Dong Quan, a student in the twelfth grade of Shanghai Private Pinghe School, received an admission from Cornell University, a famous American school. When he applied for the Department of Architecture, he had a lot of thoughts in the process of learning architecture, and these thoughts also pointed out the direction for him in the path of learning.
On the day of the early application, he received a lot of congratulations
ED was so important to him that he was a little hesitant to choose a school, and finally convinced himself on the grounds that Cornell was the first in the mimoto building and its delicious ice cream.
On the day of the early announcement, Dong Quan slept and got up and slowly ate a breakfast. At 8 o'clock, the bell for the first class had just sounded. After refreshing the web page twice without success, the students who were originally surrounded by the crowd regrettably dispersed, and he also hurried to the classroom of the first class.
After reading the book again, he moved to the classroom where he was taking classes, and he smoothly opened the Discover page. Wait for his eyes to focus on the line of black words—as if in a vacuum of silence. He faced it, it faced him. It took him a long time to react to what the symbols meant – the application was successful!
The class still follows the normal sequence.
Dong Quan received a lot of congratulations. So he began to wonder: How should his future unfold?
From the beginning of high school, the idea of studying architecture came to mind
Dong Quan applied for the Department of Architecture in college of Architecture, Art and Planning.
In the first year of high school, with a certain science background and interest in design, Dong Quan had the idea of studying architecture. In his sophomore year of high school, he had to start preparing his portfolio for his major, so he somewhat recklessly confirmed the final direction of the application.
Since then, architecture has become a valued word. In his daily reading, research for projects, and cornell summer school architecture courses, Dong Quan gradually realized that architecture is a responsibility for civilized society and the future of mankind.
Dong Quan recognized how political movements and philosophical ideas interacted with architecture, how the vision of human cohesiveness was expected to be realized through Chandigarh's dream of a glorious city; how cities changed like living beings, and how utopian pastoral ideals were conceived... The dwelling is the vessel of life, and architecture thus has the power to change the world. These thoughts quietly pointed out the way forward in his path of learning.
In his spare time, Dong Quan will take to the streets to observe how this magnificent city works. Under the roar of the cranes next to the high-rise buildings under construction is the endless stream of viaducts and the illuminated bazaar. Each busy shadow is doing its part, maintaining the lights from a small road, to a neighborhood, to a residential complex, to most of the city. Glass curtain walls rise from the edge of the old community full of potted plants, and the old street is infused with vitality.
Dong Quan travels around for the project, whether it is looking for inspiration, visiting idol works, or doing field research, looking for building materials (because he has done several projects to renovate old buildings, to study the original structure of the building) can make him happy.
Participate in competitions, prepare portfolios, and take the test
While studying visual arts, Dong Quan prepared a portfolio of works, participated in competitions, and then completed the school results, as well as the standardization of the examination, which was indeed tiring.
In the evenings of intensive preparation, coffee and music are the antidote to "life-sustaining".
Sometimes Dong Quan fantasizes about becoming a ruthless drawing machine, producing CAD drawings of models and completing renderings. Precisely control the measurement of glue and the position of the forceps to slowly piece together a palm-sized small house. Dong Quan was also glad that he had completed the task of standardization early, otherwise it would be difficult.
The portfolios prepared for undergraduate architecture applications are still based on works of art. Although students who study visual arts are tortured in the united front, Dong Quan still has to thank his high school art studies for exposing him to many skills, and also put them into practice in his works, such as photography, graphic design and installation works.
Dong Quan also learned how to tell the story of the design process from top to bottom, from concept to detail. This allowed him to slowly find out what he was after: calmness, the power of the material and the sense of form.
"Since I learned photography, my sense of color has become more acute, and my perception of life and details has become clearer. I gradually began to notice the fleeting light and shadow of life, ordinary characters, and the texture of a certain piece of masonry. Photography extracts a still frame from the ever-changing torrent of reality, condensing the beauty of the moment into eternity. Dong Quan said that the initial contact with graphic design was purely out of love for posters. But as his understanding deepened, graphic design gave him the feeling of creating an order in a vacuum. "Faced with a blank sheet of paper, the designer adds a grid, elements and his own emotions to it, making the whole space flexible, emotional and energetic. The constant sense of control over space during the process of making posters inspired my love of graphic design. ”
Teachers and parents, give him encouragement and trust
Looking back at this application season, Dong Quan remembers that the teacher always said to the students that it would be good to stay up this time.
"Admittedly, those days passed in the toil days of headless flies. I can't believe what kind of willpower has allowed me to accomplish these tasks. The one I remember most is the LL subject (language and literature) in the IB course that I have been exposed to for more than a year. After repeated failures in the exam, I said to myself: This final exam is my last effort, I will do my best, if this all fails, then I will give up. ”
And the result was a success.
Dong Quan sighed that probably all the hardships experienced are shallow, and it is true to move forward for his own choice.
"In the process of educating me, my parents always adopted an almost free-range posture. At the same time, in the face of success or failure, they always take a rational posture: as long as I can touch my conscience and say that I have done my best, then no matter what the final result, they can accept it. ”
Dong Quan said that he once tried to challenge the people who stood at the top of each field and demanded themselves with the highest standards, but forgot that everyone must have their own strengths and weaknesses. Those who stand at the top just show their strengths. When his parents taught him to play to his strengths, they also made him recognize the limits of his strengths.
Source: Thoughtful Shanghai