时间：2022-05-07 12:30:30
2012年9月，来自北京的学生Charles开始了在美国寄宿高中Choate Rosemary Hall学习的第4个年头，也是最后一年。
In September 2012， Charles， a boy from Beijing started his fourth and last year at Choate Rosemary Hall， a boarding school in the U.S.
2012年9月，来自北京的学生Charles开始了在美国寄宿高中Choate Rosemary Hall学习的第4个年头，也是最后一年。开学第一天，作为高年级的学生，Charles穿着“我能帮助你吗？”的T恤衫，在教堂里看着新生们人头攒动，排队等待在一本有着上百年历史且极为厚重的书册上写下自己的名字，以此宣告正式加入Choate这个社区，并决心为此社区带来更多积极的影响力。眼前的景象让Charles似曾相识，看着眼神陌生并有些胆怯的新生们，Charles回想起3年前的自己，也一定是同一种表情。
2009年夏天，Charles飞到康涅狄格州的沃灵福德（Wallingford），加入了Choate的暑期班。新环境新学校都让天生喜欢新奇事物的Charles对周遭的一切充满好奇和期待，而学校温暖欢迎的氛围几乎让Charles立刻就融入了这个小型社区，“即使那时我只是上暑期班，并没有真正入学，但完全没有被当作外人对待的感觉，仿佛已经是这里的一分子了。”
“Choate总是给我一种包容的感觉，与此同时，又好像有很多事情都会发生潜能。”Charles说，与一些校服制的学校带给人的单一感不同，Choate注重每一位以学生为单位的个体，每个人都有着自己的个性。学校里的学生各种各样，有的喜欢体育运动，有的喜欢研究学术问题，有的喜欢艺术，而这样一种多元化的氛围，正是Charles选择这里的原因之一。“我并不是为增强自己的某一项能力而去上学的，而是为了发展锻炼自己各方面的能力。”
Charles告诉我们，寄宿学校与非寄宿学校最大的不同就是，你不仅和你的同学老师一起学习，你还和他们一起生活。每天早晨Charles和同宿舍的同学一起醒来为这一天做好准备，与同学一起从这间教室赶往下一间教室，下午三点后课外活动时间和另一批同学度过，晚上回到宿舍依然和同学们在一起学习、聊天。课外活动和社团的选择有许多，Charles将自己对数学的热爱从课上带到课下，高中4年间都加入了数学社团，4年级将要毕业这年，他还很荣幸成为了社团的两位团长之一。
Yankus老师堪称Choate最资深的教师，已经拥有在这里近50年的教学资历。在Choate甚至流传着这样一则笑话，毕业于Choate的爷爷和正在Choate就读的孙子聊天，问起孙子的英文老师是谁，孙子回答说：“Yankus老师。”爷爷紧接着说：“是吗？他也是我上学时的英文老师。”Yankus老师也是给Charles留下印象最深刻的老师之一，不仅是因为其资历，还有Yankus老师难到让人叫苦的课程。上高中二年级后，Yankus开始担任Charles的英文老师，同一年，Charles不得不承认也是让他的英文水平突飞猛进的一年。Charles说Yankus老师会通过许多自己发明的小技巧来指导学生如何写文章，如何更多地运用不同词汇。拜Yankus老师所赐，升上三年级后，Charles的英文水平一直保持全A水准。
体育运动在校园里是大事件，虽然Charles承认自己并不是运动型的学生，但还是参与了壁球、网球等运动。而对于那些天生就喜欢运动的学生来说，多种多样的运动项目都会是让他们积极参与的诱因，下午的课外活动的时间里，操场上总能看到不同运动社团的学生在充满活力地练习着。星期三和星期六是比赛举行的时间，每当有比赛的时候，校园里总会散发着一种蠢蠢欲动的气息，选手们紧张和激动的心情似乎能传染每个人。Choate的成绩不只在学术方面表现突出，去年包括篮球队在内的几个不同运动项目的队伍都为Choate赢得了新英格兰地区的冠军。
Choate不只简单地提供固定的学习内容或硬件设施，事实上，Choate鼓励每一位学生去竭尽所能地挖掘自己的潜力，而在这过程中，Choate则尽学校所能做到的为学生提供他们需要的帮助。这一点Charles很能体会学校的用心良苦。
二年级结束后，Charles已经把学校所有的电脑课程都念完了，Choate已经没有什么更多的东西可以教给Charles了，但距离高中毕业还有两年，Charles本人可不想浪费两年的时间不学无术。为了帮助Charles这个特殊的例子，学校寻遍校内老师或其熟识的能够教给Charles更多知识的人士。恰逢一位教授英文老师的先生在耶鲁大学任教，耶鲁有更多可以让Charles学习的内容，于是Charles从三年级开始修起了耶鲁大学的学分。Charles说这在Choate其实并不是首例，但上次出现同类事件时是在上世纪90年代。
耶鲁大学距离Choate约30分钟的车程，学校甚至为Charles提供了去耶鲁大学的车票，但Charles的其他课程并不允许他跑去耶鲁上课，于是Choate专门为他个人的课程而决定整个科目上课的时间和地点，这项举动至今让Charles感动不已。而Charles在耶鲁所修到的学分，在他今后被录取的任何一所美国大学都可以使用。
身为美国前总统肯尼迪的校友，Charles对这个头衔有些不以为然，“因为我们才是现在学校里的主角。”在日常生活中不会过多地聊到这些有名的校友，Charles说他几乎只有在去图书馆地下一层，看到肯尼迪的肖像画时才会想起“哦，对。肯尼迪也曾在这里读过书。”或者在诸如入学仪式或毕业典礼等一些场合，别人的演讲中提到那些知名校友的名字时，在校的学生们会突然间恍然，原来这个人也是从Choate毕业的。
转眼间，高中生活的最后一年也将结束。在Choate有这样一个传统，每年4月初，高四生们会在学校操场上点起篝火，围坐在一起，然后将各大学寄来的未被录取通知书丢进篝火中烧掉。好在Charles并不需要这样做，因为他先是被第二志愿斯坦福大学提前录取，接着又在3月份的时候收到了第一志愿麻省理工大学的正式录取通知书。
On the first day of the school， and a senior student now， Charles wore the “Can I help you？” T-shirt in the church， watching the new comers in queue， who were to sign their names on a heavy book. The book has more than 100 year’s history， just like the school. Students committed to joining the Choate community and contributing to it. The scene was every familiar. Charles watched the slightly timid new students and thought he was exactly like that three years ago.
In the summer of 2009， Charles flew into Wallingford in Connecticut for Choate summer program. He was curious about everything there. The school was so welcoming and friendly that Charles immediately found himself part of the community. “I was there only for the summer program and not a fully-fledged student yet. But I wasn’t treated as an outsider. I felt very much part of the community.”
“Choate is inclusive and there seems to be so many possibilities，” said Charles. Other schools have uniforms while Choate respects individuality. Students have different personalities and pursuits. Some are very much into sports， others love academic studies； still others are passionate about art. Charles chose Choate especially for its diversity. “I didn’t come here to polish up a particular skill. I wanted to be all rounded.”
The biggest difference between boarding and non-boarding school is that you not only study with classmates and teachers at boarding school， you live a life with them. Every morning， Charles and his housemates prepared the day together. They rushed from one classroom to the next. After three in the afternoon， he had activity with another group. But he came back to his house for studies and learning with housemates in the evening. There are many ex-curriculum activities and clubs to choose from. For the four years， Charles joined the math club. He was lucky enough to be the co-captain of the club in the graduating year.
Mr. Yankus is the most senior teacher at Choate， and he has been with the school for nearly 50 years. There is a widespread joke at Choate. The grandfather， an old Choate graduate chatted with his grandson， who is studying at Choate. “Who is your English teacher？” asked the grandfather. “Mr. Yankus，” answered the grandson. “Really？” replied the grandfather， “He was my English teacher too.” Mr. Yankus impressed Charles very much， not just for his seniority， but also his tough and demanding courses. Mr. Yankus became Charles’s English teacher in sophomore year. Charles had to acknowledge that his English improved so much that year. Charles said Mr. Yankus had a lot of self-invented tips to help students write essays， for example， using more vocabulary in articles. Thanks to Yankus， Charles’s English maintained straight A’s since junior year.
Sports are always hot on campus. Charles isn’t quite an athletic， but he plays squash and tennis. For sports enthusiasts， Choate offers a lot of options. Students from different clubs practice eagerly on the playground in the afternoon. There are matches on Wednesday and Saturdays. The campus always gears itself up for matches. The excitement and tension are infectious. Choate is not only excellent in academics， sports are outstanding too. In 2012， the basketball team and other sports teams have won championship in the New England region.
Choate encourages every student to unleash his or her potential， and the school helps in every way possible. Charles is very grateful for that.
When sophomore year finished， Charles completed all the computer science courses. Choate didn’t have more to teach him. But there were still two years to go before graduation and Charles didn’t want to waste his time. To help with this special case， the school leveraged its network. It happened that an English teacher’s husband was lecturer at Yale University and Yale could offer Charles more to study. Starting from junior year， Charles studied at Yale. This was not unprecedented， but the last such case happened in the 1990s.
It takes thirty minutes to get to Yale. The school even provided Charles with tickets. There was calendar clash and Choate moved its courses around to accommodate Charles. Charles is grateful till this day， and he could carry his credits at Yale to any American university he was to attend.
Charles didn’t want to make a big deal of being Kennedy’s alumnus. “Now it’s all about us.” People don’t talk about famous alumni usually. Charles said he only thought of Kennedy when he saw Kennedy’s portrait on basement wall of the library. Students are reminded of the famous alumni at commencement or graduating ceremony， when they hear speakers mentioning those famous people.
Time flies and the last year is drawing to an end. By Choate tradition， senior students sit around the bonfire in a circle in April to burn rejection letters from universities， a tradition called incendium. Fortunately Charles was spared. He had been admitted on early admission by his second choice Stanford and then the first choice MIT in March.
2013年3月，Choate Rosemary Hall的国际学习部主任James Anderson带领了8位学生来到北京进行为期一个学期的学习，《私人飞机》借此机会，向James Anderson详细了解了这所知名美国寄宿高中吸引学生的元素。
《私人飞机》：与其他美国高中相比，Choate有哪些自己的优势呢？
Anderson：在美国，大部分的寄宿高中都集中在新英格兰地区。寄宿高中的好处是学生们不仅为将来的升学做好了充分的准备，同时还为步入社会和未来的人生做好准备。Choate的老师们不只传授学生们知识，作为教育者，教会学生们如何生存也是非常重要的部分。每个学校都有塑造学生的典型，在Choate，最注重的是忠诚和正直的培养。寄宿学校就像一个小型社区，老师和学生们的交流不仅仅局限在课堂上，在日常的生活中也会有许多交流和学习的地方，这也是Choate作为寄宿学校的优势之一。Choate是全美最大的寄宿高中之一，因此也有比其他寄宿高中更多的资源可提供给学生。
《私人飞机》：Choate有许多知名校友，包括前总统肯尼迪、演员迈克尔・道格拉斯等，学校对此是如何看的？
Anderson：Choate虽然位于东海岸的沃灵福德市，但每年都会有来自全美的学生们和全球超过40个国家的国际学生慕名而来。Choate与纽约相距不远，因此也接收了相当一部分来自纽约的学生，使得Choate与世界金融、传媒所在地纽约有了一定的联系。许多政治、演艺圈的知名人士都曾就读Choate，为校友名单增添了许多光彩，而这也和其与纽约邻近的地理位置脱不了关系。这些知名校友偶尔会回到母校，在所有正在就读的学生面前演讲，分享他们的人生经历，Choate也会颁发荣誉校友的名誉给他们。
《私人飞机》：Choate在学生身上寻求和希望得到哪些特点和素质？
Anderson：Choate希望来这里学习的学生具有充分的准备，包括课程和学术方面。学生需有自愿加入并融入社区的意愿，成为社区一员的同时，需意识到自己有哪些可以提供给这个社区的，并要从社区中的其他人身上学到东西。我们希望学生们热情、开放、具有创造力，并无所畏惧。学生们进入Choate后，需在原来的基础上继续发掘和深造自我潜能，巩固原有的技能，同时开发其他的技能。
《私人飞机》：那些有意申请Choate的学生和家长们，需要如何做？
Anderson：登录Choate的官方网站，并将所需资料一一提供就可以了。通过第一步后，学校会对申请人进行面试，如果是居住在美国以外的学生，不方便飞到美国面试，我们会有相关人员到不同地区来进行面试的环节，在中国的话是每年的11月左右。面试的过程是非常必要的，我们想要尽量深入地了解学生的个性和特质。有些学生呈递上来的资料中显示的成绩非常优异，这反而不一定是Choate认同的，我们会倾向收取不那么完美的申请人，这样对方就有更多发展的潜力和机会。
In March 2013， James Anderson， Director of Global Studies of Choate Rosemary Hall took eight students to Beijing for one-term studies. U-Jet met with James Anderson to learn more about the attractions to Choate.
U-Jet： How does Choate stand out vs. other American high schools？
Anderson： Most boarding schools for senior high in the States concentrate in New England regions. The great thing about boarding schools is that they prepare students not just for further studies， but for entering the society and for life. Choate teachers don’t just teach， they also guide students in the skills of life. Every school has a personality， and here at Choate， we focus very much on fidelity and integrity. A boarding school is a small community. Teachers and students mingle not only in classrooms， but in everyday life as well. Choate is one of the largest boarding schools in the U.S.， and we have more resources for students.
U-Jet： Choate has a lot of famous alumni， including the former president Kennedy and Michael Douglas. How does the school feel about it？
Anderson： Choate locates in Wallingford on the east coast. We attract students from all over the States and more than 40 countries in the world. Choate is not that far away from New York， so we also have students from New York， thus building our ties with the world’s finance and media centre. A lot of political figures and entertainment celebrities have studied at Choate， adding glamor to our alumni list. Alumni come back to the school from time to time to speak to students and share their life experiences. Choate awards honors to them.
U-Jet： What qualities and characteristics is Choate seeking in students？
Anderson： We hope students come here fully prepared. They need to be willing to be part of the community and be aware of what they can contribute to the community. They are encouraged to learn from others in the community. We want to see passionate， open， creative and courageous students. Once students come to Choate， they need to continue to unleash their potential， solidify their strengths and work on other capabilities.
U-Jet： How to apply to Choate？
Anderson： You just log on our official website and provide necessary materials. The school will arrange interviews after the initial assessment. We also arrange overseas interviews， and it is November for Chinese candidates. It is very necessary to interview， during which we try to gauge the individuality and characteristics of students. Some candidates have excellent scores， but Choate might not be keen on them. We prefer not so perfect candidates， so that the school can bring out their potential.