6月15日晚亲子互助二群采访了十二年级毕业生A。这是主持人A女士的简介：A is a 2017 senior who has been accepted by Princeton University. Nominated as a Presidential Scholar, A is a well-rounded student, who has taken the most challenging courses, maintained a balance between humanities and STEM subjects, while well managed her extracurricular activities.
A的自我介绍：Hi, at my high school, I took 11 AP classes, balanced between humanities and STEM, and took Multivariable Calc honors senior year. I was Vice-president of the Model UN club, a cellist for the school orchestra, a member of the Quiz Bowl team, and I took Spanish all 4 years. I was also on the high school tennis team for 3 years. Outside of school, I play piano and volunteer at Horizon High School and the St. Barnabas Emergency Dept. I was a Nat'l Merit Finalist, a Nat'l AP Scholar, and a Presidential Scholar nominee. This fall, I'll be attending Princeton University, with a possible major in chemistry and a possible career in medicine/research.
Question 1. What are the ground rules you follow when it comes to academic course selection in high school?
I try to take a balanced mix of humanities and STEM, and also the most difficult classes I can handle. For example, last year I took AP US History, AP Calc BC, AP Physics 1, AP Economics (a easier class), and AP English. Then I took Spanish 4 Honors, Orchestra (less stress than academic courses), and Gym.
Question 2. What is the most challenging course you have taken in the four years at LHS?
Either Calc BC or AP Physics C Mechanics. Both were a ton of challenging information/concepts squeezed into a few months. For Calc, I had to adapt to the fast pace of the class and the required amount of work/practice to keep up. Physics required more learning and review on my own time to keep up w the many tests/quizzes.
Question 3. How do you describe the academic environment of LHS?
Very strong. There are many very smart students at LHS, which increases the peer pressure and teacher expectation to do well. However, most people are to cooperate and help each other study and such, and the teachers are kind and helpful too, staying after school for questions and such.
Question 4. How do you decide which school clubs to join?
Personal interest. My main club is Model UN, and I joined that because I was genuinely really interested in international relations/politics, and also wanted to improve my public speaking skills. I tried out for the Quiz Bowl team because my friends were doing it. I joined the tennis team because I'd been playing tennis for many years, and I liked the sport.
Question 5. What do you do outside of school? Can you talk about your community services particularly? What have you learned from those experiences?
I volunteer with Cerebral Palsy of NJ at Horizon High School on Rt. 10, which is a high school for children with mental disabilities. I've been there for 4 years, and it's 1 hr/week. I've also been volunteering at St. Barnabas Emergency Dept for the last year, for 3 hrs a week. Mostly, I've learned about my ability to help others simply by contributing my time to bring them some happiness and comfort. Horizon is really about playing w the children and keeping them happy and interested. St. Barnabas is more relevant to my medical interest, so I got to observe doctors and nurses at work while helping increase the patients.
Question 6. How do you manage the stress and keep balance of academic work and extracurricular activities?
I have hobbies to distract me from the stress of school life, like watching TV and movies to relax. Also, hanging out w my friends is really great, because they understand what I'm going through and I can complain with them. For the balance, I remember that academics come first, and I'll cancel a volunteering session or a lesson if I'm getting to overwhelmed.
Question 7. Why do you choose medicine/research as your future career?
It's a challenging field w a huge potential for helping people. I think that it's one of the best ways to apply my knowledge to help people and my community.
Question 8. What did you do in the summer of high school years?
I went on vacation w my family, and also to different academic activities. The summer after sophomore year I took a college course on international relations at American University in DC. Last year, I went to India w a group of high school students to look at medical innovations. So it's really an opportunity to explore the topics I was interested in.
Question 9. Your calmness and humility stood out, among the 6 graduates who shared their views at the Chinese school last month. Your mom is also very low key. How has her style influenced you? How do you describe your relationship with your Mom?
My mom is fantastic, she's the closest people in my support system, so I really trust her with talking about my problems and concerns over school and my social life. Academically, she's more distant, which gives me more freedom to work on projects at my own (slow) pace without feeling overly pressured. When I get bad grades, she trusts me to build it back up over time, so I never have an immediate negative reaction, which keeps our relationship supportive.
Question 10. What advice do you have for the younger students in middle and high school?
Everything works out, just be yourself. High school sounds scary, but everyone can adapt (especially during freshman year, where the teachers are more accommodating bc they know you're transitioning). Be genuine to people and yourself, because otherwise you're going to be even more stressed. I chose Model UN because I enjoyed the work and international research. If I didn't like what I was working on, the work would've seemed like a chore, and made my life a lot more difficult. There's no specific successful path to college, so just be yourself and work from there - you'll be a lot happier and satisfied.
Question 11. How does your Asian background play a role in your life and/or application? Do you think it matters or doesn't matter at all?
It's just part of who I am in my life, so I eat chinese food for dinner and my closest friends have this shared cultural background too. For my application, I personally didn't have any activities/classes which stressed it too much, so I didn't address it unless the college asked me to (such as Duke, where I wrote a supplement on culture).
Question 12. High school is a very stressful time for many students. Have you ever had a time you wanted to give up?
I actually quit tennis senior year due to the enormous time commitment. Overall though, I've pulled through by talking with my mom. It's also very therapeutic to complain with friends haha, because it reminds you that your peers are here to help and understand you.
Question 13. We usually say everyone is different. So what do you think makes you you? Or different from others?
Question 14. What did you do as volunteer in emergency department and high school? How can we find such opportunity?
A用语音回答了下面的问题，包括升学论文，母女关系，学习压力等等。流利的中文令家长们赞叹。接着主持人A女士又采访了A的母亲J女士。语音中母女互动，场面温馨；J女士的育儿分享让群友们受益匪浅。
音频链接
https://m.lizhi.fm/podcast/22718052883277696/2608160305038304774
Question 15. Could you also share your experience about essay writing? I heard a rumor that Chinese applicants all have similar essay and all talk about immigration experience. So I am wondering what did you talk about in your assay?
Question 16. What do you plan to study? Do you have any career aspirations?
Question 17. How was your experience of taking multivariable cal?
Question 18. I know you were a member of the top performing robotics team for a while. How do you see that experience now and what did you learn from that?
Question 19. You speak fluent Chinese. Do you speak Chinese at home?
Question 20. Can you tell us about your mother daughter relationship?
Question 21. Can you talk about your 90 year old grandpa?
Question 22. Are you a role model for your brother? Do you discipline him?
Question 23. Do you feel stress from school?
Question 24. If you could change anything in your high school career, what would they be?
Question 25. Your mom has her own pursue and many hobbies. She always speaks highly of you and your brother. I think her encouraging and trust created a nurturing environment at home.
Question 26. Could u comment on social media?
Question 27. Can you talk about your leadership role in high school?
Question 28. Who is your role model in your life?
Question 29. What is your friend's circle? What are similarities and differences between you and your friends?
感谢J和A母女诚恳分享；感谢A女士花时间精力，继一群之后在二群做了第二次采访；也感谢家长们的参与。