宏润博源孙同学在早申阶段如愿进入梦校杜兰大学。 杜兰大学（Tulane University）成立于1834年，是美国一所私立研究型大学，位于美国路易斯安那州新奥尔良市，是美国大学协会（AAU）成员。2023年U.S. News美国最佳大学排名第44。

Editor's note: Ethan Sun, a 12th grader from SHBS, succeeded in getting into Tulane University, his dream college, at the ED stage. Founded in 1834, Tulane Universuity, is an American private research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU). It ranks the 44th among the Best US Universities on the 2023 U.S. News.

孙同学在来稿中感谢了学校：学校的课程设置使得他能够选择适合自己的课程，使得他的学习可以稳步进步，突破自我；学校的各种实践活动给到他充分的机会去锻炼自己的综合能力，进一步了解自我，增强自信心；学校的学业咨询与进步指导体系帮助他与各大学招生官对话，真正发现自己喜欢且适配的大学，且助力他大学申请阶段如愿进入梦校。

Ethan Sun wrote to express his gratitude to our school: The school's curriculum system enabled him to choose courses that fit his needs or preferences, allowing him to make steady progress and breakthroughs in his studies; various extracurricular activities organized by the school gave him the opportunity to practice his overall skills, further explore himself, and boost his self-confidence; and the  Academic Advising and Progress Department arranged for him to talk with different college admission officers so that he could find the college he liked and the one that really suited him, and helped him fulfill his dream at the ED stage.

孙同学自述

Ethan’s Self-account

我是十年级的时候转到上海宏润博源学校的。之前因为疫情，美高未能成行，在暑假的最后，选择了与美高课程设置最相符的宏润博源学校。在宏润博源，每个人有自己的课程表，可以选择适合自己或自己喜欢的课程。此外，还可以跟任课老师、升学顾问、教务老师甚至校长讨论合适自己的课，开学后还有一周的试听加调整，让我们充分了解课程、了解自己。有时候担心有些课太难会影响成绩，老师们一直鼓励我要相信自己，万事开头难，要坚持。果然之后的荣誉课程和AP课程都取得不错的成绩。有些课我特别喜欢，如女性文学、世界文学等，喜欢了就不觉得难了。学校丰富的课程也让我有机会尝试了网球、高尔夫、太极拳，尤其是赛艇，迎着朝阳在校园的湖面上大汗淋漓、尽情挥洒，真的很舒畅。

I transferred to SHBS when I was a 10th grader. Previously, due to the covid pandemic, I had not been able to attend a high school in the U.S., so at the end of that summer, I chose SHBS because it offered a curriculum system most similar to that of an American high school. At SHBS, each student has his or her own class schedule and can choose the courses that suit him or her or that he or she likes. Students may discuss what courses suit them with subject teachers, college counselors, faculty members, and even with the principal. In addition, they are allowed to attend classes on trial for a week after school starts before making adjustments to their class schedules so that students can fully understand both the courses and themselves. Sometimes, I was worried that some of the classes might be so difficult that my grades would suffer, but the teachers kept encouraging me to believe in myself and to persevere, though everything appeared to be difficult at the beginning. As a result, I got good grades in some Honor and AP classes. I like some classes very much, such as Women's Literature and World Literature, and I didn't find them difficult once I enjoyed them. I also had the opportunity to try tennis, golf, Tai Chi, and especially rowing. How relaxing and enjoyable it was to sweat heavily while rowing on the lake next to our school at sunrise!

学校有丰富的各类活动，文艺的、公益的、热烈的、安静的，总有一款适合你。而且学校也给予学生很大的自主权，可以自己组织社团或活动，老师们都会全力支持。我和同学们关系都比较好，也乐于助人，经常参加各种活动和汇报演出，特别是公益活动 ，如 “捡拾朱家角”、感恩节义卖等。

Our school has been arranging a rich variety of activities: some of them are related to arts, while others are pro bono; some are exciting, while others are quiet. Thus, anyone can find one activity suitable for him or her. Much is left to the discretion of the students at SHBS. For example, students are encouraged to create their own clubs and organize their own activities, and teachers will give them full support. I am always on good terms with my schoolmates because I am ready to help others. I often participate in various activities and performances, especially pro bono activities , such as "Pickup Zhujiajiao " and Thanksgiving Charity Bazaar.

十年级时我们学校就开始了一对一升学指导。升学老师帮助规划活动、选课、学术成绩、竞赛、标化、夏校等各项事宜，指导我们了解国外大学。十二年级前的暑假，学校开放CIALFO系统让我们准备升学需要的文本资料：详细的活动列表、个人特长、喜好、性格特点、学术情况、专业、推荐信等。完成这些前期资料，是对自己情况的梳理过程，有助于明确自己的择校方向和文书的立意。在之后，填写CA系统等各个步骤节点，要很细心，比如我最后差点忘记签署ED协议，好在升学老师都会及时提醒和指导。

Our school started to offer us one-on-one college counseling when we were in the 10th grade. College counselors of our school helped us plan activities, gave us advice on many things such as course selection, academic grades, competitions, standardized tests and summer school etc. During the summer vacation before our 12th grade year, the school opened up the CIALFO system so that we could prepare documents needed for our college application including a detailed list of activities, personal strengths, preferences, personality traits, academic profile, majors, letters of recommendation, etc. By completing these preliminary documents, I got a clear picture of myself, my choice of colleges and the intention of writing documents. Afterwards, one needs to be very careful in the application process including filling in the CA system. For example, I almost forgot to sign the ED agreement in the end, but fortunately, my college counselor reminded me and gave me instructions in time.

我ED申请了杜兰大学。我在十一年级听了好几所大学在学校的宣讲，当时对杜兰大学就挺心动的。十二年级杜兰大学又来举办线上讲座，沈老师特别提醒我参加并鼓励我提问交流。楚漫老师帮我分析，按我的GPA等条件，和杜兰大学是比较匹配的。当然，我也许可以冲一冲排名更高的大学，但我们学校向来不偏信排名，2021年家长大讲堂，几位家长也鼓励我们不要过分追求名校。去年，Chris校长专门公开发表文章，详细说明什么是最好的大学。因此，当我很早决定ED杜兰大学时，升学老师们和父母都是无条件支持我的。虽然在宣布之前，我从来没给他们提过杜兰大学，但我们各方的理念都比较一致。

I applied for Tulane University at the ED stage. When I was an 11th grader, I attended some presentations given on campus by several colleges, and I was impressed by the one given by Tulane. In my 12th year, Tulane University held another online seminar, and Ms. Shen reminded me to attend it and encouraged me to ask questions and interact with their admission officer. Ms. Chuman helped analyse my qualifications including my GPA and offered her advice that Tulane would suit me well. Of course, I could have striven for some colleges with higher rankings, but our school has never blindly believed in rankings, and I remember that several parents encouraged us not to go too far in the pursuit of ranking at the 2021 Parent Forum. Last year, Principal Chris published an article detailing what makes the best college. So when I decided to apply for Tulane at the ED stage, my college counselors and my parents supported me unconditionally. Although I had never mentioned Tulane to them before telling them my decision, we were in agreement with each other on this issue.

杜兰大学特别强调社区服务，可能是绝无仅有的、把社区服务作为毕业要求的美国大学。我正好校外有三年的社会调研实践活动经历，宏润博源的“融入社区、服务社区”、“十小时的校园义工服务”等义工体系设置也都非常好，所以，我的校内外的活动和杜兰大学也是很匹配的。

Tulane University places special emphasis on community service, and is probably the only university in the US that makes community service as a graduation requirement. Thanks to SHBS’s students’ voluntary service system, such as "Integrating into the community and serving the community" and "10 hours of volunteer service on campus", I happened to have 3-year-long experiences in off-campus social research and practice. Therefore, I have met Tulane’s requirement in terms of on-campus and off-campus activities.

申请杜兰时我没有选定专业，这是受Chris校长2022年7月发给我们的一篇Mind Over Major文章的启发。这篇文章是他的好朋友斯坦福大学的教授Dan Edelstein写的，开头第一句话就是："如果我告诉你，你的专业并不重要呢？" What if I were to tell you that your major didn’t matter?”。我九年级时最害怕生物，现在最喜欢生物。人的兴趣会变的，还是先不定专业吧。我父亲多年来一直对我说：“读书的目的就是读书，读什么专业、未来做什么工作，成功与否，是一个自然而然的结果，不是要追求的目标。”所以，我父亲也很喜欢这篇文章。他说这篇文章讲了孔子所说的“君子不器”的道理。（Confucius said:“The man of high virtue is not like a vessel of merely one limited use.”这个翻译不一定准确）这篇文章里还提到：古希腊语中休闲一词是scholé，而学校也是这个词。The ancient Greek word for leisure was scholé, which noncoincidentally was also their word for school。是啊，学校应该是休闲、快乐的地方，杜兰大每年都会被评为全美最快乐的大学，也许我理解得不全面，但这也无疑坚定了我选杜兰的决心。

Inspired by “Mind Over Major”, an article that Principal Chris sent us in July 2022, I didn't choose my major when I applied to Tulane. The article was written by his good friend Dan Edelstein, a professor at Stanford University, and it began with "What if I were to tell you that your major didn't matter?"  I was least confident in my Biology when I was in the 9th grade,but now it has become my favorite subject. People's interests change with time, so it's better for me not to decide on a major first. My father has been telling me for years, "The purpose of going to school is to learn, and what you will major in, what you will do in the future, and whether you will succeed or not, are all natural outcomes, and should not be the goals to be pursued." So, my father also liked this article. He said that this article mentions what Confucius said, "A gentleman is not a tool. (Confucius said: "The man of high virtue is not like a vessel of merely one limited use. The ancient Greek word for leisure was scholé, which noncoincidentally was also their word for school. Tulane is rated the happiest college in the nation every year, so maybe I'm not understanding it thoroughly, but it certainly reinforced my decision to choose Tulane.

除了杜兰，其它学校我申请得很少，父母要我申请加州系，也被我拒绝啦，好在去年12月1日就拿到了杜兰的offer。我的看似轻松顺利的申请过程，我的好像百分之百自己做决定，其实离不开校长、老师、同学、朋友和父母的指导和支持，衷心感谢他们!

I applied to very few other colleges except Tulane, and my parents asked me to apply to the UC universities, but I refused. Fortunately, I got an offer from Tulane on December 1 last year. It seemed that everything went smoothly with my college application process, and almost all decisions were left to my discretion. However, my dream could not have been fulfilled without the guidance and support from my principal, teachers, classmates, friends and parents. I would like to give my sincere thanks to them!