the most important thing is to show you're unique, rather then trying to prove you're the best.

后来，一切进展顺利。首先我得到了LSE的录取通知书，这让我兴奋不已，都已经开始在伦敦找房子住了。后来更让我惊喜的是，一个月后我收到了沃顿商学院的录取通知书。很难做出选择，但无论选哪个都不会错。LSE肯定会是一个很棒的选择，不过我还是听从了内心的声音，选择了自己想去的地方——沃顿商学院。我很清楚，要是选择LSE也会有一段很棒的经历。直到现在我还清楚地记得当时做选择时的艰难，不过那完全是遵循内心的选择。

At the end of the day, it all panned out quite well, I received an offer from LSE first, which got me extremely excited; I was already looking at future apartments in London. But then the surprise came when I received a positive response from Wharton a month later. I had a difficult choice to make, but not a bad one. LSE would have been a fantastic choice, but I instead followed my heart and my dream, and I chose Wharton. I am sure I would have been very happy at LSE, and to this day, I still think about how hard my decision was. But it was entirely a decision of heart.

这段疯狂的经历虽然已经落下了帷幕，但给我一个深刻的经验，就是你想让人印象深刻，可以瞬间记住你的办法，就是要有一个可以拿得出手 随时可以展示的兴趣爱好，比如魔方，当你需要展示的时候，就可以立马展示出来，瞬间震撼他人的小心脏，为你的面试起到关键的加分作用

Although this crazy experience has come to an end, it has given me a profound experience, that is, you want to impress people, and you can remember your way instantly, that is, you should have an interest and hobby that can be displayed at any time, such as Rubik's Cube. When you need to display, you can display it immediately, which will shock other people's hearts instantly and play a key plus role in your interview.

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