Left and Right Don't Exist

左和右其实并不存在

The first lesson I learned as a student pilot is that left and right don’t exist. Maybe driving on a highway or in a parking lot, left and right is precise enough to describe the location and movements of slow-moving bikers, pedestrians, and cars. But at 36,000 feet in the air in a steel tube hurdling almost 200 miles an hour? Left and right just don’t cut it.

作为一名飞行学员，我学到的第一个教训是，左和右其实是不存在的。也许在高速公路上或停车场上行驶，左右方向足够精确，可以让你描述缓慢移动的自行车手、行人和汽车的位置和运动。但是在36000英尺（1万米）的高空，在一个时速近200英里（321千米）的钢管中飞行时，左右真的不重要。

During one of my first flights in a small Cessna-182, my flight instructor ordered me to scan the horizon for approaching aircrafts. To my right, I caught a glimpse of one: another Cessna with maroon stripes, the sun’s reflection glinting off its windows. Gesturing vaguely to my two o’clock, I informed my flying instructor, “There’s a plane to the right.”

在我乘坐小型塞斯纳-182飞机的第一次飞行中，飞行教练命令我扫描地平线，寻找接近我的飞机。在我的右边，我瞥见了另一架带栗色条纹的塞斯纳，太阳的反射正从它窗户上闪烁。我模糊地指着两点钟方向，告诉飞行教练，“右边有一架飞机。”

“No, to your right. From his position, what direction does he see you?” From his angle, I was to his left. In that moment, I realized that perspective and precision of language is everything. The radio chirped: “Cessna One-Eight-Two Sandra, heading north to John Wayne Airport. Over.”

“不，是你的右边。从他的位置看，你的方向是什么？”从他的角度看，我在他的左边。在那一刻，我意识到角度和语言的准确性是多么重要。无线电里叽叽喳喳地说：“塞斯纳182桑德拉，向北去约翰·韦恩机场。完毕。”

I navigate using my compass’s north, east, south, and west directions because every pilot’s vantage point differs from each other both vertically and horizontally, creating opposite perspectives. My right was that pilot’s left.

我使用指南针的东、南、西、北方向进行导航，因为每个飞行员的有利位置在垂直和水平方向上都不同，从而产生了相反的视角。我的右边就是那个飞行员的左边。

Through flying, I began to consider all points of view, regardless of my personal perspective.Perhaps it was my ability to scan the horizon, to communicate a single story, uniting contrasting outlooks, that drew me to my love for journalism and the diverse melting pot that was my community.

通过飞行，我开始考虑所有的观点，不管我个人的观点是什么。也许正是因为我有能力扫视地平线，传达一个故事，并综合不同的观点，才让我爱上了新闻业和我所在社区这样一个多元化的大熔炉。

To me, journalism modernizes the ancient power of storytelling, filled with imperfect characters and intricate conflicts to which I am the narrator. As editor-in-chief for my school newspaper, The Wildcat’s Tale, I aim to share the uncensored perspective of all students and encourage my editorial groups to talk — and listen — to those with whom they disagree. Starting each newspaper edition with a socratic, round-table discussion, I ask the other journalists to pursue stories that answer the questions: why did this happen and where will it lead?

对我来说，新闻业现代化了古老的讲故事的力量，充满了不完美的人物和复杂的冲突，而我是其中的叙述者。作为校报《野猫的故事》的主编，我的目标是分享所有学生未经审查的观点，并鼓励编辑团队与意见相左的人交谈，并倾听他们的意见。我们每一期报纸都以苏格拉底式的圆桌讨论开始，并请其他记者继续报道相关的故事来回答这一问题：为什么会发生这种情况，它会导致什么结果？

Expanding beyond the perspectives of my classmates, I began writing articles for the Korea Daily, and later, the Los Angeles Times High School Insider. I schedule interviews with city council candidates, young and old voters, and mayors of my town, obtaining quotes and anecdotes to weave into my writing. My interviews with both Democratic and Republican voters have taught me to thoroughly report polarizing-opposite opinions through an unbiased lens. As a journalist, I realized I cannot presume the opinions of the reader, but instead simply provide them with the tools necessary to formulate their own conclusions.

超越我同学的视角，我开始为《韩国日报》以及后来的《洛杉矶时报高中内幕》撰写文章。我安排了对市议会候选人、年轻选民和老年选民以及我所在城市市长的采访，获取引用和轶事，以融入我的写作当中。我对民主党和共和党选民的采访教会了自己如何通过公正的视角彻底报道两极分化的对立观点。作为一名记者，我意识到自己不能假设读者的观点，而只是为他们提供必要的工具，让他们得出自己的结论。

However, differences in perspective in my articles are not solely limited to politics. I found that in my suburban community, people love to read about the small-town hospitality of their own friends and neighbors. Quirky traditions, like our Fourth of July carnival clown and local elementary school’s Thanksgiving talent show, are equally as important to me as national headlines are. My favorite stories to publish are the ones taped onto fridges, proudly framed on the mom-and-pop downtown diner, or pinned into the corkboard in my teacher’s classroom. I discovered the size of my story does not matter, but the impact I leave on the reader does.

然而，在我的文章中，不同的观点不仅仅局限于政治。我发现，在我的郊区社区，人们喜欢阅读关于他们自己的朋友和邻居在小镇上热情好客的故事。古怪的传统，比如七月四日狂欢节小丑和当地小学的感恩节才艺表演，对我来说和全国头条新闻一样重要。我最喜欢发表的故事是贴在冰箱上的故事，骄傲地挂在市中心夫妻餐厅上的故事，或者钉在我老师教室的软木板上的故事。我发现故事的大小并不重要，但我对读者的影响确实重要。

In my time as both a student pilot and journalist, I grew to love these stories, the ones that showed me that living life with blinders, can not only be boring, but dangerous. Whether I was 36,000 feet in the air or on ground level, by flying and writing, I realized that the most interesting stories of life come straight from the people most different from me.

在我担任学生飞行学员和记者的那段时间里，我逐渐喜欢上了这些故事，这些故事告诉我，“蒙着眼睛”生活不仅无聊，而且非常危险。无论我是在36000英尺的高空还是在地面，通过飞行和写作，我意识到生活中最有趣的故事都直接来自与我最不同的人。

Admissions Committee Comments

招生委员会的评论：

Stella begins this essay by discussing her experience learning to fly. This anecdote, however, is less about the act itself as it is what the experience taught her in regards to perspective and points of view. She’s then able to connect these takeaways to another aspect of her life – her love of journalism. As she shares more information about her approach and impact with journalism, she makes it clear that those lessons from flying are ever-present in her work. From listening to others’ ideas and points of view in the newspaper editing room to looking at stories from a balanced and thoughtful perspective, we’re able to learn a good deal about how she approaches not just her passions, but her community as well. This essay is able to add to the whole application by sharing with us some new passions and expanding on some of her impact, but its main focus is how she was able to apply lessons from one experience to other aspects of her life. As we think about what type of member Stella will be in our community, this essay helps us understand that she’ll be someone willing to listen, learn, apply those learnings, and make an impact.

斯特拉（Stella）在这篇文章的开头讨论了她学习飞行的经历。然而，这则轶事并不是关于行为本身的，因为这是她从经验中学到的视角和观点。然后，她能够将这些收获与生活的另一个方面联系起来，即与她对新闻的热爱联系起来。随着她分享更多自己处理新闻的方法和对新闻业的影响，她明确表示，飞行的经验教训永远存在于她的各种工作中。从在报纸编辑室听取他人的想法和观点，到以平衡和深思熟虑的角度看待每个故事，我们能够了解到她如何对待自己的激情以及社区。这篇文章能够通过分享一些新的激情和扩展斯特拉的一些影响来增加整个申请的成功率，但文章的主要焦点是斯特拉如何能够将一次经历中的经验教训应用到生活的其他方面。当我们思考斯特拉将成为我们社区的什么样的成员时，这篇文章能帮助我们了解她是一个愿意倾听、学习和应用这些知识并产生影响的人。

笔者的点评：

本文的写作视角非常巧妙，作者Stella从一次飞行学习开始写起，并说有时候左和右其实并不存在，而只是看待事物的角度不同。然后，她讲述了自己担任记者的经历，比如作为校报《野猫的故事》的主编，开始为《韩国日报》以及后来的《洛杉矶时报高中内幕》撰写文章，安排对市议会候选人、年轻选民和老年选民以及我所在城市市长的采访等等。通过这些经历，我学会了如何通过公正的视角彻底报道两极分化的对立观点。作为一名记者，我意识到自己不能假设读者的观点，而只是为他们提供必要的工具，让他们得出自己的结论。另外，通过阅读和写作故事，我发现故事的大小并不重要，但我对读者的影响确实重要。

总之，在创作一篇文书时，可以多发散思维，创造性地思维，从某个小事说起，而不是就事论事，宏观的东西讲一堆。要多思考不同事物之间的内在联系。比如这篇文章将飞行和新闻联系起来，本身就非常地特别和创新。另外，我们需要批判性地思维，而不是盲从和坚持一个观点，要学会从不同的视角看待某个事物。