Luke Kenworthy的大学申请之路并非一帆风顺。三月底，他遭到麻省理工的拒绝，列入芝加哥大学和卡内基梅陇的等待名单，而提前录取方案中的哈佛大学也把他降为延迟录取了。“我当时认为自己哪所藤校也进不去了。” Kenworthy后来告诉记者。
到了四月，等他打开学校来信的时候，难以置信地变得惊喜。他几乎得到全部藤校的录取，包括哈佛、普林斯顿、布朗、康奈尔、哥伦比亚、达特茅斯和滨州大学。另外，他也接到了耶鲁大学的等待名单通知。
那么这位来自西雅图的17岁少年是如何逆袭七大藤校呢？据新闻报道，Kenworthy选修了学校里提供的全部AP课程，重度参与学生会工作，还参加了去塞尔维亚、土耳其和危地马拉的志愿活动。另外，他在在接到哈佛大学的延迟录取通知以后，在老师指导下，修改了自己的文书话题，转而撰写一段重要的少年经历，这段经历其实也是一个令人感动的逆袭故事。
“对我来说，写这样一篇文书，有点奇怪，但也非常重要。人生中发生的这些事情，在很大程度上塑造了我是谁。”
今天，我们一起来阅读帮助问题少年逆袭七大藤校的这篇文书：
Luke和爸爸
The soft thumping of my dad's heart provided a small degree of solace as I cried with my head on his chest. I was in fifth grade. He had just told me that my mom, having been attacked by her boyfriend, was in the hospital. I remember being surprised with myself, surprised that I would be sad after all she had done. This was the same person who, when I was eight, threw a drunken party at our house for teens younger than I am now. This was the same person who would disappear after spending nights at the bar, the person who went to jail for trying to strangle my dad in an inebriated stupor. She had not been a part of my life for over a year since my dad received sole custody; I thought I had closure that I was ready to move on. Yet, hot tears still ran down my cheek as I imagined her swollen face and the bruises on her arms.
我把头埋在爸爸怀中放声大哭。他柔和的心跳声让我感到稍许安慰。那年，我上五年级。爸爸刚刚告诉我，妈妈让男友打伤住进了医院。我记得对自己感到很惊奇，因为她做了那么多事情以后，我居然还会为此悲伤。正是这个人，当我八岁的时候，在家里跟一群比我现在还小的少年醉醺醺地开派对。正是这个人，在酒后神志不清之际试图勒死爸爸，结果给送进监狱。自从爸爸取得独自监护权以后，她在长达一年多的时间里就从我的生活中消失了。我本以为，可以就此结束，准备继续前行。但是，当我联想到她肿胀的脸庞和淤青的双臂，滚烫的泪水仍然顺着脸颊流下。
I had always been shy as a kid and the absence of my mom exacerbated this problem as I tried to unhealthily suppress my insecurities and fill her absence with others' approval. In sixth grade, I constantly sought the attention of a group of kids who, in turn, bullied me. Consequently, when I switched schools going into seventh grade, I was shy and timid, afraid to engage with new people. I pictured myself near the bottom of a rigid social hierarchy. The next year, I started to branch out more, but inside, I remained obsessed with how others perceived me.
我曾经是个羞涩的小孩。妈妈的缺席，让这个问题变得更加糟糕。我试图以不健康的方式压抑自己的不安全感，用他人的赞许来弥补她的缺席。在六年级，我常常期望获得一群孩子的注意力，结果却遭到他们的欺辱。后来，我不得不转学去读七年级，变得害羞胆怯，不敢跟新的人*交群**流。我想象自己近在严格的社会等级的底端。第二年，我开始扩大活动范围，但是在内心深处，我依然非常在乎别人如何看待我。
Entering high school, I would spend hours at a time thinking about my insecurity and talking through memories of my mom with my dad. During this time, I would always remember how I had stared numbly into the ripples of my dad's shirt as a fifth grader. I could never forget that feeling of helplessness, but with repeated reflection, I began to understand this moment in a different way. Given her circumstances — raised by an abusive, alcoholic father and a neglectful mother; involved in several dysfunctional relationships with controlling men; drinking to numb the injustices of life, but then realizing it was too late to stop — I have no way of knowing if my life would be any different from hers.
进入高中以后，我常常跟爸爸聊天，每次能聊几个小时，关于我的不安全感，关于妈妈的回忆。在聊天中，我常常想起五年级时如何麻木地盯着爸爸衬衣上的褶皱。我无法忘记那种无助的感觉。但是，随着反复思考，我开始从不同的角度去理解那个时刻。我开始考虑妈妈的成长环境——她的父亲酗酒，有*力暴**倾向；她的母亲则没有责任心。她跟几个有控制欲的男人存在异常关系；她靠酗酒来麻醉生活的不公，后来才意识到已经无法挽回。如果设身处地于她的环境，我不知道我的生活跟她的生活是否会有所不同。
For the first time, I began to understand an idea that has since granted me freedom: I cannot walk in my mom's shoes, and thus, no one else can truly walk in mine. The way others perceive me is inherently inaccurate, so I do not need to concern myself with what others think. This realization provided me the freedom to become untethered from the approval of others, finally at ease with myself.
我第一次开始理解一个想法，而这个想法从此让我真正地解脱：我其实无法跟妈妈换位，因此也没有人能够真正地跟我换位。他人看我的方式未必准确，所以我不必过于在乎他人的想法。这种认识让我获得自由，从他人的赞许中解脱出来，最终可以从容面对自己。
I started to open up. Throughout high school, I began talking to others about ideas that fascinated me, like space travel and philosophy, rather than frantically searching for common ground. I quit football, realizing that I largely participated for the status it brought me, and joined cross country, because I genuinely enjoy running. I started holding the door open for my classmates almost every morning, greeting them as they arrived at school, hoping to brighten their day. I became engaged in my role on student council, which paid off when I was elected student body president. Even then, it wasn't the role itself that I found meaningful, but the way I could use it to help others. The basis of my friendships shifted from validation seeking to mutual, genuine respect.
我开始敞开心扉。在高中阶段，我开始跟别人聊自己着迷的想法，像是太空旅行和哲学，而不是疯狂地寻找共同之处。我认识到自己踢足球在很大程度是因为足球带给我的地位，于是就退出这项运动。我转而参加越野跑步，是因为我真心喜欢跑步。我几乎每天早晨都为同学们开门，在他们到校的时候热情问候，希望能够使他们快乐高兴。我在学生会的工作岗位上兢兢业业，结果被选为学生会主席。在那一刻，我发辫并不是职务本身有意义，而是我可以利用它来帮助他人。对我来说，友谊的根基不再是得到确认，而是真正的相互尊敬。
As I listened to my dad's heartbeat that night, my mind filled with anger and sorrow. However, in hindsight, I am thankful for the lessons I learned from my mother; the pain I felt was a necessary step in the process of becoming the person I am today, someone who is unafraid to express himself.
当我那晚听着爸爸心跳的声音时，我的脑子里充满愤怒和悲伤。但是，回头来看，我感恩从妈妈身上学到的教训。我感受到的痛苦是必不可少的步骤，我由此成为今天的自己，一个敢于表达自我的人。
Luke和爸爸