打动Yale，MIT，Boston招生官的Essay是什么样的？

留学党经常对如何写出一篇丰满、有内容的申请文书，充满疑问，或总觉得不知要写什么、怎么写、为什么要写。其实申请文书相当于招生官了解除成绩之外的你的窗口，你是一个怎样的人、你的性格、兴趣爱好、综合能力等。当然，这并不等于简单的流水账。要突出你的闪光点，你与别人不同的、优秀的一面。下面为大家推荐一篇极为优秀的Essay，作者为 Lanren A Hackney，被耶鲁大学，麻省理工学院和波士顿学院同时录取。

原文：

I'M GOING RUNNING TODAY. I am not concerned about my calorie consumption for the day, nor am I anxious to get in shape for the winter season. I just want to go running。

I used to dislike running. "If you don't win this game, you're all running five miles tomorrow," the field hockey coach used to warn, during those last days of October when the average temperature seemed to be decreasing exponentially. And so, occasionally, my grief-stricken team would run numerous miserable laps around the fields. At the end of these excursions, our faces and limbs would be numb, and we would all have developed those notorious flu-like symptoms; but the running made us better in the long run, I suppose. Nevertheless, I counted down the days until the end of the field hockey season, vowing never to put on a pair of running shoes again. Then I surprised myself by signing up for outdoor track in the second half of sophomore year. I was foolish to have believed that I could ever escape this insidious and magnetic addiction。

Anyone would have thought that I'd be off the team in a few days, but the last week of January caught me splashing through puddles of melted ice, and February winds nearly blew me off the track. I looked forward to practices this time around, to the claps and the persistent cheers of my fellow trackies. I was feeling a "runner's high" spurred by the endorphins released by exercise. But to attribute my affinity for running solely to chemistry diminishes the personal importance that running has for me。

I like running—in the cool shade of the towering oak trees, and in the warm sunlight spilling over the horizon, and in the drops of rain falling gently from the clouds. Certain things become clear to me when I'm running—only while running did I realize that "hippopotami" is possibly the funniest word in the English language, and only while running did I realize that the travel section of The York Times does not necessarily provide an accurate depiction of the entire world. Running lends me precious moments to contemplate my life: while running I find time to dream about changing the world, to think about recent death of a classmate, or to wonder about the secret to college admission

Running is the awareness of hurdles between me and the finish line; running is the desire to overcome them. Running is putting up with aches and pains, relishing the knowledge that, in the end, I will have built strength and endurance. Running is the instant clarity of vision with which I can see my future just one hundred yards in the distance; it is the understanding that these crucial steps will determine victory or defeat.

Running is not the most important thing in the world to me, but it is what fulfills me when time permits. And right now, before the sun goes down, I like to take advantage of the road that lies ahead.

这篇Essay的文笔十分突出，书面表达能极强，逻辑思维清晰。当然，这并不是最重要的，毕竟那些是作家的工作。但有一点非常值得分享，那就是文章最后两段的升华，写作文时不能是简单的陈述，而是要以点及面，上升一个高度。本文就跑步引申到作者对人生的思考，向招生官展示了自己富有深度的思想和精神，这正是招生官看重的因素。希望借此文章能为正在苦思Essay的留学党们，指明一个方向。