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“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
“改变世界,从我做起”
又一个爱因斯坦诞生了
Michael Viscardi, 17, San Diego
Few high school students go gaga1over math, but Michael used what is typically one of the toughest subjects to win the prestigious2 Siemens Westinghouse science competition last December. He grabbed top honors and scored a $100 000 scholarship, which he’ll be using to study math at Harvard this fall, by creating a theorem3that illustrates how heat travels across a metal surface. That may sound like Greek to some, but Michael’s work might have practical uses that could improve construction, astronomy and airplane engineering. “Most kids don’t realize that math is something very beautiful and elegant and fun,” he says, “it has applications where you would least expect it.”
高中生中很少有人会对“数学”这门课程如此痴迷，但是迈克尔却与众不同。去年12月，他正是借着这个让大家头疼不已的“家伙”在享誉盛名的“西门子西屋科技竞赛”中胜出。这位竞赛中的佼佼者因为攻克了有关证明热是如何在金属表面传导的原理，获得了10万美元的奖学金，这笔钱正好可以作为他今年秋季在哈佛大学继续攻读数学之用。听起来是不是有点像“天方夜谭”？但是迈克尔的成绩正是对建筑学、天文学和飞机工程学进步的有力推动。“很多孩子都没有意识到‘数学’是一个多么美好的东西，它极其精致同时又充满了乐趣，”他说，“正是在不经意的时候，它才会发挥出令你意想不到的作用。”
援助非洲
May Lan Dong, 18, Cambridge, Mass
Though she’s well-traveled, May hadn’t much thought to visiting the African nation of Guinea until 2004, when she took a trip there with her dad, Mitchell, who was building an alumina1 refinery2 in Sangaredi. The poor quality of life was an eye-opener. “I saw towns with no electricity, no running water, a literacy3 rate of 36 percent,” May says. “I thought, ‘what can I do’” Between hosting slide presentations for her classmates” parents back home in hopes of rounding up contributions and appealing to her father’s business contacts for investments, May raised $50 000 for several relief projects. She created Operation West Africa, an organization that helped build a girls” dormitory at a vocational4 school by paying to refurbish5 a dilapidated6 building, and she gave books and supplies to a local high school with donations from U.S. schools and libraries. For her efforts, she recieved a 2005 Young Adult National Caring Award . “I didn’t know how big this was going to become,” says May, who had played lacrosse7 and soccer until a knee injury temporarily sidelined8 her in 2004. “At first, I was like, ‘who am I now?” because I was an athlete. Then I realized I could surge my passion for sports into something different.
梅是个旅游爱好者，但若不是2004年那一次旅行，她怎么也不会想到自己会置身于非洲的几内亚。当时，她和父亲米切尔——他正在几内亚的桑加雷迪建设大型氧化铝冶炼厂——结伴旅行。那里贫穷的生活算是让他们大开眼界了。“映入我眼帘的是一个没有电、没有自来水的城市，整个城市里有读写能力的人不过36％，”梅感慨地说，“我当时就想:我能做些什么呢？”梅通过各种各样的方式来集资捐款：放学后，她为同学们的家长播放幻灯片做一些宣传；同时，她呼吁父亲商行的关系户为她的“事业”投资赞助。梅的努力为一些慈善救济工程赢得了多达五万美元的捐助。她还成立了“西非行动组”，对一些废弃的房子进行翻修装潢，来帮助一个职业学校修建女生宿舍。除此之外，她还把一些美国国立学校和图书馆所捐赠的书籍和供应品送给当地的高中。功夫不负有心人，所有这些努力让她获得了“2005年青少年国家爱心奖”。“我不知道这个规模会发展到多大，”梅说。她曾是长曲棍球和足球运动员，2004年因为膝部受伤，于是暂时退出。“一开始，我总是对自己说，‘你现在到底是干什么的？’因为你知道，我是一名运动员。后来我终于意识到，我完全可以把自己投入体育事业中的所有澎湃激情，同样运用到其他不同的事情当中。”
“改变世界,从我做起”
又一个爱因斯坦诞生了
Michael Viscardi, 17, San Diego
Few high school students go gaga1over math, but Michael used what is typically one of the toughest subjects to win the prestigious2 Siemens Westinghouse science competition last December. He grabbed top honors and scored a $100 000 scholarship, which he’ll be using to study math at Harvard this fall, by creating a theorem3that illustrates how heat travels across a metal surface. That may sound like Greek to some, but Michael’s work might have practical uses that could improve construction, astronomy and airplane engineering. “Most kids don’t realize that math is something very beautiful and elegant and fun,” he says, “it has applications where you would least expect it.”
高中生中很少有人会对“数学”这门课程如此痴迷，但是迈克尔却与众不同。去年12月，他正是借着这个让大家头疼不已的“家伙”在享誉盛名的“西门子西屋科技竞赛”中胜出。这位竞赛中的佼佼者因为攻克了有关证明热是如何在金属表面传导的原理，获得了10万美元的奖学金，这笔钱正好可以作为他今年秋季在哈佛大学继续攻读数学之用。听起来是不是有点像“天方夜谭”？但是迈克尔的成绩正是对建筑学、天文学和飞机工程学进步的有力推动。“很多孩子都没有意识到‘数学’是一个多么美好的东西，它极其精致同时又充满了乐趣，”他说，“正是在不经意的时候，它才会发挥出令你意想不到的作用。”
援助非洲
May Lan Dong, 18, Cambridge, Mass
Though she’s well-traveled, May hadn’t much thought to visiting the African nation of Guinea until 2004, when she took a trip there with her dad, Mitchell, who was building an alumina1 refinery2 in Sangaredi. The poor quality of life was an eye-opener. “I saw towns with no electricity, no running water, a literacy3 rate of 36 percent,” May says. “I thought, ‘what can I do’” Between hosting slide presentations for her classmates” parents back home in hopes of rounding up contributions and appealing to her father’s business contacts for investments, May raised $50 000 for several relief projects. She created Operation West Africa, an organization that helped build a girls” dormitory at a vocational4 school by paying to refurbish5 a dilapidated6 building, and she gave books and supplies to a local high school with donations from U.S. schools and libraries. For her efforts, she recieved a 2005 Young Adult National Caring Award . “I didn’t know how big this was going to become,” says May, who had played lacrosse7 and soccer until a knee injury temporarily sidelined8 her in 2004. “At first, I was like, ‘who am I now?” because I was an athlete. Then I realized I could surge my passion for sports into something different.
梅是个旅游爱好者，但若不是2004年那一次旅行，她怎么也不会想到自己会置身于非洲的几内亚。当时，她和父亲米切尔——他正在几内亚的桑加雷迪建设大型氧化铝冶炼厂——结伴旅行。那里贫穷的生活算是让他们大开眼界了。“映入我眼帘的是一个没有电、没有自来水的城市，整个城市里有读写能力的人不过36％，”梅感慨地说，“我当时就想:我能做些什么呢？”梅通过各种各样的方式来集资捐款：放学后，她为同学们的家长播放幻灯片做一些宣传；同时，她呼吁父亲商行的关系户为她的“事业”投资赞助。梅的努力为一些慈善救济工程赢得了多达五万美元的捐助。她还成立了“西非行动组”，对一些废弃的房子进行翻修装潢，来帮助一个职业学校修建女生宿舍。除此之外，她还把一些美国国立学校和图书馆所捐赠的书籍和供应品送给当地的高中。功夫不负有心人，所有这些努力让她获得了“2005年青少年国家爱心奖”。“我不知道这个规模会发展到多大，”梅说。她曾是长曲棍球和足球运动员，2004年因为膝部受伤，于是暂时退出。“一开始，我总是对自己说，‘你现在到底是干什么的？’因为你知道，我是一名运动员。后来我终于意识到，我完全可以把自己投入体育事业中的所有澎湃激情，同样运用到其他不同的事情当中。”