如何在文书材料上写好自己的国际教育经历

很多有国际教育经历(美高/国际高中除外)的童鞋都想在文书中介绍自己的program experiences(通常会选择在CA additional information栏进行进一步描述)。这些经历五花八门，但归纳一下总共分为几类：普高国际班、国际交换项目、夏校、国外的学术/职业体验经历。那么如何在做到简洁概括的同时highlight出亮点、使整段经历呈现得丰富而有意义呢?下面有一些tips分享。

一篇好的program experience introduction总体来说会包括这几个部分:

1. classroom experience

介绍课内学术经历必不可少的环节就是提及自己正在上的curriculum。这其中一大忌讳就是流水账地罗列课程。记住一点，你在写你自己的curricular background，而不是当学校的讲解员。Don't do your counselor's job. 一个很好的attention getter: 除了正规课程外你可以讲多点学校提供的选修课(if applicable)，特别是那些不太寻常、设计精良的课程。因为往往你的curricular background亮点就出在这些与众不同的地方。整部分不可缺少的是你的personal note。从一门喜欢的课、一个喜欢的老师入手都是不错的选择。关键要体现自己如何push yourself out of your comfort zone、如何自我提升和超越最终取得学科上、技能上或思维上的收获。

2. co-curricular experience

在很多美高官网上co-curricular programs往往特指从课堂延伸至课外的项目，内容时刻围绕classroom experience展开。在这里我想扩充一下"co-curricular"的含义：凡是所有与自己主要学术兴趣有直接联系的学术活动都可划分至其范畴，包括research、competitions、field work、workshop、symposium等等。这么说来，大家参加的除夏校外几乎所有summer programs都可以用类似的思路介绍。这部分最需要的是体现你的individual strength。不管是independent还是group project，你在essay中得将你自己highlight出来。What are your unique contributions to the ultimate collective outcome? What skills have you demonstrated/resources have you utilized to achieve that outcome? 这些细节最好能elaborate。哪怕是讨论teamwork，你也要说明白自己如何投入、如何协调与队友关系等等。

3. extra-curricular experience

An important note, all of your extracurricular experiences you plan on mentioning should have direct relevance to the program you're involved in. 描述课外经历要时常提及experience与这个program之间的联系，才好让读者明白正是这个program让你有机会去参与blah blah activities。这部分要highlight你的见闻感受/思考/收获。跟PS中reflection的写法类似。注意要挖掘insight，点出changes，强调significance。

国际交流经历都会涉及到cross-cultural communication, immersion & adaptation。为了避免cliche，你要学会分析自己遇到过的最大的culture shock背后的现实，进而思考此文化差异对你在国外成长的关键意义。比其他人多想一步，你的跨文化经历才会更有立体感，更有个性。交换经历中有很多moments会让你有选择困难症，但要记住：Always choose the most representative story。Key word: Growth.

下面给大家看一篇program experience样板。作者念的这个program已经被中止了，但整个项目给学生带来的体验还是很有影响力的。(creds to Acacia, UNC Chapel Hill 2019er, low SAT 2020, CR 580 M800 W640).

The Pre-college Program I am attending is hosted by Teachers College, Columbia University, which collaborates with my high school on the advancement of international education. This program intends to help Chinese students adjust to their future academic lives in American colleges. Back in my high school, I have been taking an integrated curriculum combining standard Chinese high school Core and international courses including advanced English, integrative sciences (advanced electives), American history and culture, test prep and research tutorials. This June I was lucky to be selected to continue my summer and senior fall at Teachers College. Apart from regular adaptive classes like Academic English and Speech & Communications, I had a chance to audit a class at Columbia undergraduate college or Barnard College, a great opportunity to explore college education and to cultivate adaptability.

Given the privilege, I've continued exploring my interests in marine biology in an introductory oceanography class, which is lecture-based with 80 students or so. As an auditing student I've had a hugely rewarding experience so far. It was easy to understand the knowledge at first due to my previous geography classes taken in high school, so I didn't take it seriously at the time. When topics covered became unbeknownst to me, difficulties came up mainly because of the volume of unfamiliar terminologies. From the moment I knew how hard it was to acquire new knowledge in a purely English environment, I started to download slides from course webs and tried to expand my vocabulary, at the same time utilizing relevant textbooks and library resources to assist previews and revisions. Gradually, I came to understand the professor better in subsequent classes.

From my classroom immersion experience, I've realized the disadvantages of not being a native speaker in an American college setting, but I was motivated to cultivate habits of previewing and reviewing, key skills I need to learn during college preparations. As for disciplinary knowledge, the class has helped me construct a multi-dimensional perspective in marine science as a whole. I've always been fascinated with this area of study but haven’t learned about other major relevant aspects such as energy, geology, resource management, etc. Moreover, I've become more intrigued by the study of fishery, hoping to learn further about methods of sustainable fish harvesting, and also effective strategies to advance marine sustainability. I also hope to engage in field research as soon as I have a sufficient knowledge base, to prepare myself to be a future marine science professional.

Outside of classroom, I savored every opportunity to take part the in Columbia campus dynamics. At the beginning of fall semester, I joined the Barnard/Columbia Earth Coalition, and was overwhelmed by the experiences ever since. The regular discussion sessions opened my eye to environmental activism. I gladly shared my thoughts about marine pollutions and was responded passionately. With my new friends, I went to various lecture series and panels at Columbia Earth Institute and Columbia’s World Leaders Forum, where speeches given by environmental scholars, policy makers and national leaders provided me with a sociopolitical perspective in global sustainability. The most unforgettable memory was the People’s Climate March activity series. Prior to the March a workshop was assigned to the Coalition to host at Barnard College. Benefitting from my logistic management experience in high school, I helped the Coalition with room rental, seats arrangements and food/drink catering. We went on to the March afterwards. The vastness and power shocked me entirely. I’ve never physically felt the sense of global concerns until that march. Standing near the UN Headquarter, my thoughts were pounding in my chest, “Idealistic or not, I am going to make changes with everything I have!”

Choosing to attend the Program has changed my life, and has paved the way to my future success. I’ve never felt more prepared for college than ever. The best is yet to come.