耀中国际学校杰出校友：未来尽在掌握

　　It has been a month or so since our 2019 YCIS Qingdao Alumni, Josiah Mendes, started his journey as a freshman at Imperial College London. We are delighted to share with our school community the stories from Josiah. Every year, YCIS students receive excellent offers from higher education institutes across the world. For our students, a university is not only a place where they learn, but also a starting point of discovering the world and their future.

　　初冬时节，青岛耀中采访了我校2019年毕业生Josiah Mendes，他与我们分享了他入学英国帝国理工学院一个月以来的心得。每年，我们都欣喜地看到耀中国际学校的毕业生收到来自世界各地高等教育机构的录取通知书。对于年轻人们来说，大学不仅仅是饱藏知识的学术胜地，更是他们探索世界、探索未来的新起点。

　　YCIS Qingdao: First of all, we would like to once again congratulate you on the outstanding result in university application. How is your study and life going? Are you enjoying the new environment in University?

　　青岛耀中：首先，再次祝贺你拿到了世界顶尖大学的录取通知！愿意与我们分享一下你进入帝国理工之后的学习和生活吗？

　　Josiah: In both expected and unexpected ways, studying at Uni is so different from studying at YCIS! Being at one of the top STEM universities in the UK, if not in the world, means that the workload is significantly heavier and the environment is more intense & competitive. But, it is enjoyable, doing sophisticated hands-on work in the lab, and hearing from companies such as Apple and Intel on their latest developments within the industry.

　　Josiah：大学生活和中学有着天壤之别！这些区别有的在我的意料之内，也有的令我始料未及。帝国理工作为全英国甚至全世界最好的科学、技术、工程及数学类大学，课业压力剧增，竞争环境也更为激烈。但在尖端科研环境中进行精密的实验、了解苹果和英特尔等世界科技巨头的最新发展，这一切又令我感到无比兴奋。

　　My adjustment into the Uni environment has been cushioned by the fact that I still live at home with my family, a blessing in terms of both cost and convenience. I cycle the 11km from my house to Uni in 35mins each day, and come home knowing that there’ll be food on the table for me. Not having to worry about stuff like that is great, I love it. I’ve made lots of friends especially within my tutorial group, but I would still say my YCIS classmates are my closest friends and I miss them dearly.

　　面对大学生活的陡然而至，好的一面是，我还住在家里。这在经济实惠和便利程度上都有效地帮助我更好地适应变化。每天，我骑车往返于家和学校之间，11公里的路程大约要骑个35分钟吧。当我推开家门的时候，桌上总有香喷喷的食物在等我。不用过多地为生活琐事而烦恼，我有了更多时间去认识我身边的同学，交到更多新的朋友。不过，我还是非常想念我在青岛耀中读书时的伙伴们，他们是我的挚友！

　　YCIS Qingdao: Has the YCIS Holistic Focus helped you in your university life? Does it help in facing new challenges?

　　青岛耀中：你认为，耀中的“全人教育”理念是否有助于你去面对大学生活中新的挑战？

　　Josiah: YCIS’s Holistic Focus has, for sure, made a lasting impact on my life. My class in the university is very diverse, and we have students from all over the world. There have been multiple occasions where I’ve joined a conversation with my Chinese classmates using Chinese, only for shocked faces to appear, followed by “You speak Chinese???” (杨老师、陈老师、赵老师，谢谢您们！) Being exposed to so many different cultures at YCIS, it helped me to be adaptable and get along with many of my classmates regardless of nationality, unlike some of the others who stick with their own nationalities and cultural groups – Funnily enough, I end up hanging out more with the Chinese, Korean, Singaporean, and other Asian students than my “fellow” British students!

　　Josiah：毋庸置疑，耀中的全人教育对我的人生产生了积极而深远的影响。来到帝国理工以后，我结识了许多来自不同国家和地区的同学。有好几次，我都用中文与我的中国同学们交谈，结果他们一脸惊讶地问我，“你居然会讲中文？！” （杨老师、陈老师、赵老师，谢谢您们！）在耀中读书的时候，我与众多来自不同国家、不同文化背景的同学们一起学习生活，这在极大程度上培养了我对于文化差异的包容心。我不会像有的同学那样，只与自己的同胞打交道；相反，我非常喜欢和亚洲国家的同学们进行交流，以此扩展自己的视野和知识面。

　　I’ve also been able to continue playing the sports that I learnt to love at YCIS, namely volleyball, basketball, and football. Having good grades is not my top priority, there are much more important things in life!

　　我现在也时常进行不同种类的运动，比如说排球、篮球和足球。这些体育项目是我在耀中上学那会儿就爱上了的。我觉得，学生的终极目标不应当仅仅是追求卓越的学习成绩——我很乐意探索各式各样的人生体验！

　　YCIS Qingdao: In your university application process, did you receive sufficient help from YCIS University Guidance Counselor (UGC)?

　　青岛耀中：在你申请大学的过程中，耀中的大学升学指导老师是否给予了足够的帮助？

　　Josiah: I had the benefit of round-the-clock help and guidance from YCIS UGC. I got plenty of guidance on my personal statement. In regular sessions, the Counsellor helped me to realise what skills and attributes universities were looking for, as well as helping me discover the skills I already possessed.

　　Josiah：在申请大学的时候，我确实获得了很多来自耀中专业老师的帮助和指导。比如，大学升学指导老师对于我的个人陈述部分就提出了不少修改建议。此外，在一次次的面对面谈话中，他还帮助我更加清晰地认识到了个人品质和技能，是这些令我在众多申请者之中脱颖而出。

　　▲The YCIS/YWIES University Guidance Counselor Team benefits from the expertise in higher education of over 20 counsellors, who come from different countries and have strong professional backgrounds. Some served as former admission officers in British and American universities; others were university lecturers, teachers, coordinators, and counsellors. They bring a wide range of skills, knowledge, and experience into one, to best suit the academic and social needs of each student during the university application process. | 耀中和耀华的大学升学指导团队由20余名来自不同国家及地区、具有丰富高等教育专业知识的顾问组成。部分顾问曾在英国和美国的大学担任招生官；部分则曾是大学讲师、教师、主管和辅导员。他们用自己所擅长的一系列专业技能、知识和经验，以及自己丰富的阅历及文化背景，帮助学生申请到最适合其学术和社会需求的大学。

　　YCIS Qingdao: Taking yourself as an excellent example among all the university applicants, what suggestions you would like to give to your YCIS fellows?

　　青岛耀中：作为获得了优秀录取结果的大学申请者，你有什么申请大学时的建议想要给到耀中的学弟学妹们呢？

　　Josiah: The one thing I would encourage all YCIS students to do for their university application is, since we’re not a school with a large population, is to take part in as many activities as possible, don’t shy away from them. For my final 4 years at YCIS, I had a Co-Curriculum Activity almost every day of the week, and these experiences were both enjoyable and opportunities to boost my personal statement. In comparison to my university classmates, I don’t have the highest grades, so I believe talking about my personal projects was a huge plus for my university application.

　　Josiah：我想给学弟学妹们在大学申请上的一个建议就是，青岛耀中的学校规模让每一位学生参与各类活动的机会更多，每一位同学都能够得到更加充分的发展；因此，不要轻易放过任何一个参与活动的机会。我从耀中毕业之前，大概四年的时间里，几乎每个下午都会参与一项课外活动（CCA），这在很大程度上丰富了我的个人陈述内容。虽然和我的大学同学们相比，我的成绩不是最拔尖儿的，但是所有这些我在耀中参与过的活动和实践项目，对于大学申请都特别有帮助。

　　We are impressed with Josiah’s sharing, both useful information about his university application, and his thrilling experiences in London. We sincerely hope that, with the help offered by our professional UGC team, more students will reach their dream university and hop on the bus for their new journey!

　　我们对于青岛耀中的优秀毕业生Josiah能够与学校社区——特别是他的学弟学妹们分享大学申请相关信息以及他在伦敦的新生活感到非常高兴。同时，我们也衷心希望在耀中专业化大学升学指导团队带领下，越来越多的学生能够顺利申请到理想大学，开启人生新篇章！