The Life of the Characters in Zhang Hongjie's Works

China's poor talented women won the competition between Harvard and Yale, Harvard, Yale, Puda and MIT in the United States, China's girls won four yuan in a row, and Watson and Zhang Hongjie competed for four schools ... Since the end of April 2009, hundreds of domestic and foreign media and news agencies such as People's Daily, China News Network, China Overseas Chinese Network, World Daily, Sin Chew Daily and AFP have reported one after another. This outstanding scholar who won the honor for the people of China is Zhang Hongjie, a Dandong girl who grew up drinking the Yalu River.

165438+1October 2 1, 2000 is an unforgettable day for Zhang Hongjie's grandmother. That day, at Dandong Railway Station, when she watched her daughter-in-law Sha lead her granddaughter's back into the crowd, she burst into tears. This is a long journey. On the other side of the world, in America, her son Zhang Zhihong is waiting to be reunited with their mother and son.

That year, Zhang Hongjie was just 10 years old. Zhang Hongjie was named by her grandmother, half from her father Zhang Zhihong and half from her mother Sha Shu Jie. Previously, Zhang Zhihong, a senior chef and food sculptor of Dan Tower, had obtained a green card in the United States. Sha works in the municipal canteen. In Zhanqian Primary School, Zhang Hongjie is a good boy with excellent academic performance. At that time, if the teacher couldn't come to class because of something, her monitor would take the place of the teacher. Her grandfather 1958 graduated from Northeast Institute of Technology (now Northeastern University). It was this old intellectual who first opened his granddaughter Zhang Hongjie's cultural vision. Swimming, painting and singing, Zhang Hongjie had a happy childhood. In grandma's memory, she was a child with strong independence and autonomy since she was a child. In the autumn of 2000, my mother Sha Ling went to the American Embassy in China to apply for a visa to the United States. In a simple conversation, the visa officer fell in love with her beautiful and outstanding China girl and immediately found a one-dollar coin to reward her. ...

When Zhang Hongjie first arrived in the United States, he could not speak a word of English. This means that she will try to integrate into the study and living environment in the United States.

From 65438 to 0996, Zhang Hongjie's father, Zhang Zhihong, came to the United States alone to cook sushi. When talking about the reason for bringing his wife and daughter to the United States, he said: "It is very simple, just for the education of children." He felt that he was "sorry that he didn't study hard in the past" and was not fluent in English, so he always had to work in a restaurant. After Sha Shu Jie came to the United States, he kept house at home. Since her father has been away for many years, Zhang Hongjie has become her mother's right-hand man at home. On one occasion, her mother told Peng Wei, a teacher in Zhang Hongjie, that she would be very sad if her daughter, who lived together day and night, left home to study abroad. Say that finish, then burst into tears. ...

Growing up in such an immigrant family, Zhang Hongjie's independent personality became more and more mature. "I will redouble my efforts when I think of my parents' hard work. "Before the ninth grade began, she had already worked in McDonald's. She said: "There, I learned how to deal with people and developed my communication skills. "Now, she has moved to CVS pharmacy, not only working part-time after class, but also working 40 hours a week in winter and summer vacations. In addition to his part-time job, Zhang Hongjie is the chairman of four societies. She loves all public welfare activities, often volunteers, works as a violinist in the largest local youth symphony orchestra, attends Chinese school regularly every Sunday, and takes care of her 5-year-old brother. Her good friend Tasha Nasevich said, "More importantly, she will find time to get along with her friends. She is really good at using her time. "

Zhang Hongjie said that taking part in social activities is a very important part, not for the sake of good-looking resume, but for your sincere contribution. You will often get unexpected help and opportunities, which is "beneficial" to your future.

Peng Wei has taught Zhang Hongjie English for free for six years, and she still keeps an article she wrote in the eighth grade about how to use her time. The article writes: "A person only has 12 years of study time to prepare for real life. In this short 12 year, one must use his time to learn enough knowledge. " At the end of the article, she also quoted a famous saying: "I use other people's coffee time to study."

"When I first came to Charlotte, Victoria from Maryland, I felt that there was a good educational environment here." Zhang Hongjie's father, Zhang Zhihong, thinks the learning environment is very important. He said that when he moved here, he was happy even though he had to go out to work often. Just two months ago, Zhang Hongjie's father lost his job and is still looking for a job.

Mother Sha Shu Jie said that her daughter always knew what she wanted to pursue, so she also promised her daughter to pursue her dreams. She played the role of listening and communicating. "I like to listen to her more, not interfere, and encourage children to express their ideas."

Hard work pays off. From not knowing a word of English in the fourth grade to mastering English completely after two years of self-study, Zhang Hongjie not only insisted on learning Chinese, but also ranked first in Spanish in the whole school, even better than Hispanic students who are good at speaking Spanish. From the seventh grade to the twelfth grade, Zhang Hongjie's school assessment results are all A or A+, which belongs to the type of all-round development of comprehensive quality. In the eighth grade, she took the SAT (Academic Proficiency Test) assessed in advance by universities, and achieved an impressive score of 1.330 (the full score of the old SAT was 1.600), and was awarded the "Little Genius Award" by organizations such as the American University Alliance. From the tenth grade to the twelfth grade, Zhang Hongjie * * * studied the course 1 1 in advance at the famous University of Virginia, and got all A's in AP scores. He also participated in some state and national knowledge quiz and technology production competitions on behalf of the school for many times, and achieved good results. In the eleventh grade, she also won the honor of "Hamilton Award".

Only 12 years later, Zhang Hongjie will realize his college dream and make the American dream of immigrant parents more practical. A few days ago, I went to Zhang Hongjie's Albemarle High School in Virginia. Meghan Parsons, the school's career counselor, said excitedly in an interview with reporters: "I have never brought such a successful student!" She said that she has to take care of 250 students every year. After working for seven years, she first encountered such a prominent case as Zhang Hongjie.

Since 2008, Zhang Hongjie has taken the entrance examination, with a SAT score of 2,370, while the new version has a perfect score of 2,400, which is much higher than the minimum admission score of 2,200 in super-class universities such as Harvard. With such a good start, it is decided that the success will be half in the future. In the global economic downturn, it is almost impossible to get a full scholarship if you want to enter a prestigious school. Take the University of Virginia (UVA), where the Zhang Hongjie High School District, the second-ranked public university in the United States, is located. Because the number of applicants has soared by 16%, exceeding 2 1500, the admission rate has reached a record low, and only 3,000 people have the opportunity to enter. Top private schools, such as Harvard University, have the highest number of applicants in history, reaching 30,000, which has led to a drop in the admission rate to 7%. This year, as many as 3,700 applicants are the first among all high schools in the United States.

Among the university applications in the United States, you can choose the most satisfactory one to apply for more than a dozen schools. At the same time, many schools are also choosing you to see if you are qualified. Therefore, if there are more applications, there will be more opportunities for admission, and if there are fewer applications, there will be fewer opportunities for choice, and the risks will be even greater, especially for famous schools like Ivy League. Compared with the students who have applied for so few schools, Zhang Hongjie is the one who has applied for the least. She only applied to four top schools. Zhang Hongjie was in a difficult situation and was not rich at that time. He thought he had no chance to enter the top universities.

In September, 2008, Zhang Hongjie applied to Yale University, which was rated as the second top university in the world by The Times in 2009. Because applying in advance means entering earlier, which is more difficult than normal application. In June 165438+ 10, like other students, she started to apply for normal university. Zhang Hongjie first applied to MIT, Princeton University and Harvard University (the top six universities in the world). Just as she was preparing to apply for Stanford University and Columbia University again, on June 5438+February 1, the news came that she was admitted to Yale University in advance! Zhang Hongjie, who is good at finding opportunities, found an organization called QuestBridge to help poor outstanding students apply for full university scholarships for free. Among 5000 talented students from all over the world, after strict selection, she became one of the lucky ones who were admitted to 17. Fortunately, she also won a full scholarship of more than $50,000 a year. To this end, the American "City Daily" specially interviewed her. The article said that when others are sprinting for a good job, Zhang Hongjie doesn't need it, because she has got the "admission ticket" to Yale University.

On March 6, 2009, another good news came. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the world-recognized champion of science and engineering, the science hall that many outstanding scientific and technological talents dream of, extended a warm hand to her. The notice reads: "Please be sure to choose MIT, and we will provide you with a full scholarship for 4 years."

Immersed in excitement, the Zhang Hongjie family had no idea what kind of high-end life Zhang Hongjie would be pushed to-on March 28th, Zhang Hongjie's "double happiness"-the formal admission notices of Princeton University and Harvard University arrived at the same time. This means that Zhang Hongjie's application for studying abroad has been successfully concluded. She only applied to the four most difficult universities in the world, and all four schools with admission rates below 10% accepted her. She will all get full scholarships, that is to say, she will study there for free and stay there for four years until graduation.

Every university hopes to recruit the best students. In the face of the admission notice from the top four universities in the world, Zhang Hongjie was a little confused while excited. Using the free air tickets provided by four famous universities, Zhang Hongjie visited four universities in succession to find out the final choice. Zhang Hongjie said modestly: "Although this kind of opportunity is rare, I am really lucky." In the meantime, Harvard University wrote twice to urge her to study there. After a hard trade-off, Zhang Hongjie finally chose Harvard University, which ranked first in the world.

After Zhang Hongjie "won four dollars in a row", local newspapers in Virginia and daily newspapers in Yale University kept asking: What is the secret of her success? Zhang Hongjie's GPA at school and SAT in the entrance exam are close to full marks, and he is unwilling to disclose his scores. She doesn't want to mislead people. "After all, life is not just about pursuing scores." She doesn't deny that grades are the most important part of applying for admission, but she pursues the best grades rather than numbers. She said: "There is no formula for successfully applying for a school. After all, everyone is different, but it is difficult to succeed without the wholehearted support of parents. " Peng Wei, a teacher in Zhang Hongjie, said that he saw the shadow of the first generation of new China students studying in the United States from Zhang Hongjie.

The day before yesterday, Zhang Hongjie's grandmother went to Shiqian Primary School, the alma mater of her granddaughter, in Dandong, the hometown of Zhang Hongjie, China, on the other side of the ocean. The old man wants to report the good news to Zhang Hongjie's former head teacher, Mr. Chen Qiuxiang, so that everyone can share the joy with her-a Harvard student was born in Dandong, which is, after all, the pride of a city and the glory of China people!