The Next Big Thing 下一件大事: Chansol Park

We love when our students get excited about our school’s history. We love it extra when that becomes part of what helps them follow their dreams. Meet Chansol Park ’19 from our Puxi campus, and welcome to our WeChat series where we celebrate just a few stories from the Class of 2019.Because when we tell our students they can go from here to anywhere, they take us seriously.

若我們的學生對上海美國學校的校史感興趣，我們高興不已。若這能夠幫助學生成功追逐自己的夢想，我們將更加激動。讓我們一起來認識一下浦西校區(qū)的2019屆畢業(yè)生Chansol Park。歡迎閱讀我們的微信系列文章，一起了解2019屆畢業(yè)生的故事。我們告訴學生們，他們可以從這里前往世界的任何地方，他們真的做到了。

What are your plans for next year?

I’m heading off to the UK, to Oxford University.

你對來年有何計劃？

我將前往英國牛津大學就讀。

There is a legend going around here about you: we heard you were applying to study history at Oxford and during the interview they asked about the history of SAS. And you knew it.

In 8thgrade I picked a book about our history off the bookshelf, and read through some of it. It was knowledge that proved invaluable.

For the Oxford admissions process, you have to come in for an interview, and they will throw you some weird curveball questions. The curveball question they tried on me was “tell me about the history of your school.” So, I talked about SAS. I didn’t know that question was coming, so I got really lucky.

校園里流傳著一個關(guān)于你的傳說：我們聽說你在申請進入牛津大學學習歷史的面試環(huán)節(jié)中，面試官詢問了上海美國學校的歷史，而你對答如流。

在8年級的時候，我從書架上挑選了一本關(guān)于學校歷史的書，并閱讀了其中一部分。事實證明知識是無價的。

至于牛津的招生流程，申請者必須接受面試，而面試官會提出一些突如其來的奇怪問題。他們向我提出的問題是“介紹一下你就讀學校的歷史”。因此，我介紹了上海美國學校。我完全不知道他們會提這個問題，我真的很幸運。

Why do you think they asked about that?

Maybe he researched us. Or maybe the name Shanghai American School gives away some clues about our history. I think they were interested in the story of an American school in Shanghai, and what that might have looked like in the wider scope of history. Maybe they thought, “l(fā)et’s see if he makes connections there.”

你認為他們?yōu)槭裁磿岢鲞@個問題？

也許他調(diào)查過我們。或許上海美國學校這個名字透露出了一些有關(guān)我們歷史的線索。我認為他們感興趣的是一所位于上海的美國學校的故事，以及這個故事在更廣泛的歷史范圍內(nèi)的表現(xiàn)。也許他們想的是：“看看他與那里是否有聯(lián)系。”

And you delivered.

I think I did.

然后你答出了這個問題。

我認為自己答出了這個問題。

Tell us more about your interest in history.

It is partly about wanting to understand where I come from. I am actually South Korean,but I’ve lived in China since I was 4, and I’ve never felt a major connection towards my own people. Looking into history has helped me to build that connection, and helped me understand where I’m from.

My parents always really supported my reading on historical subjects, and bought a lot of books for me. The SAS library was also invaluable. SAS has the biggest English-language collection in China. But most important to the process was that I could follow my interest and be guided by myself. I studied history outside of class, reading about major conflicts between countries, researching daily lives of people, and also the ways societies are structured.

談一談你對歷史的興趣。

一部分原因是我想了解自己的祖國。實際上，我是韓國人，但我從4歲起就定居中國，而且我從未感覺自己與祖國的人民有很大的聯(lián)系。回顧歷史有助于我建立這種聯(lián)系，并幫助我了解自己的祖國。

我的父母一直都很支持我閱讀歷史書籍，給我買了很多書。上海美國學校的圖書館也價值非凡。這里擁有中國最多的英文藏書。但在此過程中最重要的是，我可以做自己感興趣的事，并遵從自己的本心。在課外時間，我會學習歷史、閱讀介紹國家之間重大沖突的書籍、研究人們的日常生活和社會結(jié)構(gòu)的組成方式。

Did you always want to go to the UK?

I also looked at schools in the United States and Australia. Because I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to study, Oxford was one of the first schools that popped up on my radar, because they give students the opportunity to go really deep into a field of their choice. The main caveat there is that you have know what you want to study before you go, but that really wasn’t an issue for me.

你一直想去英國求學嗎？

我還考慮了美國和澳大利亞的學校。我非常清楚自己想要學習的領(lǐng)域，因此牛津大學是我最先考慮的學校之一，因為這些學校讓學生有機會深入研究自己選擇的領(lǐng)域。這里很重要的一點是，在前往大學之前你必須知道自己想要深入研究的領(lǐng)域，但這對我來說真的不是問題。

When did you know that this was the right place for you?

Funnily, it doesn’t have anything to do with history, or the college search even. I think it was actually a moment when I lost a debate. I do a lot of competitive debating in my free time, and some of the best debaters I’ve seen are people who go to Oxford. One time I got to debate one of them, and got absolutely crushed. I was just stunned by how sharp they were, how they were forming their arguments, and even though I was on the other side of the debate, I could see myself being convinced by them. That experience made me think, “I want to go to the place where they teach people how to do that.”

你什么時候知道牛津適合自己？

很有趣的是，這和歷史以及大學搜索沒有任何關(guān)系。我想這是在我輸?shù)粢粓鲛q論之后發(fā)現(xiàn)牛津適合自己的。我在空閑時間參加了很多場激烈的辯論比賽，我見過的很多最佳辯手都是來自牛津的學生。有一次我不得不與其中一位牛津的學生辯論，并且被碾壓了。我對他們的敏銳和他們形成論點的方式深感震驚。即使我是他們的對手方，我還是發(fā)現(xiàn)自己被他們說服了。那段經(jīng)歷讓我產(chǎn)生了一個想法——“去培養(yǎng)出這些人才的大學就讀”。

Congratulations, Chansol. And congrats to Oxford. You better believe he already knows your history too.

祝賀你，Chansol。也祝賀牛津大學。毫無疑問的，Chansol也已經(jīng)了解了牛津的歷史。

Click on "read more" forthe Class of 2019college/university acceptances.

點擊“閱讀更多”，查看最新的2019屆學生錄取院校名單。

About Us 關(guān)于我們Founded in 1912, Shanghai American School (SAS) is the largest and most established international school in China. In short, it's the kind of school you wish you would've attended when you were a kid.

創(chuàng)建于1912年，上海美國學校是中國最大的也是歷史最悠久的國際學校。簡而言之，如果你能回到小的時候，這會是一所你想要去的學校。

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