近日，一封哈佛申请文书在外网爆红。
凭借这封文书，18岁女孩Abigail成功引起了哈佛的注意：不仅在录取率仅有3.43%的史上最难申请季给她发了offer，甚至还在正式发榜前连夜发了Likely letter。Likely letter是大学为了留住特别优秀的学生，在发榜前几周对2%的申请者发出的“即将录取通知”。
除了哈佛以外，Abigail同时还拿到了西北大学、圣母大学、达特茅斯大学和乔治城大学的 offer，被耶鲁大学和杜克大学列入waitlist。
Abigail在TikTok上分享了让她拿到哈佛录取通知书的申学作文，视频发布后迅速获得了超千万的浏览量。
这封创下如此辉煌战绩的文书，究竟有什么样的魔力？
文章开头，Abigail说因为一个单词“parents”（父母）而开始讨厌字母“S”，这个单词末尾的“S”，彻底改变了她的人生。
Abigail曾有一位父亲与一位母亲组成的“parents”父母，但在癌症夺走母亲的生命后，她的人生就只剩下父亲。
但“parents”里面的“s”，却永远不会消失。
“S”一直如影随形地跟随着她，时时刻刻都在提醒她它的存在，当朋友和父母吃饭的时候，她只能和“parent”一起吃饭。
在写下这篇文章时，语法纠错软件一直在parent下面标注蓝色下划线，提醒她检查语法。就连语法都在假设她应该拥有“parents”，癌症不会听从修改建议。
世界不会因为她而抛弃“S”，所以Abigail在母亲离开后的日子里，尝试抛弃“S”。她开始让自己忙碌起来，忙到不能和父亲一起吃晚饭，试图借此远离“S”。
从早晨晨会，上课，课后会议，排球练习，舞蹈课，在波士顿排练，做作业，睡觉，然后重复。虽然Abigail无法填补失去“S”在人生中留下的空白，但她利用忙碌确保自己不会一直想起它。
期间，她从来没有屈服于过度投入所带来的压力，反而蓬勃成长。
在Abigail不断填满空闲时间避开“S”期间，她注意到自己更偏爱这3个领域：戏剧，学术，政治。
“我逐渐停止逃开单独的“s”，转而开始追逐双S，给我带来了人生目标的'Passion'。”
Abigail意识到，她一直因为传统家庭结构，被“S”给束缚住了，不管如何逃避，S永远都跟在她身后。
就这样，一篇关于逃离S，又拥抱S的文章，让Abigail踏入了世界顶尖学府的大门。
毫无疑问，Abigail在她的申请文书中讲了一个好故事，打动了招生官。
希望Abigail的作文，能给想考藤校的小伙伴们一个参考。
I hate the letter "S." Of the 164,777 words with "S," I only grapple with one. To condemn an entire letter because of its use 0.0006 percent of the time sounds statistically absurd, but that one case changed 100 percent of my life. I used to have two parents, but now I have one, and the "S" in "parents" isn't going anywhere.
"S" follows me. I can't get through a day without being reminded that while my friends went out to dinner with their parents, I ate with my parent. As I write this essay, there is a blue line under the word "parent" telling me to check my grammar; even Grammarly assumes that I should have parents, but cancer doesn't listen to edit suggestions. I won't claim that my situation is as unique as one in 164,777, but it is still an exception to the rule — an outlier. The world isn't meant for this special case.
The world wouldn't abandon "S" because of me, so I tried to abandon "S." I could get away from "S" if I stayed busy: you can't have dinner with your "parent" (thanks again Grammarly) if you are too busy to have family dinner. Any spare time that I had, I filled. I became known as the "busy kid," the one that everyone always asks "how do you have time?" Morning meetings, classes, afternoon meetings, volleyball practice, dance class, rehearsal in Boston, homework, sleep, repeat.
Though my specific schedule has changed over time, the business has not. I couldn't fill the loss that the "S" left in my life, but I could at least make sure I didn't have to think about it. There were so many things in my life. I couldn't control, so I controlled what I could. My schedule. I never succumbed to the stress of overcommitting. I thrived.
It became a challenge to juggle it all, but I'd soon find a rhythm. But rhythm, wasn't what I wanted. Rhythm may not have an "S," but "S" sure liked to come by when I was idle. So, I added another ball, and another, and another. Soon I noticed the same "color" balls kept falling into my hands – theatre, academics, politics. I wanted to come into contact with these more and more, so I further narrowed the scope of my color wheel and increased the range of shades of my primary colors.
Life became easier to juggle, but, for the first time, I didn't add another ball. I found my rhythm and I embraced it. I stopped running away from a single "S" and began chasing a double "S"— paSSion. Passion has given me purpose. I was shackled to “S” as I tried to escape the confines of the traditional familial structure. No matter how far I ran, "S" stayed behind me because I kept looking back. I've finally learnt to move forward instead of away, and it's liberating.
"S" got me moving, but it hasn't kept me going. I wish I could end here, triumphant and basking in my new inspiration, but life is more convoluted. Motivation is double edged sword: it keeps me moving forward, but it also keeps me from having to look back. I want to claim that I showed courage in being able to turn from "S," but I can't.
Motivation is what keeps "S" at bay. I am not perfectly healed, but I am perfect at navigating the best way to heal me. I don't seek out sadness. So "S" must stay on the sidelines, and until I am completely ready, motivation is more than enough for me.
Abigail Mack，Brockton High School, MA
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