六、美国高中四年级的经历 生命永远是处于作用与反作用的状态。由此，在两者之间有短暂的反思时间。在某种程度上，高中四年级是必须要搞定一些细节事物并着眼未来的时间。在美国，高中四年级生要在秋季和冬季着手申请大学入学，从而需要面对过去几年所做过的一切。那天真的高中新生一年级，放肆随意的二年级，充满压力的三年级，都汇总起来，闪亮登场，成为获胜大学申请材料的组成部分。在通往申请大学的路上，四年级本身变成一个重要且相伴前三年高中时期的记忆。
虽然四年级的成绩只占学生全部成绩单的一部分，但最后学年的成绩与前三年的成绩相比，也同样非常重要。看起来四年级学生的简历是有所不同的，很多四年级生只是希望其高中时代的最后一年能在选择轻松课业的情况下平稳度过。相反，另一些四年级生选择更多的高强度的大学预科课和快班课来向所申请的大学证明自己能够适应大学程度的学习。无论成绩单的分量如何，多数四年级生会重复参加大学入学要求的标准测试。这些测试包括SAT、ACT、和SAT II 科科目测试。这个秋季我就又参加了一次SAT I 测试和SAT II生物科的测试。通常的建议是学生选择与专业发展有关的科目来参加SAT II 的测试，如果学生有意选择某一专业，参加与之有关的SAT II 的专科考试也是可取的。虽然准备这些考试令人不爽，但大学的录取办公室会根据这些标准考试成绩来比较申请人的资质，因为标准考试毕竟是全国统一标准的测试。通常这些考试在晚秋和初冬时期结束，以便大学申请人能在提交申请的截止日期前收到成绩。各个大学入学申请的截止日期是不同的，但通常是来年的1月1日或1月2日。但有一种选择是提前申报，以便在12月中旬就能得知录取与否的结果。这种申请会避免一些一直要等到来年4月才知晓的等待之烦恼，并且保证了校方的录取率。一种被称为早期行动的申请，此类申请没有申请人与校方的契约，但申请人向校方表示如果被录取，将有选择该校的倾向性意愿。还有一种早期决定的申请。这种申请是与学校有承诺的。故申请人只能选择一所学校提交所谓早期决定申请。是否选择早期决定申请很难说是对还是不对。选择早期决定或早期行动，意味着申请人将面临被迫放弃其他学校所给予的更好的奖学金计划，因为他们对其早期决定所申请的学校的录取要履行承诺。如果要申请早期决定或早期行动计划，申请人也必须认真准备其入学申请的个人陈述和成绩单，通常在11月1日左右就要提交。我最初曾经试图做早期申请，但后来决定做常规申请，以便我有时间来准备我的成绩单、提高现有成绩使我在年级的排名更好一些。同时，我也想多花些时间来完成个人陈述这个大学申请材料中更加重要的内容。
除了要集中精力保持在校的成绩之外，申请奖学金也是四年级学生的重要责任之一。每个学生都想得到大学所能够提供的最好的上学费用承诺，从而减轻家长的负担。不同于大学申请的是各种奖学金申请的截止日期是各不相同的，因此申请奖学金的学生们必须认真对待，保证在申请截止日期之前准备好所需的材料。我想申请多项本地不同来源的奖学金，因为来自所在社区的奖学金提供者往往喜欢帮助当地的居民。
最后，四年级是许多学生用来补齐课外活动和自愿者服务经历的时间。进一步说，四年级是学生们领导其过去已经参与了多年的课外活动和自愿者服务项目的时间，我担任了四年本年级的年级史理事，担任本年度校田径队的队长，担任本校美国国家荣誉学生学会的史编理事以及学生辅导项目的主管联络官。此外，我还参与其他校内外活动，诸如大赦国际俱乐部，连续数年入选全州高中管弦乐团的单簧管演奏员，课后管弦乐团，及在我的社区附近的医院和老年中心做志愿服务等。尽管这些活动让人忙碌，但我非常喜欢每项活动，这些参与和领导作用也向所申请的大学展示自己的性格和实例。虽然有多项课外活动的感觉很好，但最重要的还是要展示你对所参与活动的承诺和一贯性付出。我知道很多四年级的学生在三年级和四年级知道课外活动对大学申请的重要性之后，开始随机地参与一些组织和活动，但缺少自己的激情和原创。另外，重要的是不要在课外活动中花费过多的时间，虽然我非常喜欢曾经参与的活动，但我也为不能放弃某些课外活动，以致使自己疲于应付学业负担而感到遗憾。总之，四年级是要在学业、坚持和领导课外活动以及申请大学和奖学金的大量工作中找到最佳的平衡。
美国高中四年级既使人感到陌生又让人激动。此前我从来没有感到有如此多的责任和严肃的问题需要自己面对。此前在学校里，我从来没有感到我真的是长大了。此前，我也从来没有感到如此的忧虑和对未来的不确定。在我准备申请大学材料的同时，构思和完成这篇短文，我认识到自己在不断的为高中经历增添注记，记录了值得反思的一切。我很享受在过去一年里所完成的本《联接与跨越》系列短文，按时间序列记叙了中学时期的梗概事物。通过如此华裔美国高中生的视角，我希望能在中美学生之间加深沟通和了解，发现我们之间平行的共同点。
英文原稿
Article 6：The American Senior Experience
Life is a perpetual state of action and reaction. And then， in between the two are brief periods of time for reflection. Senior year of high school is， in a way， that obligatory period as it"s time to tie up loose ends and address the future. In America， seniors must apply to college the fall and winter of the 4th year， and in turn， face everything from the past previous years. The fresh faced naiveté of freshman year， the air of familiarity to sophomore year， the crushing pressure of junior year； all are reflected upon and polished to create the winning college application. Along the way， senior year itself becomes another eventful memory accompanying the three years before. Though senior grades only account for a small space on the entire student"s transcript， the grades from the final year are just as important， if not more important， as the first 3 years. There seems to be a split between many senior profiles， as many seniors wish nothing more than to cruise through the last year with a minimum of honors or rigorous classes. Contrasting that are many other seniors who load up on honors/AP courses to prove to colleges that they are able to handle college level work. No matter the rigor of transcript， it is common for most seniors to retake standardized tests to complete their requirements for colleges. This includes the SATs， ACTs， and SAT II subject tests. This fall， I took the SAT I one more time as well as the SAT II Biology Test. It is recommended that students take subject tests that pertain to the certain career field that they wish to go into. It"s also great if students are looking into applying for certain programs in specific majors as well. Though many find these standardized tests a hassle to study for， they are a great base for college administrations to compare students off of because the standardized test is the same nation wide for each testing date. These tests are generally finished by late fall/early winter so that the applicant can submit the scores in time for application deadlines. The deadlines of many colleges in America differ， but it is common for the regular deadline of many colleges to be January 1st or 2nd. There is the option， however， for an early submission to receive the results sometime around early to mid December. This saves the hassle of waiting until April for results and， in some cases， helps with the acceptance rate. There is early action， which is a nonbinding application that still shows some level of commitment for those who are prepared. Then， there is early decision， which binds the student to the school， if accepted， and shows the highest level of commitment by the applicant. Students can only apply early decision to one school， however. It can be tricky， to figure out if early decision is right for each applicant. Early decision applicants will have to give up the security of comparing the financial aid offers of multiple schools because they will have to attend the school that they are accepted early to. Students also must be very prepared essay wise and transcript wise to submit to the early deadlines often as early as November 1st. I was initially thinking of applying early， but I decided to go with the regular application deadline so that I could polish my transcript and make my GPA and class rank the best that it could be. Also， I wanted to spend more time on my essay， another very important facet of my application. In addition to focusing on school grades， applying for scholarships is a big responsibility for senior year as well. As each student prefers to get the best financial deal possible， scholarships often help take a big weight off of many students" and parents" shoulders. Unlike college applications， however， the application due dates of scholarships are more discreet and students must research to make sure that they have everything completed in time. I"m hoping to apply to many local scholarships from my town area because businesses and associations are often happy to help out a local resident.
Finally， senior year is the time when many students are padding up their list of extracurricular activities and volunteer experiences. Even more so， senior year is the time to lead the activities that students had participated in for the past years. For leadership， I have been my senior class"s Historian officer for the past 4 years， and this year I am my Outdoor Track team"s captain， the National Honor Society"s Historian， and a student mentor program"s Director of Communications. In addition， I"m been keeping up with my other activities such as Amnesty International club， All State Clarinet， After school orchestra， and volunteering at my local hospital and senior center. It keeps me busy， but I thoroughly enjoy each activity and I feel that it will allow colleges to see each facet of my personality. While it does feel nice to have a large list of extracurricular activities， the most important thing is that commitment is shown in them. I know tons of seniors who， upon junior or senior year， realized the importance of this aspect of the applications， joined random groups with no passion or initiative. It is also important， however， not to overload a schedule with too many things outside of school. Although I absolutely love all of the extra things I participate in， I do regret being too stubborn to give up some of my extracurricular activities and， consequentially， struggling with my work load. Overall， senior year is about finding the right balance between maintaining and leading the activities outside of school， the schoolwork itself， and the imminent amount of work that goes into college and scholarship applications.
Senior year is so foreign and exhilarating all at the same time. Never before have I had so many responsibilities and serious questions thrown my way. Never before have I felt so grown up when I walk down the halls of my school. Yet all the same， never before have I felt so insecure and unsure of the future at hand. It is in working on my college applications and writing this article series itself that I have been slowly making tick marks in my high school experience， marking the time for reflection. It has been a great pleasure writing all these articles under the column of "Bridging The Gap" and， in a way， chronicling my journey throughout high school. With all of the glimpses of an Asian American"s experience through American high school， I hope the differences between China and America have been lessened in a way that its similarities lie parallel.
