Dancing Together

一起跳舞

作者：Dayann

I cannot dance.

我不会跳舞。

This is not something I often admit willingly; in fact, it is quite baffling to me how horribly incapable I am at performing even the most basic movements on command. My grandmother often describes it as “a tragedy” as she is forced to watch her grandchild absolutely butcher our country’s cultural dances, beautiful expressions of our unique West African roots turned into poor facsimiles by my robotic movements.

这不是我心甘情愿承认的事情；事实上，令我感到十分困惑的是，我竟然连最基本的动作都做不好。我的奶奶经常将我的舞蹈描述为“一场悲剧”，因为她必须被迫看着自己的孙子也就是我彻底摧毁代表我们国家文化的舞蹈，看着我们独特的源自西非的美丽表演被我机器人般的动作活生生变成拙劣的复制品。

And yet, year after year, I find myself taking the dance floor at my family’s events, seemingly unaware of my objective lack of skill. Eventually, my display proves to be so amazingly unbearable that I am removed from the floor and shown the correct movements over and over again until I am able to replicate them well enough to come back. Bizarrely, despite my previous declaration that I cannot dance, for the past three years, I have found myself performing an entire choreographed routine at my school’s yearly pep rallies.

然而，年复一年，我都在家里举办的各种活动中跳舞，似乎我并没有意识到自己客观上缺乏舞蹈的技能。最终，令人惊讶的是，我的表演被证明是如此令人难以忍受，以至于别人将我从地板上移走，并一遍又一遍地给我展示正确的动作，直到我能够非常好地复制这些动作。奇怪的是，尽管我之前声明我不会跳舞，但在过去的三年里，我仍然在学校的年度赛前动员会上表演了一整套精心设计的舞蹈。

It is through looking back at these events that I realize that I have created a mischaracterization of my dancing abilities through my decisive first sentence. I can dance and am, in fact, very capable of doing so, but not when I act insularly. My ability to dance correlates directly with how willing I am to collaborate, the input and support of others turning the uncoordinated and unwieldy into the near-graceful.

回顾这些事件，我意识到自己通过决定性的第一句话“我不会跳舞”创造了一个对我舞蹈能力的错误描述。我会跳舞，而且事实上，我有能力这样做，但并不是当我独立行动时。我跳舞的能力与我合作的意愿直接相关，并且其他人的投入和支持将我的不协调和笨拙近乎变成了优雅。

My attempts at dancing have led me to value community and collaboration greatly, and I find myself seeking and being drawn towards environments that will allow me to continue to develop both of these values as I learn and grow. Through my internship with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, I was exposed to and became fascinated by the collaborative spirit that lies at the heart of Johns Hopkins. The idea that one cannot discover or innovate when working alone was affirmed during my research, and I have come to see that mutual collaboration and community are integral aspects of Johns Hopkins’ unique culture. From the research initiatives that breach the boundaries between class levels, to the many organizations such as the Tutorial Project, relying on the shared initiatives of different students to directly make an impact on Baltimore and its many communities, and the distinctive access to especially interdisciplinary topics such as neuromorphic systems, I view that Johns Hopkins exemplifies the peak of collaborative achievement in education.

我在舞蹈上的尝试使我非常重视团体和合作，我发现自己一直在寻找并被吸引到允许自己在学习和成长中继续发展这一价值观（即重视团体和合作）的环境中。通过在约翰·霍普金斯应用物理实验室的实习，我接触到了约翰·霍普金斯大学核心的协作精神，并被其深深吸引。在我的研究过程中，“任何个人都无法独自完成某一发现或创新的想法”得到了证实，我逐渐认识到相互协作和社区是约翰·霍普金斯大学独特文化中不可或缺的一部分。从打破班级界限的研究计划，到许多组织，如“辅导项目”，它依靠不同学生的共同倡议直接对巴尔的摩及其许多社区产生影响，以及对跨学科主题如神经形态系统的独特参与权，约翰霍普金斯大学，我认为，无不体现了教育领域合作成就的巅峰。

Admissions Committee Comments：

招生委员会意见：

In Dayann’s essay, we learn a few things about him. First, he loves to participate. Despite his insistence that he cannot dance, we see him dancing throughout his essay. Second, he realizes that he can in fact dance, but needs to work with others to bring out the best in himself, and in the group. And third, he then is able to connect this to his future. He recognizes that in order to reach his potential, he wants to be at a place where he can collaborate with peers who can challenge him to be even better.

在达扬（Dayann）的文章中，我们了解到一些关于他的事情。第一，他热爱参与。尽管他坚持说他不会跳舞，但我们看到他在整篇文章中都在跳舞。第二，他意识到自己实际上可以跳舞，但需要与他人合作，以发挥自己和团队的最佳水平。第三，他能把这和他的未来联系起来。他认识到，为了发挥自己的潜力，他需要在一个可以与同龄人合作的地方，这些同龄人可以挑战他，并让他变得更好。

笔者的点评：

本文虽短，但短小精悍。开头写了自己不会跳舞，甚至经常出丑。比如我的奶奶经常将我的舞蹈描述为“一场悲剧”，因为她必须被迫看着自己的孙子也就是我彻底摧毁代表我们国家文化的舞蹈，看着我们独特的源自西非的美丽表演被我机器人般的动作活生生变成拙劣的复制品。另外， 我也在家庭活动中跳舞，由于自己动作笨拙和难看，自己被别人教育，最终学会了如何正确地跳舞。自己也在不同的场合上跳舞，比如学校的年度赛前动员会。

然而，作者话锋一转，说其实我会跳舞，而且我有能力这样做，但并不是当我独立行动时。我跳舞的能力与我合作的意愿直接相关，并且其他人的投入和支持将我的不协调和笨拙近乎变成了优雅。也就是说，自己必须依靠团队和他人的帮助才能真正地把舞给跳好。自己通过跳舞，意识到了团队和合作的重要性。

最后一段，通过在约翰·霍普金斯应用物理实验室的实习，我接触到了约翰·霍普金斯大学核心的协作精神，并被其深深吸引。我逐渐认识到相互协作和社区是约翰·霍普金斯大学独特文化中不可或缺的一部分。从打破班级界限的研究计划，到许多组织，如“辅导项目”，它依靠不同学生的共同倡议直接对巴尔的摩及其许多社区产生影响，以及对跨学科主题如神经形态系统的独特参与权，约翰霍普金斯大学，我认为，无不体现了教育领域合作成就的巅峰。也就是说，约翰·霍普金斯大学的倡导合作的文化与自己的性格和经历不谋而合，所以申请约翰·霍普金斯大学也就不足为奇了。