在我开始叙述我的故事之前， 让我先简单地介绍我自己。 我的名字是史亮瑜，我毕业于2016年高三理三。在宽柔中学就读的期间，我曾参加过图书馆协会并在毕业前的两年里担任文创社的理事。与很多在阅读这篇文章的你一样， 我曾在补习中心度过了无数的岁月。我当时的人生目标除了获取优越的成绩就是顺利升级。此时的你应该会觉得像我这么努力的学生，成绩应该很好吧？我想告诉你，并没有。我高中三年的成绩单除了B就是C，只有少数科目拿到A。然而成绩如此普通的我却在2020年被美国公立大学排名第二和世界排名第15的加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校录取。现在你的应该很好奇我是怎么创造“奇迹” 的吧？让我在以下的文章里叙述我的造梦之旅。
在2016年高中毕业后，我与许多高中生一样并没有任何伟大的梦想。我唯一的梦想是在美国一间颇具声望的大学完成我的学士文凭。作为一名成绩平平高中生，我的梦想是那么地触不可及。我身边许多的亲戚朋友都觉得我异想天开并劝导我拥有一个更实际的梦想。然而他们的话语并没有让我改变我的目标，反而让我更坚信我的梦想。
回忆起初来美国时，我的心是多么地兴奋却又参杂着一丝忧虑。 我为来到这梦想的国度而感到喜悦，却因未知的挑战而感到忧虑。然而事实证明我的忧虑是多余的。 在我就读社区大学(De Anza College)的期间，我遇到了许多热情且善解人意的教授与同学。他们让我在这陌生的国度里感觉到了温暖与关怀。在这期间里我除了英语进步神速以外，我也收获了许多宝贵的人生经验。这其中最珍贵的经验便是学习如何挑战自我与接受不完美。 这些生活经验与人生价值观除了造就了现在的我，也给予了我发掘潜在才能的机会。在两年不懈的努力与坚持中，我终于实现了我的梦想并成为了一个更全面的学生。我以CGPA 4.0的成绩完成我的Associate Degree并获得拉丁文学位最高荣誉 (Summa Cum Laude) 。在那之后我便转学到加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校（UCLA）完成我的学士学位。
你若问我，如果我有机会穿越时光回到过去我会做出什么改变？我会告诉你我不会做任何改变。并不是因为我没有任何的悔恨而是因为我相信蝴蝶效应的存在。我不希望因为回到过去是的那一点改变而让我失去我现在拥有的一切。我始终相信人生中所遇到的一切磨难只为了让你成为一个更好的自己。
作为一个二十多岁的青年，我的人生旅途还很长。我也和你一样会幻想着自己的未来和计划着想要做的事。然而人生茫茫且充满着许多的未知数，我们现在能做的只有珍惜当下并努力变好。你要相信花若盛開，蝴蝶自來，人若精彩，天自安排。作为一个过来人，我想要告诉你，虽然成绩很重要但它并不能代表一切。别让成绩定义你的一生因为你才是你的人生的掌控者。在不远的未来你若有机会出国留学或追求梦想，请一定要牢牢地把握那机会！因为那会是你人生中最难忘且珍贵的回忆。请不要因为那未知的挑战而放弃因为王者之路注定充满荆棘。
（想要询问美国留学的学弟妹欢迎到LinkedIn 找我https://www.linkedin.com/in/charissa-soo33/）
Before I start narrating my story, let me give you some background information about myself. My name is Charissa Soo. I graduated from Foon Yew High School in 2016. I was one of the board of directors at the creative writing club (文创社) during the last two years of high school. Like most of you, I have spent most of my time at school and at the tutoring center. My life was mostly about getting a decent score and moving on to the next grade. However, a mediocre student like me ended up being accepted by one of the top universities in the world. If you are interested in knowing the secret behind the “miracle”, please continue to read my story.
In November 2016, I graduated from Foon Yew High School. Like most high school graduates, I did not have any major expectations for myself like changing the world or being the next Bill Gates. My sole goal was to finish my higher education in one of the top universities in the United States. As a student whose average grade was between 69 percent to 75 percent in high school, I was shooting high. Most of the people around me did not believe that I could do it. They often felt that I was in over my head pursuing this dream. However, through hard work and perseverance, I have used my actions and results to prove them wrong.
One year after I graduated from high school, I traveled 9,358 miles from Malaysia to the United States to further my education. When I first arrived in the U.S. my heart was full of fear, but also excitement. I was excited that I had finally arrived in the land of my dreams, but I was also worried that I could not handle the challenges that lied ahead. However, my fear and worries were redundant. The classmates and professors that I have met at De Anza College have been very warm and helpful. They have made my college experience better than I imagined it would be.
After two years of hard work, I finally reached my goal and became a more well-rounded person. I graduated from De Anza with Summa Cum Laude honors and transferred to University of California, Los Angeles, one of the top 50 universities in the world. The most precious lesson that I have learned and gained value from during my first two years of college was how to think out of the box and to jump out of my comfort zone. These values have led me to explore my hidden talents and break through my limits. Without them, I would not be who I am right now.
If I had the chance to travel back to the past, I would not change anything that I did. You might be curious why and ask me whether I have any regrets in my life. I would answer, yes. I do have some regrets in my life, but changing those decisions might have changed the course of my life and steered me away from the life that I enjoy now. If you understand the butterfly effect, you would know the reason behind my choice.
As a twenty-two-year-old young adult, I still have a very long path to go. There have been times where I would sit and try to imagine how my future would look, but none of my thoughts seem like a clear path to me right now. There are too many unknowns in the future which make it hard to create a clear plan. However, this does not mean that I do not care about my future. I am striving to take advantage of every opportunity that I get. I believe these opportunities can help me secure myself a good future.
In a nutshell, my study abroad journey is still at the halfway point. I’m looking forward to exploring the other half in the near future. If you have the opportunity to study abroad and chase your dream, I would tell you to go for it! It will be one of the best experiences that you will have in your life. I would say being a dream chaser is never an easy thing to do, but sometimes it is better to take risks and make mistakes than it is to just follow the flow.
