文書解析 | “自嘲”的魅力

 在文書中怎么體現一個人的幽默呢？

用俏皮的對話？

用別人的評價？

自黑，是最高級的幽默。

我相信很多人曾因為自己的“不一樣”而焦慮和困惑，有些也許已經習慣了多面生活。你有沒有想過，父母眼中懂事的你，朋友眼中談笑風生的你，陌生人眼中高冷的你，哪個才是真實的自己？ 本文的作者以極其幽默的文筆講述了一個尋找自我獲得新生的故事。讓我們一起來看一看他是怎么娛樂自我，化嚴肅化為輕松，在眾多學生中脫穎而出的吧。

文章來源于網絡

Accepted into UC Berkeley

Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

I won “Most Original” pumpkin at a Halloween party years ago. I have the “Most Original” award. It’s a consolation prize. You can’t be the best, or the prettiest, so you have to be “original.” I’ve won the “Most Original” award a fair number of times. I was even named “Most Original” at a basketball awards banquet. What does that even mean? How can anybody be “Most Original” when she’s playing basketball?

Recognizing the “Most Original” award for the pity-prize that it was, I grew increasingly hostile toward the very word “original.” If you win this cursed award, everyone around you offers feigned sympathy or, even worse, insincere congratulations. Phrases like “oh, bummer” or well-intentioned but half-hearted “well, good for you” circle the recipient, creating a cyclone of regret from which the “winner” will never recover.

Okay, maybe I’m overreacting – but I cannot for the life of me understand that award. “Most Original” always let me down, and as a result, I hated to be original in any context. In my hometown of New Haven, Connecticut, where normality was…well, the norm, I tried to be a typical student – absolutely, perfectly normal. I blended into crowds, the definition of typical. I became a person who refused to surprise people. Just another brick in the wall.

Dull. 

And then I moved to Berkeley for six months. It’s an odd, vibrant place with odd, vibrant people. Originality is celebrated there – not in the half-hearted “good for you” way, but in the full-throated “GOOD FOR YOU!” way. One of the first of my fellow students to befriend me wore corset tops and tutus and carried a parasol with which she punctuated her every utterance. Her best friend was a boy with purple hair who once wore a shirt with built in LED lights for Christmas. They were the most popular people in school, in direct contrast to all that was socially acceptable in New Haven. Our peers recognized them as being unique, but instead of ostracizing them or pitying them, the students in Berkeley celebrated them.

In Berkeley, I learned the value of originality: Those who celebrate their individuality are not only unique but strong. It takes great strength to defy the definitions of others, and because of that strength, those who create their own paths discover a different world than those who travel the same worn road.

I returned to New Haven a changed person. My appearance was certainly different – red streaks in my hair and a newfound fondness for tutus certainly made me stand out. But the change went deeper than that: I had embraced the idea of being myself, no matter what others thought was cool or “normal.” Spending time in a place where “Most Original” was the highest compliment allowed me to explore myself without fear of being different or lesser, and I liked what I had found.

I’m still skeptical about the “Most Original” award. In the context of an award ceremony, it’s still just a meaningless consolation prize. But I don’t think of being “Most original” as an insult anymore – I wear it as a badge of honor, proof that I am myself and no one else.

A friend recently joked, “If there were a ‘Quirkiest’ award in the yearbook, you’d definitely win.” We were standing outside of a classroom, and I was wearing a pair of gold, glittery shorts that definitely caught the eye. “Quirkiest?” I said. “How about ‘Most Original.’”

1. Cyclone /?sa?klo?n/ 氣旋；旋風

2. Parasol /?pær?s??l/  （舊時）女用陽傘

3. Corset /?k??rs?t/  （尤指舊時婦女束腰的）緊身內衣

4. Ostracize  /?ɑ?str?sa?z/  排擠，排斥

1. I was even named “Most Original” at a basketball awards banquet.

本來以為作者在凡爾賽，夸自己有創造力，這一句一下子變成了自黑，讀完又慘又好笑，幽默一覽無余。

2. If you win this cursed award, everyone around you offers feigned sympathy or, even worse, insincere congratulations… I blended into crowds, the definition of typical… Dull.

這篇文章是通過自己對Most Original這兩個詞的態度的轉變體現個人成長。這三段寫的是自己一開始對其‘恨之入骨’，努力偽裝成普通人的樣子。 “Okay, maybe I’m overreacting.”” Connecticut-where normality was…well, the norm.” 自然不做作的表達方式，像是在聽一個人面對面得給你講故事。

3. Instead of ostracizing them or pitying them, the students in Berkeley celebrated them…It takes great strength to defy the definitions of others, and because of that strength, those who create their own paths discover a different world than those who travel the same worn road.

以對比的方式講述“我”這樣的人在這兩種環境中受到的待遇。人的成長很神奇，有些人是循序漸進，量變引起質變，有些人只是看了一本書，見了一些人，做了一件事，就頓悟了。但不管是哪種情況，在成長型的文書中都是不可或缺的一部分。比起你變成了新的自己，招生官更想知道的是你為什么變成了這個樣子。Show; Don’t tell.

4. I had embraced the idea of being myself, no matter what others thought was cool or “normal.” Spending time in a place where “Most Original” was the highest compliment allowed me to explore myself without fear of being different or lesser… I’m still skeptical about the “Most Original” award, but I don’t think of being “Most original” as an insult anymore.

“學”成歸來后的轉變。個人認為這部分進行拓展后效果會更好，即把不畏不同進行了哪些探索、獲得了哪些成果采用排比的結構，用簡潔的語言總結一下，突出 most original的形象。

5. “Quirkiest?” I said. “How about ‘Most Original.’”

以打趣的方式結尾，又幽默了一把。從拒絕到主動接受，作者的心態發生了巨大變化，也意味著接受自我，享受自我。

通常的意識流描寫會顯得文章異常破碎、跳動，所有的信息也顯得十分的原始。這篇文章雖然有點意識流，但內容架構完整，幽默自黑的基調令讀者心生好感。大學的申請文書是為了展現自己更加生動的一面，這篇文章接受自我的主題容易浮于表面，但幽默使故事提升了一個檔次，甚至可以說，故事只是幽默的載體。

特別鳴謝江博留學文書顧問 程路迂老師