打动哥伦比亚大学的申请文书，值得你参考

hanhanlei

英文版

As Arthur Read, my favorite aardvark, would say, “Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card.” Well, it was hard. I didn’t have my library card. Again.

The librarian probably had me on “recent history” since this happened so often, so she just looked me up on the computer. I, the little glasses-wearing 9-year-old patron, simply wanted to check out a book, but now I had two problems: I did not have my library card and my fines were too high to check out.

Pulling out the dollar bill I had found in my duct tape wallet, I paid the 20 percent of my fine that let me check out a book and left, gritting my teeth. If I could have checked out a book called “Handling Money for Kids,” I would have, because most of my “wealth” went right back to the library.

Thanks to my mom, I practically had a library card from birth. I would go to my library not just to read books but to be immersed in them. I would find my stool, sit in the children’s area and read. I would get dropped off at the library while my mom worked, and I would follow my usual routine: sit, read, return, repeat, and if I was lucky, check out.

The purpose of my visit was usually the same: read books or play on the computer. But as I grew up, I realized that things had begun to change. My mom began coming to the library with us more often. While I would be reading or finishing homework, she would be right there, typing beside me. Our worlds coexisted, but for a reason.

For three years, my mother was unemployed. As a single mother, the struggle of not having a job, home or car was immense. I stopped my usual routine and was fine with it. With two tabs open, I continued on with my work.

I would log on daily to Zillow, job search websites and websites about stroke rehabilitation for my grandfather, asking if any of my findings would work. “Gracias, mija,” my mom always said, but I realized the stress ensued. We were in different worlds, but they collided.

When we had nowhere to live, we would spend hours at the library, using what I thought to be the key to the world: library computers. Whether it was at our childhood library or the library 40 miles away by the farm where we were staying, the library was this stability.

Sitting behind the service desk today, I see and hear it all: the little girl begging to check out Junie B. Jones, the boys playing Roblox on the computer, the woman filing her taxes, the call from “Sports Guy” asking for the latest results, the woman asking about the weather.

I hear Spanish, English, Somali. I get the usual rule-breakers: kids running, out of breath, to the desk asking, “Can I have a Guest Pass?”

At first, the slowly printed receipt is just a number, but I soon realize it is much more. I was once saying, “My mom forgot her card” or “When does the library close closed?” or “Can I use the phone?” Back then, I was the patron on the computer, the kid in the reading area. Now, I am the specialist at the desk looking up the forgotten library cards. Sitting at the desk does not make me forget my past, it helps me embrace it.

The library gives people access to a resource that opens doors in one way for one person, and in others for the next. Even after my mom got a job, the library remained a source of security and comfort. By working at a place that gave me so much, I have learned to give back. I now have the opportunity to open the library to others, just as it was opened up to me.

hanhanlei

翻译版-中文

我最喜欢的土豚Arthur Read说：“当你拿到图书证时，想要玩得开心并不难。”不过，这对于我来说有些难。我和往常一样，又没带图书证。

因为我总是没有图书证，我的名字应该上了管理员系统的 “历史记录”，她一搜就从电脑里搜索到我了。我，一个戴着眼镜的9岁小顾客，只是想借本书，却遇到了两大难题：我没有图书证，而且，罚款太高，我负担不起。

我咬紧牙关，从手工钱包里找出了几美元，支付了20％的罚款，这样我才能借出一本书。 如果我能借出一本名为“帮助孩子理财”的书，我一定会借，因为我的大部分“财富”都用来支付给图书馆。

感谢我的妈妈，我从出生起就拥有了一张图书证。我去图书馆，不仅是为了阅读书籍，而是为了沉浸其中。我会找到一个凳子，坐在儿童阅读区开始阅读。当我妈妈忙工作的时候就会把我放在图书馆里，我也会依照惯例：坐下、阅读、还回去、再重复这样的动作，如果幸运的话，我可以把书借出图书馆。

我去图书馆的目的通常是相同的：阅读书籍或者在电脑上玩游戏。当我渐渐长大，我发现了一些变化。

我妈妈开始经常和我们一起去图书馆。我看书或者写作业的时候，她会坐在我旁边打字。因为某个原因，我们的世界平行共处着。

长达三年，妈妈一直处于失业状态。作为一位单身母亲，没有了工作、家和车子，她的压力很大。我改变了过往的习惯，并且适应得很好。打开着两个网页，我继续做着我的工作。

我每天都会登录Zillow、求职网站和为祖父看中风康复相关的网站，询问妈妈我找到的信息是否帮得忙。“Gracias, mija. （谢谢，我的儿子。）”我妈妈总会说这句话，但我知道生活的压力还在继续向我们袭来。我们生活在两个不同的世界，但经常发生交汇碰撞。

当我们无处可居时，我们会花几个小时在图书馆，使用着我认为是通往这个世界的钥匙：图书馆电脑。

无论是在我童年时的图书馆，还是在我们住的农场40英里外的图书馆，图书馆是不变的一点。

如今，坐在服务台后面，我看到并听到很多事：一个小女孩乞求借出Junie B. Jones，男孩们在电脑上玩Roblox，一个女人填写税务申报表，“体育男”打电话询问最新结果，一个女人在询问天气。

我听到了西班牙语、英语、索马里语。我看到了常见的违规者：几个孩子气喘吁吁地跑过来，问到：“可以给我一张宾客通行证吗？”

起初，慢速打印的收据只是一个数字，但很快我发现并不只是这样。我曾经说过，“我妈妈忘带卡了”，问“图书馆什么时候关门”或者“我可以使用一下电话吗”。那时候，我是来图书馆的客人，属于阅读区里的孩子。现在，我是图书管理专员，负责查找被遗忘的图书证。坐在我的办公桌前，我没有忘记过去，我的工作反而让我懂得拥抱过去。

图书馆是人们获取资源的渠道，每一个人都能在这里找到想要的资源。即使在我妈妈找到工作之后，图书馆仍然是能带给我安全和舒适的源泉。通过在这里的工作，我获得了很多，我学会了回馈。我现在有机会为其他人打开图书馆，就像它曾经对我开放怀抱一样。

hanhanlei

点评：

1. 作者讲述了单亲妈妈抚养子女长大的故事，选取了非常独特的场景：图书馆，母女俩在图书馆工作、学习和成长，细节到位；

2. 故事提升点：强调自己在回馈社区。

从以往大量的优质文书案例中，我们可以发现，好的文书可选择以下几种素材：

展现与众不同的人物性格特质

非自卖自夸式地说，而是通过某件事突出自身最为出众的特质、闪光点，例如爱挑战、领导能力，建议集中写一个方面，其他可略述，避免轻重不分。

兴趣爱好的影响也很重要

看一个人的兴趣爱好就能大概判断人的性格，比如一些学生喜欢静态一点的兴趣如看书、研究文物，这学生可能就比较文静，具有专研的精神；

但兴趣爱好这个话题其实非常宽泛，所以要选择一个投入非常多时间和精力的兴趣爱好，并且在在方面小有所成，例如喜欢弹钢琴的人拿到了钢琴专业八级的水平（目前中国的钢琴考级共分十级）或是参加钢琴比赛获奖等。

招生官希望看到困难中你的坚强

要让文书有跌宕起伏之感，让看者产生惊喜，那么可以从“产生困难——多种解决方式——解决困难——体现个性和坚强”这个套路来，既有转折点，又能体现自己的聪明才智，最好能让招生官看到积极、正面的态度，和努力解决困难的坚强。

真情实感，打动人心

感动人的事往往都特别平凡，但在文书中要将此平凡之事描述成独特之事，可以通过添加自我极具个性的感悟，或是经得住推敲的自省，重点是真情实感的流露，并感染读者。

hupuzi

谢谢分享

maosong

写得的确不错