Essay的種類非常多,在國(guó)外大學(xué)中也是最常見的essay提交方式之一,國(guó)外大學(xué)里基本上每周都有Essay小dissertation,很多中國(guó)留學(xué)生們都會(huì)抱怨essay太多,各式各樣的Essay、Assignment、Paper不知道什么時(shí)候能寫完。接下來(lái)要給大家介紹的Failure Essay的寫作方法,以及優(yōu)秀的Failure Essay案例分享。在很多時(shí)候,留學(xué)生們?cè)谡嫦氩磺宄粋€(gè)問(wèn)題的時(shí)候,可以考慮從反面來(lái)想想,所以,大家在構(gòu)思一篇Failure Essay的時(shí)候,提醒大家最好從以下幾個(gè)方面去考慮:
1)不要把生活中的一些小Failure寫進(jìn)Failure Essay
有的留學(xué)生為了不暴露自己的弊端或者所謂的弱點(diǎn),就找個(gè)不是錯(cuò)誤的錯(cuò)誤來(lái)闡述。這樣,反而會(huì)讓老師覺(jué)得你不勇于承認(rèn)你的錯(cuò)誤、避重就輕。千萬(wàn)不要把你上大學(xué)的時(shí)候沒(méi)考上名牌大學(xué),沒(méi)能進(jìn)到世界五百?gòu)?qiáng)實(shí)習(xí)等等諸如此類這種當(dāng)作所謂的failure來(lái)寫。別拿這些小事來(lái)糊弄他們!這些根本就算不上是Failure。
2)你覺(jué)得把一些特別Trivial的Failure寫進(jìn)去有用嗎?
有的留學(xué)生倒是寫了Failure了,但是Faillure的程度小的不能再小。因?yàn)槟銓?duì)Failure的定義,也說(shuō)明了你的眼界和觸地反擊的承受能力。老師并不關(guān)心你和你爸媽吵架,或者和兄妹吵架中的挫敗感,所以這些就沒(méi)必要寫進(jìn)去了。你經(jīng)歷過(guò)的比較大的Failure并且能從中走出來(lái),學(xué)到很多,那么這樣的Failure寫進(jìn)去是非常加分的。
3)寫上自己比較難忘的Failure或許效果會(huì)更好
太過(guò)誠(chéng)懇和坦白,也不是件好事。畢竟,我們?cè)趯懳恼聲r(shí)候,要注意老師的喜好。比如看國(guó)外的一些失敗Essay的案例,有人竟然寫自己性侵犯而入獄的歷史。沒(méi)錯(cuò)了,這個(gè)確實(shí)是個(gè)大大的failure,但是,老師會(huì)對(duì)有這種Failure經(jīng)歷的人產(chǎn)生好感嗎?我覺(jué)得不能,所以,盡管提倡大家寫比較大的Failure,但是大家還是要謹(jǐn)慎選擇Failure素材啊。
4)在寫Failure本身時(shí)更要注重從中學(xué)到了什么
在failure的essay中,千萬(wàn)別把重點(diǎn)放在描述Failure故事的本身了。想寫出優(yōu)秀的failure essay,就要多寫你的lessons learned,也就是從中學(xué)習(xí)到的收獲,多寫你改進(jìn)后的行為。如果要“避重就輕”的話,這估計(jì)是避重就輕最好的切入點(diǎn)了。
5)采用的Failure案例的故事時(shí)間不要太久遠(yuǎn)
在選擇failure essay的素材的時(shí)候,一定要把握好火候。別寫太小的時(shí)候的事情,會(huì)讓adcom的人覺(jué)得你在刻意逃避直面問(wèn)題本身;也別寫離申請(qǐng)時(shí)太近的例子,使得你的essay里沒(méi)有足夠的space來(lái)給a better you和lessons learned留下余地。
說(shuō)了這么多理論知識(shí),下面就給大家整理了一篇Failure Essay的優(yōu)秀案例,留學(xué)生們可以從中去學(xué)習(xí)它的寫作技巧,格式等等,看完相信不會(huì)寫Failure Essay的同學(xué)都會(huì)受益匪淺。
Question: Describe a failure that you haveexperienced. What role did you play, and what did you learn about yourself?(500 words)
Absolute US was an annual event inSingapore that helped prospective students meet those of us who were alreadyschooling in USA. It is now defunct, but I’d once tried- and failed- toresurrect it.
When I took this up, Absolute US had beenon the brink of death, and I’d begun the project by formulating a three-facetedrevival plan. First, it’d previously been held at Singapore’s largest club, andI decided on a smaller and cozier venue instead.
Second, some games would be organized tospice things up. Finally, a team of motivated shareholders- rather thanlow-energy volunteers- would be assembled by pitching Absolute US as amoney-making venture. Besides arming myself with a good plan, I also workedextremely hard, playing whatever role was necessary- be it the leader who’dformulated the entire plan; the more hands-off project consultant; or theevent’s game designer- to make my re-conceptualization a reality.
I had a good plan, a dedicated team, andhad been doing whatever it took to succeed. But in spite of this, Absolute US2006 boasted historical attendance lows and didn’t make a profit. What’d gonewrong?
Having reflected upon the affair, I nowrealize that the project had been doomed from the start, because of threeerrors in execution.
First, we’d ignored local contexts. Makingplans from abroad left the project without proper intelligence on the ground.I’d designed the new, apparently perfect, plan and organized the team when Iwas in Chicago in April 2006. When my team returned to Singapore in June afterschool had ended, I went to Thailand for a month of social work. As studentswho’d spent the year abroad, we eventually picked a venue that turned out to bea has-been so past its popularity peak that it folded a month after our event.A better appreciation of the need for ground-level research would have servedus well.
Second, as leader I’d failed to strike abalance between involvement with the project vision and its details. I’d workedhard, involving myself in all the project nitty-gritty’s. However, my trying togo it alone working out every detail, rather than trusting others to execute,not only caused a breakdown in communication of the project vision to my team,but also left them without a leader for a short period when I was in Thailand.Though I’d immediately stepped down and become a project consultant insteadafter realizing the problem, it’d been too late. The leaderless period hadalready demoralized my team.
Third, I’d lacked a backup plan. I’d takenfor granted that no hiccups would occur, and when one did, I was caught unprepared.In particular, I’d planned to communicate from Thailand via email, but thiseventually proved unfeasible because I’d unexpectedly lacked Internet access.
What I’d learnt, in short, was that havinga neat idea is no guarantee of successful execution. This had been a painfulbut educational experience, and I look forward to doing things differently- andsucceeding- in future endeavors.
言而總之,總而言之,寫Failure Essay的出發(fā)點(diǎn)就是向老師show你已經(jīng)做了很多很多的事情,但是最終你還是screw things up了,但是你并沒(méi)有stop在那里,而是借此機(jī)會(huì)進(jìn)行了反思和學(xué)習(xí)。而且,在最后的learning的總結(jié)也很給力。一個(gè)好的作者不但能夠go detail的告訴大家他做了什么,而且,還能夠通過(guò)1-2句話把自己的反思總結(jié)到一個(gè)很高的高度。這樣的Failure Essay我相信不得高分都難。