Final Impression

How time flies, tomorrow will be the last day at Yale. By then, I will have stayed here for six weeks. If life is like a painting, I was given a blank “drawing board” for this six weeks by God and now I have painted a colorful drawing. I am looking at my work carefully and I recognize each color from the mixture of light and shadow.

Red

Red is the easiest one to recognize, which represents passion and vigor. It was the color of strawberries and watermelon in the dining hall every morning. It was the color of  the sky on the cross campus every dusk. It was the color of the pen I used to make notes. It  was the color of  Ping Pong paddles. It was the color of my heart every time I made efforts and progress. I still remember the feeling of achievement when I finished my homework and went out of the library at night, when the moon hung high in the gray sky and the happiness warmed all over my body. Even if it was only a little success, it was still inspiring enough for me to go on. I also recalled my dear teachers, who poured so much efforts in our courses that I could feel their red heart and passion. It’s red active heart that keeps us moving ahead at Yale.

Blue

Since I’m at Yale, I can’t ignore this typical color, which represents calmness and peace. It reminds me of the incredibly deep swimming pool where I refreshed myself from pressure. It also reminds me that day, two weeks ago, when I went to Guiford with Vera. It was a beautiful village near the sea. I wore a blue hat with “Y” printed on it. The sky was quiet and blue without even one piece of cloud, like a huge mirror or an valuable silk belt. We finally arrived at the beach after losing our way several times, but the pale blue sky rewarded us by the remote horizon, the white tides and the cool sea water. I took a deep breath to pour all the blue inside, just like the wonderful feeling of having a big spoon of blueberry yogurt. I added a bright blue on my “drawing board”.

Green

Green is the color of vegetables, trees and grass, which means hope and nature. Dark green and light green go well together on my “drawing board”. On the second Wednesday, led by Professor Carrie, we went to the garden to help to weed and pick vegetables in light green color. I remember that the green weeds were too cute that I didn’t want to pull them out at all. I also loved the green leaves of mint. Its unique smell spread around once it was snapped. Drinking a cup of water after a little tiring farm work, we got entirely relaxed.

On the third Sunday, I went to East Rock Pack, on the top of which you could overlook the whole New Haven. The way up to the top was very steep and the dark green forest was so close. There happened to be a little sunlight through the leaves, which dropped round light spots on the way and on our clothes. It was fun to chase the light spots all the way. Finally I reached the top. From there, New Haven with its tall trees is just like a green sea.

Yellow

Yellow is a color that can bring me warmth and safety. It was the color of spaghetti, cookies, bread, oranges,melons and peanut butter. Unlike some of my friends who missed Chinese cuisines so much, I loved the food here very much. In buffet, I could choose what I wanted. Yellow was also the color of my friendships across the world I built here, our golden friendships.  I admired many people here, who had a good balance between work and leisure. They have different cultural backgrounds but most were polite and friendly.

Light

In addition to the colors, light also plays an important part. The trips to New York and Boston were two bright spots on my “drawing board” . From the noisy Broadway to the crowded Times Square, from the amazing Met Museum to the splendid Statue of Liberty, from the respectable Harvard University to the famous Freedom Trail, all these views impressed me deeply. Every Monday, when Siggy, our speaking teacher asked about our peak and pit during the weekend, I would say every second in NYC and Boston were the peak time. It was the brightest spot on  my “drawing board”.

Red, blue, yellow, green and light, there is a fantastic colorful drawing board in my mind. Time never stops. It keeps its steps forward. I can only follow it. I will miss the six weeks when I am so young, so curious, so enthusiastic. I will miss you, my dear professors, my dear friends, and Yale.

A try on the issue in GRE

As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think for themselves will surely deteriorate.

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

   As the statement says, recent decades have witnessed a boom of technology. We use calculators to count, World Wide Web to search and Google Map to find directions. We get much convenience from technology, but we also rely on it too much. Some people can’t even do a simple math without calculators and nobody can imagine a life without smartphones or the Internet. Some people draw a conclusion from these phenomena that the ability of humans to think will surely deteriorate due to technology.

However, from my point of view, the technology has no logical and inevitable connection with humans’ thinking ability. As long as the human society is developing, humans’ thinking ability will never deteriorate. Actually, given the long long history of technology, the boom of inventions in recent decades is just a normal phenomenon. From the very beginning of human history, our ancestors started inventing to help them solve different problems, but all these technologies didn’t stop our from thinking more, because there are still lots of complicating problems waiting to be solved, no matter in the nature or in human society. Take the invention of rocket for example, scientists have to rely on rocket to explore the universe, but it was only a beginning. Scientists are faced with new strange problems, so the technology of outer space keeps developing at an incredible speed. In all fields, humans keep coming up with new ideas to solve problems and to change the world and this process is endless.

What’s more, technology can actually improve humans’ brainpower. For some talented people, like scientists or engineers, their responsibilities are to develop new technology on the basis of the old one, which requires even more of the thought process. For most ordinary people, although they don’t need to invent anything, it still requires thinking hard just to catch up with the changing technology. For instance, there are few people who can say proudly that they have a good command of using all functions of the iPhone. Both inventing and using technology will require a high level of thinking ability. Last but not least, it’s technology that releases humans’ energy from boring and repeated thinking work into more creative fields. If we have to write every single letter as we did two hundred years ago, how can we have time to enlarge our factory or companies? If we have to look through piles of books just for one piece of information, how can we invent drugs to defend ourselves from terrible cancers?

    In conclusion, it’s not the level of existing technology but the desire to build a better human society that determines whether the ability of humans to think will improve.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

I am standing at the visitor center of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in the middle of the first floor, at the crossroad of human cultures. On the right there are Galleries of Egypt, Japan and China, and on the left there are Galleries of Rome, Greece, Africa and Europe. If I go straight, I will see an exhibition from the Middle Ages. More than three million exhibits, which come from more than one hundred countries and have a history of over five thousand years, are collected and exhibited here, like thousands of streams gathering together into the ocean. And It is my great honor to stand at the “estuary” of diverse civilizations and to experience the “tide” of colorful cultures by myself.

Take a deep breath, hold the map, turn left and start my journey.

Oh, look, it’s a sculpture of a goddess! How curvaceous is she. Oh, wait, is there a funny mask? What’s the religious meaning behind it?  And what about the broken marble column over there? What about the well-decorated earthenware? Upon entering the gallery of Ancient Greek and Rome, my eyes become too busy to catch up with my steps. The exhibits that come in different shapes, different colors and different meanings rush over me. I forget the map totally, and just follow my interests to see the appealing antiquities one by one. Suddenly, a huge wooden painted ceiling appears in front of me. It is a Ceremonial House Ceiling, which reflects the purest and oldest religious culture of Oceania. Under the bright sunshine through the window, the ceiling is like a living big fish and every tile is just like the shiny fish scale. The big “fish” is floating and swimming toward me, carrying a history of more than two thousand years. How amazing it is to imagine the ancient religion of the people in such a remote region.

Continuing my journey, I enter the Gallery of Armor. Lots of swords and guns are well kept here. Staring at the delicate gun’s handle dating back to the sixteenth century, my imagination goes further. Its owner must be a high-ranking general, who shot hundreds of enemies with this gun. He said goodbye to his wife and headed to the battle with this gun. He might fight for his country or his belief. With this gun, he felt his power to struggle, his desire to survive, his sadness to be away from home and his fear to face scary enemies. But today, in the twenty-first century everything about him has become a history for visitors like me to recall.

In another room, there are sculptures of a troop of armed knights. Here they come, riding on armed horses and raising their spears. I’m quite surprised at this gallery. It makes me reflect more on wars.

Out of the Gallery of Armor, I enter the American Wing. It is a large hall with a glass ceiling, through which the sunshine comes in. There are many sculptures made of different materials and in different poses. Among them, I find my favorite, the goddess of hunting, Diana. In Greek mythology, she is one of the three virgin goddesses and represents feminism, equality and freedom. She stands out instantly because of her slim build, beautiful face and elegant pose. She is shooting an arrow toward somewhere.

Besides seeing the exhibits from all over the world, meeting thousands of foreign tourists is another interesting experience. Bathing in the warm sunshine, I sit by the fountain pool. The little girl sitting next to me keeps asking her mom questions. On the other side, an old man throws a coin into the fountain to make a wish. Both the children and the elderly are curious about everything here.

A little dizzy from the visual feast, I return to the beginning. The Metropolitan Museum is just like a huge history book and now I am coming to the final page. I leave the museum, sit on the step and see crowds pouring into the entrance.

Here is Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I met the world.

Personal statement

    I am writing to apply for the Master Degree of Regional Studies of Eastern Asia (RSEA). Further, I am quite interested in the sociology of rural areas in both China and Japan.

     I always hold the belief that to be a qualified student of sociology, a person should have deep understandings about the country and society where he or she is in. This is the reason why I really want to study the sociology of Eastern Asia. Instead of universities in China and Japan, I think your university can provide a more objective perspective, a free environment, excellent libraries and resources, and more appealing chances.

   I am a suitable student for RSEA in many aspects.

   Firstly, I have great interests in Eastern Asia studies. When I entered Peking University, due to my interests in Eastern Asia, especially Japan and China, I chose Japanese Literature and Language as my First Degree. Except for compulsory courses, I also took many other courses relating to Asian culture and society, including the economics and arts of Japan. I am one of the top three students in my class.

   To strengthen my position, I chose Sociology as my Second Degree when I was a sophomore. It was a good combination of Language and Sociology. I could use Japanese as a tool to read many materials about Eastern Asia and also understand the societies of Japan and China better. Through the process, I have learned many useful methods and principles to carry on formal social research and I also think and write in a more critical way.

    Furthermore there is my experiential background. In China, I have attended a social survey of the rural areas in Guangxi province in my freshman year. I was also a volunteer teacher in the countryside of Hebei Province in China for three weekends. In both experiences, I learned the reality of China’s rural areas. In Japan, I have been to Tokyo University as an exchange student for one year when I was a junior. During that year, I not only improved my Japanese but also I was an intern at Japan Economical News where I had close talks with Japanese journalists.

Last but not least, I am an all-around student. I had the experience of working in the Student Union for two years, which challenged and benefited me insofar as I was able to work with people from cultures other than my own.

    Great interests in Eastern Asia studies, strong command of social studies, a rich cultural background in Asian societies and the advantage of being fluent in both Chinese and Japanese, these are what I have to meet your requirements. I am not the best student, but I am the most suitable student to your program.