去年疫情还蛮严重的时候，D同学的家长通过熟人推荐找到了我们。当时正是美国的小留学生们批量回国的时候，他们家思来想去，决定要留守美国。但是接下来孩子马上就要到12年级申请季了，托福、SAT、课外活动，各项指标都还有欠缺，千头万绪，不知从何做起，于是找到了我。
11年级的D同学，一直都想要学航空，当飞行员。从小就是航模迷，喜欢看航展，家里也支持，但是听说孩子以后专业就想读航空，出来毕业就想做飞行员，家长不免有些犯嘀咕。再加上疫情对于航空业的巨大冲击，家长也着急。
而我看到的，是一颗向往自由和蓝天的心。学了四年的航空发动机，也曾经在航空工业服务过一年多，我理解这一行有多不容易，所以我也理解家长的苦心。所以想来想去，我和D同学一起讨论，我告诉他，我会帮你去找机长、找正在读航空专业的学长学姐聊聊，如果你还是喜欢做飞行员，我就帮你去劝你父母，但在这之前，我们不妨心态开放一点，听听大家的感受和观点。另外，喜欢航空，不一定要做飞行员，航空公司和航空工业是一个庞大的行业，里头对于人才的需求也是多样化的，因此我们还可以找找其它的切入点，比如经济学、比如机械、比如计算机等等。
D同学思考以后，同意我的观点。而在这之后，我们真的建立了一个“疫情下的航空经济调研”小组，通过多方的联系，我们找到了美联航和厦航的机长，和我们连线问答，也找到了在俄亥俄州立大学正在读航空专业的学长W同学，和他们小组讨论现在的情况。我们搜索了各大航空公司的航班、股价、票价等公开信息，总结整合起来，做了一份有深度的报告。
在这个过程当中，D同学的观点也在不停地成长、变化。在这个过程当中，我们的文书也不断的打磨、成长。这期间，他考过了托福100分，SAT拿下了1350+，而我们也最终一起写出了这篇申请主文书：Chasing the Wings (追翅膀的人)
Chasing the Wings
More than a century ago, when Orville Wright told the crowd: “If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance.” Nobody actually believed him.
More than a century later, a boy was so fascinated by Orville’s words that he began to chase the silver wings in the blue sky. In the little town on the west shore of the Pacific, when he looked out of his window, the sky was a little empty. But he knew that it will be his destiny to be part of the industry.
Boeing, Airbus, McDonnell-Douglas, Rolls-Royce... He could recount the major aircraft and motors like recounting his palm prints. But unfortunately, he failed to meet the physical standard of pilots in China. Not to mention his family’s objection.
“Traveling by plane is thrilling, son, but flying planes for life may not be such a good idea.” He was told. The sky outside his window seemed emptier.
“If this land cannot bear my dream, maybe the motherland of planes will be a better choice?”
Holding such a dream, he stepped onto the land of West Chicago. He never expected that the wind here would be so strong, yet he felt safe and sound, because he knew that with enough preparation, he will be qualified to study aviation.
At Wheaton Academy, he grew from a newcomer who could barely speak English fluently to the star student with a weighted GPA of 4.0, the leader in the school choir who wins awards and praises in various activities, and the chief editor of Phoenix Fund who speaks for the victims of campus-bullying.
But in those days, he always dreamed of thunderbirds flying high. He knew that his dream wouldn’t be far away.
However, this time, the rock in his way was not his family, nor anyone else, but a tiny virus called COVID-19.
Who would have ever thought that the monster that tears off mankind’s wings would be such a tiny creature?
In his research of civil aviation, the data are fearsome. From April to June, 2020, the total revenue of the Lufthansa Group dropped by 80%, that of American Airlines fell by 56.6%, and that of All Nippon Airways declined by 94.2%.
The whole industry was ambushed. Pilots were sitting idle, while the shiny wings of the latest aircraft were rusted on the ground.
What could he do? The boy looked into his heart. This time, a future pilot’s power is far from enough. But, he never forgot the destiny of airplanes: “If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance.” It was Wright Brothers’ persistence that gave birth to the wonderful machine. This time, it might be his chance to take on these wings, instead of chasing the wings.
Thus he decides to take economics along with aviation as his future goal. Except for the courses he continued to take online, in West Chicago, in Toronto, and in Xiamen, as well as in other corners of the planet, he called upon his friends and classmates to establish teams, looking into the economic phenomena under the pandemic. Field researches, questionnaires, statistics, and reports piled up in his dorm, but he kept on.
A man’s hands won’t be enough, how about thousands of hands? If engineering is not enough, then he will keep learning and searching for solutions. After all, aviators are never cowards.
The storm has come, and the world might not be the same again. But the boy will persist. Starting from chasing the wings, he now has his own wings. These wings will endure, and help him soar.
以下为中文译稿：
追翅膀的人
一个多世纪以前，当奥维尔·莱特告诉人们：“如果我们只接受已经被大众认可的事实才是可行的假设，那么我们又有什么希望进步呢？”那个时候，没人真的相信他的话。
而一个多世纪以后，当一个男孩看到这句话，他是如此的欢欣鼓舞，以至于他也开始试着去追逐天空当中的银色机翼。 在那个太平洋西岸的小城里，当他往窗外望出去，天空有些空旷，但他内心里知道，这就是他想要追寻的梦想。
波音、空客、麦道、罗罗……他可以将主流的客机与引擎型号倒背如流，但很不幸，他却没有达到中国的飞行员筛选身体标准，更别提他家人的反对了。
“坐飞机当然是很刺激的，但是孩子，一辈子开飞机可能不一定是个好主意啊。” 他们总是这样对他说，而他往窗外望出去的时候，那里的天空看起来显得更加空旷了一些。
“假如这里没法实现我的梦想，那么飞机诞生的地方，总可以了吧？”
怀着这样的梦想，他踏上了西芝加哥的土地。他从来没见过这么猛烈的风，但在这里他觉得很安心，因为他心里很清楚，只要准备得当，他将会有机会学习航空的。
在惠顿高中，他从一个懵懂的、几乎说不了几句英语的新生长成了几乎门门高分的优等生，也在学校的合唱团里担任领队，为学校在各种活动赢得了各种荣誉，同时，他还在凤凰校园基金担任主编，为反校园霸凌发声。
但在那些日子里，他总会梦见高高翱翔的雷鸟，他知道他的梦，不会太远了。
可天不如人愿，这一次，挡在他面前不是家人的意见，更不是来自任何人的反对，而是小小的病毒，新冠病毒。
是啊，谁又能想到，撕扯掉人类飞翔的翅膀的怪物，会是这样微小的生物呢？
在他关于民用航空的调研当中，数据触目惊心。从2020年的四月到六月，汉莎航空的总收入同比下降了80%，美国航空的总收入下跌了56.6%，而全日空航空更是跌去了94.2%的总营收。
整个行业惨遭血洗，飞行员们百无聊赖地坐在家中，而那些闪亮的机翼，则在机场冰冷的地面上日渐锈蚀。
他又能做什么呢？这个男孩追问他自己的内心。这一次，一个未来的飞机员的力量，远远是不够的。但他从未忘记过飞机的宿命：
“如果我们只接受已经被大众认可的事实才是可行的假设，那么我们又有什么希望进步呢？”
正是因为莱特兄弟的坚持，这个美丽的机器才来到世间。而这一次，可能正是他插上双翼的机会，而不在是去追逐那些等待的翅膀。
所以他把经济学作为了他未来的选择之一。除了继续在线上上课，在西芝加哥、在多伦多、在厦门，在全球的许多角落，他鼓舞了他的朋友和同学们一起来建立小组，去调研疫情下的经济现象。田野调查、问卷、统计数据、各种报告在他的宿舍里头堆积如山，但他坚持着。
一个人的力量是不够的，那么成千上万人呢？如果工程学解决不了问题，那么他就会接着去追寻其它的解决方案。毕竟，飞行员从不是什么懦夫。
风暴已至，而世界可能再也不会是原来的样子。但这个男孩将会坚持下去。从追逐翅膀的人，再到拥有自己的翅膀。这些双翼将会在他心里闪亮，助他高飞翱翔。
后记：
写这篇博客文章的时候，D同学已经收到了诸多名校的录取，威斯康星麦迪逊、华盛顿西雅图、加州欧文、伊利诺伊香槟、东北大学……多方比较之后，他决定去华盛顿西雅图大学读本科，继续追逐他的梦想。
希望他在那里依然快乐、坚定、自由，最终也能实现自己对于未来的承诺和追求。
而对我来说，与其说是我们申请文书写得好，不如说，这就是一段难忘的学业生涯规划与成长。不是去做“正确”的事情，而是学会如何“正确”地做事，去了解未来、反思自身，从而逆推制定规划，再到执行和实现梦想。
如是，即是“Passions”。