分享会初始，林老师带领11年级的同学复习了Cialfo平台的使用，并给11年级同学留下了升学任务。紧接着进入本场活动的重头戏-学长学姐有话说。

At the beginning of the session, Ms. Chuman Lin helped 11th graders review how to use the platform of Cialfo, and assigned them tasks. Immediately after that, the seniors began their sharing.

首先，刘学姐与学弟学妹交流了她独立申请（DIY）美国大学的整个心路历程，向学弟学妹介绍了她是如何择校、写文书，把握每一所大学申请的时间节点，做好时间规划，以及如何独立申请奖学金的。刘学姐通过自己的努力，拿到巴德学院（全美排名第62）的全额奖学金。她殷切地叮嘱学弟学妹们平时一定要注重学业成绩，保证良好的GPA；同时，要做好标化考试的规划，尽量在12年级开始之前就取得理想的标化考试成绩。此外，也要利用好暑假开始构思并撰写文书初稿。刘学姐也建议同学们要经常参加大学宣讲会，认真思考大学的办学理念和文化是否与自己相匹配，做好大学搜索工作，与学校的升学指导老师讨论择校名单。刘学姐提到她当时提前批的申请并不顺利，被心爱的ED/EA学校拒绝了。随着身边不少同学朋友陆续传来好消息，一直没有收到录取消息的她有些沮丧。不过她很快调整自己的状态，继续写文书，申请其它大学，最终也收获了几所顶尖文理学院的青睐。

First, Yolanda Liu shared how she independently applied for American colleges, how to choose colleges, write essays, make plans for the deadlines set by colleges she applied for, and how she applied for scholarships independently.  Through her own efforts, Yolanda received a full scholarship granted Bard College (ranked 62nd in the US). She urged younger students to take their academic performance seriously and make sure they get a good GPA. Meanwhile, planning for standardized exams in advance, getting a decent score and writing the first PS draft during the summer vacation before 12th grade are important. She also advised students to attend college presentation sessions regularly, to think carefully about whether the environment and culture of a college matches with themselves, to do a good search for colleges, and to discuss their choices of colleges with the school's college advisors. She mentioned that her early application didn't go well and was rejected by her beloved ED/EA school. For some time, she was dismayed at the fact that many others got their good news while she received nothing. However, she quickly changed her attitude, and kept writing essays to apply for other colleges. Eventually, she received offers from several top liberal arts colleges. 

梁学姐主要从两个方面与学弟学妹们分享她的申请经历。一个是课外活动拓展，这也是大部分同学感到迷茫的地方。梁学姐在高中阶段积极参与了大量的校内外活动，比如参加模拟联合国MUN、去印度参加世界领导力项目、去敦煌研学、创办毛毛乐园、开设心灵充电站、创建社团；在学校担任学生会副主席，主持节目，参加配音比赛、演讲比赛、辩论赛等等；积极参与社会实践，利用暑托班当助教、去云南甘肃宣传家庭教育等等。每一项活动，梁学姐都是“从心出发”，从未抱着“我要拿奖，以后在大学申请的时候有用”，“我要参加这个活动，以后写文书有用” 的功利心态。也正是这种非功利，乐在其中的“玩票”性质促使她能真正投入到活动中，去认真享受体验每一次活动，也顺便锻炼了一些本领。第二个是关于ED择校的技巧。申请之前，周围有不少人都建议她挑战申请排名更靠前的大学。梁学姐也纠结过自己是否应该追随前几届学长学姐的申请路径，方便到了大学相互有个照应，但是随着对各所大学的深入了解，她发觉自己更加喜欢弗吉尼亚大学UVA的办学理念，也被UVA宣传片里“我们来到这里不是为了成为某一种特定的人，而是为了成为更好的我们自己”所触动。于是，她建议学弟学妹在做好功课的前提下，一定要遵循本心，坚定信念，不要轻易被外界的想法动摇自己的决定。

Hina Liang shared her application experience with students in two aspects.  One is on extracurricular activities, which is also where most students feel confused about. In her high school years, Hina actively participated in a large number of activities both on and off campus, such as attending Model United Nations, the World Leadership program in India, and Dunhuang research trip; founding Furry Park,  Spiritual Power Station and her own club. As the vice chairman of the ASB, she hosted shows and participated in dubbing competitions, speech competitions, debates, etc. She also took an active part in social practice: she once worked as an assistant teacher in summer nursery classes, and went to Yunnan and Gansu to promote family education.  In each activity, Hina always held on to her original aspiration, and never adopted any utilitarian attitude like "I want to win the prize, which will be useful in the college application", and "I want to participate in this activity, which will be useful in writing essays in the future".  It is this kind of non-utilitarian attitude and "finding pleasure in experincing them" that enabled her to really engage in activities, to enjoy every activity and experience seriously, and also to develop some skills.  The other is on skills in choosing colleges during ED/EA.   Before she applied for college, many people advised her to challenge universities with higher ranking. She also found it hard to decide whether or not to follow suits of the previous graduates.  Having had a deeper understanding of various colleges, she found she fell for the educational ideology of UVA, and was deeply impressed by its promotional video "We came here not to be a particular type of person, but to become our better selves."  Therefore, she suggested that younger students, as long as they do well in their schoolwork, should hold on to their own original aspiration and faith rather than be dominated by others.

接着，张学长戏谑自己属于申请链的“尾端动物”，把高中三年应该完成的标化等目标全部压缩到一年完成。他强烈建议学弟学妹要以他为反例，要提前做好升学规划。在紧张高压的申请过程中，张学长最终以强大的自律能力完成了大学申请的种种挑战，也最终收获了梦校罗切斯特大学（全美排名第34）的录取，但是他仍感到有遗憾。所以，他诚恳地建议学弟学妹们，一定要学会如何拒绝诱惑，培养强大的自律性，而不能只靠他律。比如，面对同学打游戏的邀请，应该学会如何冷静判断自己此时决定的机会成本，孰轻孰重。该学习的时候就要认真学习，这样可以玩的时候也可以好好享受。

Next, Eric Zhang jokingly described himself as “an animal at the end of the application chain”, who took all his standardized tests in grade 12 instead of throughout the 3 years of high school. He strongly recommended that students of lower grades should never model him but should plan for their college application earlier. Though faced with stress from college application, Eric finally succeeded in coping with various challenges during the application process with strong self-discipline. Therefore, he earnestly advised younger students to learn how to resist temptation and develop a strong sense of self-discipline, rather than expect others to keep reminding them.  For example, when invited by a fellow student to play a game, one should learn how to calmly judge the opportunity cost arising from the current decision and what is more important.  "Study hard when you should, and enjoy yourself when you can relax. "

最后，Chris校长也鼓励同学们在接下来的大学申请季一定要放松心态，充分探索自我的需求，寻找合适自己的大学。

Finally, Principal Chris encouraged students to adjust themselves and explore their own needs to find the right university for them in the coming college application season.