对于很多同学来说，美国大学申请过程中最困难的部分就是写申请文书。但这也是最容易让招生官注意到你的一个部分，因为这是你向招生人员展示你个性的机会。在美国Quora社区问答的论坛（美国版知乎）上，有一个这样的问题：What essay got you into an Ivy League university?
（什么样的申请文书让你进了常春藤盟校？）
该问题迎来了各路藤校学子的真实分享。其中，有一位名叫“Ethan Li”的学生的回答获得了高赞。Ethan Li 的父母都是中国人，从小在美国长大，是一位亚裔美国人。在2017年时，Ethan Li 同时收到了普林斯顿大学、耶鲁大学、哥伦比亚大学和康奈尔大学四所藤校的录取通知书。他在Quora上分享了自己的这篇申请文书：
《黑白丛林：
国际象棋如何帮我度过父母离婚的日子》
The Black-and-White Jungle:
How Chess Got Me Through My Parents’Divorce
The first time I saw a chess board, I stood—an unsmiling first-grader—spellbound by the curious horses and castles that the wizened fifth graders shuffled confidently in my school cafeteria. Beneath the ornate wood surface of those pieces, I discovered a uniquely layered beauty.
我第一次看到国际象棋棋盘时，我——一个不苟言笑的一年级学生——被那些五年级的学生在学校食堂里信心十足地摆弄的古怪的马和城堡迷住了。在华丽的木质表面下，我发现了一种独特的层次感之美。
My parents had split two years earlier. I remember Dad buying us two movie tickets to the new Spider-Man and a week later buying himself a plane ticket to China. Our apartment devolved from a cozy, lively home into a small, subdued residence. Mom mustered a brave smile and promised that Dad was just going back to visit his family.
我的父母两年前就离婚了。我记得爸爸给我们买了两张新蜘蛛侠的电影票，一周后又给自己买了一张去中国的机票。我们的公寓从一个舒适、活泼的家变成了一个冷清的小住宅。妈妈鼓起勇气笑了笑，跟我说爸爸只是回去看他的家人。
There’s a pervasive yet hushed stigma surrounding divorce in Asian culture. Growing up, I struggled to comprehend why none of my Asian friends had single parents like myself. I would get into fights at school. When I invariably drew the ire of my teachers, Mom would drive down to school, hug me reassuringly, and take me to her office where I spent the remainder of the day. One of those evenings, I waited near her cubicle coloring carelessly on lily-white printer-paper while she typed diligently at her desktop. Suddenly, the familiar click-clack of the typing died, and I heard stuttered sobs sway the air. I froze, confused: I didn’t know Mom could cry. Mom was strong; she had warm, kind hands and she knew why the sky was blue and why Dad was visiting Grandpa and Grandma for so long. But now Mom sat shattered, back hunched over a shoddy wooden desk, warm hands clutching a damp face. I was scared so I cried with her.在亚洲文化中，离婚是一种普遍存在、却禁而不谈的耻辱。在我的成长过程中，我很难理解为什么我的亚洲朋友都没有像我这样的单亲父母。我会在学校打架。当我总是惹老师生气的时候，妈妈就会开车去学校，安慰地抱着我，然后带我去她的办公室，度过余下的一天。
有一天晚上，我在她的隔间附近等着，她在桌上勤奋地打字，我却在纯白的打印纸上漫不经心地涂色。突然，熟悉的打字声消失了，我听到断断续续的抽泣声在空中回荡。我愣住了，不知所措：我不知道妈妈会哭。妈妈很坚强；她有一双温暖、善良的手，她知道为什么天空是蓝色的，她还知道为什么爸爸会去看望爷爷奶奶那么久。但现在，妈妈疲惫不堪，弓着背，坐在一张劣质的木桌前，温暖的手遮住了一张被泪水打湿的脸。我很害怕，所以我和她一起哭了。
Chess became an elaborate escape for me. During sleepless nights, I readily replaced opaque stares at the apartment ceiling with enchanting chess puzzles lit by a gentle desk-light. When I sat at the chessboard, the deafening external din—my ineffable worries, Mom’s inexplicable tears, the fragile stillness of our quiet apartment—faded softly into the background. I crossed into the black-and-white jungle, that beautiful mosaic of sixty-four checkered squares, a diverse biosphere inhabited by my loyal pawns, gallant knights, and fearless rooks. And I, the king, was responsible for their livelihood, defending my kingdom against the opponent. Chess gave me a sense of control during a time when I felt I had none.国际象棋成了我精心设计的逃避方式。每到不眠之夜，我就会用柔和的桌面灯光点亮迷人的国际象棋谜题，来取代在床上盯着公寓不透明的天花板。当我坐在棋盘旁时，外面震耳欲聋的嘈杂声——我无法言喻的忧虑，母亲无法言说的泪水，我们安静公寓里脆弱的寂静——都会慢慢消失在背景中。我穿过黑白相间的丛林，那是由64个方格组成的美丽马赛克方格广场，是一个多样化的生物圈，住着我忠诚的棋子、英勇的骑士和无畏的白嘴鸦。而作为国王，我要为他们的生计负责，保卫我的王国不受敌人侵犯。在我觉得自己一无所有的时候，国际象棋给了我一种掌控感。
In my first year, I rose to the top of my elementary school club, and near the close of the school semester I placed fourth at the national K-1 championships in Nashville, Tennessee. I remember the announcer calling my name and my six-year-old self bouncing up the stage to claim a comically colossal trophy. I remember Mom smiling because I was happy, and I was happy because she was smiling.在我上小学的第一年，我升到了我所在小学社团的第一名，临近学期结束的时候，我在田纳西州纳什维尔举行的全国K-1锦标赛中名列第四。我记得广播员在喊我的名字，6岁的我蹦蹦跳跳地走上舞台，夺得一个滑稽巨大的奖杯。我记得妈妈因为我高兴而微笑，我也因为她的微笑而高兴。
Through the years, my passion for the game strengthened as I accumulated more state championships and national titles. Chess became a staple in my life—it sharpened my critical thinking skills, and it trained me to creatively break down seemingly difficult situations. Although I had turned to chess to escape my problems, the black-and-white jungle slowly cajoled me to face them. Last year, I bought my own plane ticket to China and visited my father. We talked—laughed even—and he challenged me to a chess match. I let him win, but he doesn’t know that. He said he was proud of me. I didn’t know that.多年来，随着我获得了更多的州冠军和国家冠军，我对这项运动的热情也与日俱增。国际象棋成为了我生活中的重要组成部分，它提高了我的批判性思维能力，并训练我创造性地解决看似困难的情况。尽管我是为了逃避问题开始下象棋，但黑白相间的丛林慢慢地引诱我去面对这些问题。去年，我自己买了机票去中国，看望了我的父亲。我们聊了起来，甚至还笑了起来。他挑战我和他下一场国际象棋比赛。我故意让他赢了，但他不知道这一点。他说他为我感到骄傲，而我之前也不知道这一点。
Above all, chess taught me the power of resilience. Last summer, I qualified for the All-American team just two days before the deadline, successfully pulling together a month’s worth of training. Mom met me at the train station when I returned. Nearly a decade had passed since that first national championship in Tennessee, but her smile looked the same. As I drifted to sleep on the drive homeward, I embraced the elusive feeling of absolute safety like that I felt when I was a child, dozing peacefully in the backseat of my parents’ worn Toyota Camry.最重要的是，象棋教会了我适应力的力量。去年夏天，我在在截止日期的前两天，获得了参加全美代表队的资格，成功地完成了一个月的训练。我回来时，妈妈在火车站接我。距离田纳西州的第一次全国冠军已经过去了近十年，但她的笑容依然如旧。开车回家的路上，我迷迷糊糊地睡着了，我感觉到了一种难以捉摸的安全感，就像小时候我在父母那辆破旧的丰田凯美瑞(Toyota Camry)的后座上安静地打着瞌睡时感受到的那样。
美国大学申请文书和所有其他国家的都不样，需要的自我审视和英文文学写作水平都更高。很多中国学生都不知道应该写什么样的文章，所以这篇文书值得大家学习。这篇文书里，Ethan同学不光很谦虚地方式提到了自己坚持多年的兴趣（国际象棋）和成就（获得多个州和国家级别的奖项），阐释了从中培养的能力，更是用讲故事的方式娓娓道来讲述了自己的家庭和父母的影响，让人感触良多。Ethan Li 现就读于普林斯顿大学的电子与计算机工程专业（BS Electronics & Computer Engineering）。现还是校报《每日普林斯顿人（The Daily Princetonian）》一名的编辑。论坛上有网友指出，“一篇出彩的申请论文，是所有那些因为考试分数和GPA而感到压力的人需要考虑的东西……这种关于你是谁、你为什么要成为什么样的人、你将成为什么样的人、你将为你的大学增添什么东西的光，就是被名校录取的因素。”没错，申请藤校的学生，最不缺的就是完美的学术成绩。Ethan Li也不例外。除了这篇申请文书，我们还在全球最大职业社交网站领英（LinkedIn）上，看到这位Ethan Li同学的个人成就。Ethan Li 同学在学术成就上，不仅有SAT 1570（数学: 800；英语: 770）、ACT 35（英语35；数学 34；阅读 35；科学: 34）这样的完美成绩，还有进行过14门的AP课程学习，并且在至少8门的AP考试中，获取了4分或5分的好成绩，而被授予了National AP Scholar的荣誉。每年美国大学的录取率都在持续走低，试问在标化成绩水涨船高的申请池里，你手里的砝码还有多少？向名校证明你的学习能力与英语水平，一门AP美国史将成为你最有力的武器之一。
