导语：
在这个假期，三位七德学子奔赴美国加利福尼亚州参加了夏校，他们在加州大学伯克利分校和洛杉矶分校都有怎样独到的体验和感想呢？
上周，我们见识到了七德学子在哈峰会和国际青年友好夏令营中的精彩表现，今天我们将走出国门去看一看在世界这个大教室中七德学子们的表现。今天这一站我们到达的是美国加州。加州位于美国的西海岸，风景优美，气候宜人。与此同时这也是一块学习的乐土，有名的学府有：伯克利，UCLA，南加大以及斯坦福等高校都坐落于此。十一年级的叶之青和刘文青和十二年级的曹祎晨就于今年暑期奔赴加州参加了夏校。
12A 曹祎晨 Eason
Academic accomplishment is actually one of the most significant takeaway from this summer camp but learning how to communicate with someone form a totally different cultural background and integrating into a new community are the most important to me. Most of us not only successfully blend in with the American students, but we also brought our own culture to them. We played basketball, table-tennis and many other games together as a global family.
Reviewing the experience of the past two weeks, what impressed me most was the ice-breaking activity on first night when I arrived at UCLA. At the beginning of this activity, the organizer asked us to stand in two rows facing each other and ask questions to the student diagonally opposite for one minute before we rotate to the next student. After about fifteen minutes, we were at the game for more than ten rounds and I became increasingly comfortable talking about myself and the Chinese culture. By the end of the game, we were communicating with confidence and openness.
It is true that some Chinese students fail to make friends with foreign students, but this is not due to discrimination or stereotype. In my opinion, cultural exchange and friendship have no boundaries and different cultures can co-exist under the same roof.
I think what I have learned and perceived from this experience can be summarized into one sentence:“The world is polarized, but we belong to one global world.”
11B 叶之青 Catherine
I took courses on Architecture and Sustainability Design and I not only have an insight into the courses but also learn more about myself. The summer camp gave me my first initiation into life in US universities and I felt myself maturing as I eased into life in the US.
I was elated to spend my summer at UC Berkeley. 130 hours of studio work, 53 new friends, 20 days of academic studies and 1 month. These numbers made up my memories for the summer of 2017. My life in Berkeley never stops to surprise me.
When I finally completed all the assignments, I realized that one month was too short for me。 I am totally impressed by the attitude towards work by the professors and undergraduates in Berkeley。 Our mentor required that we draw all lines with tools and forbids all freehand drawing。 Drawing with rulers and French curves will take far more time than freehand and I decided to bend the rules。。。 Guess what? I spent another 4 hours to redraw all my lines the next day! I was upset but my mentor said to me seriously, that, ‘No one will like to help or comment on a work that isn’t the best version。
And I need to see your best work。’ Many others were required to redo their work as well。 Day after day, I begin to appreciate the satisfaction that I feel after giving it all for all my works。 Gradually, my objective changed from completion to perfection。 At the end of one month, I have also made personal progress on tenacity, I am now confident that I can overcome any challenges thrown my way。 Last but not least, friends, the friendships that I forged in UCLA and UC Berkeley made the stint awesome。
We stayed up late together, we helped each other, we listened to each other, we talked about our ideas and we shared our dreams。 Basically, they turned ‘architorture’ into architecture!
11F 刘文清 Zoey
I got to know a character from a non-?ction novel, “Into the wild”, known as McCandless. This was a book we read in our class under the humanity track. He is a real person born into a rich family, but after graduation, he decided to hitchhike across America for two years. He abandoned all possessions, ventured into the wilderness and eventually died in Alaska. He is a character who plays the role of an extreme idealist and explorer. In Berkeley, we made many analysis and debates over this character.
He was especially influential on my life in UC Berkeley. I fell seriously ill in the first week and I felt terrible when the tutors begin to disinfect my dorm and moved me into a single room because they were wary about contagious diseases. I was absent from four classes, one theatre performance and one rafting experience. I felt isolated and I found it difficult to participate in the seminars after I recovered as I felt out of place. The words of McCandless, “we do not have to be a strong giant, but to feel strong even when your current situation is in a worst state” resonated in my mind as I try hard to fit in.
Things begin to change as I interacted with my course mates. We went to the spiral gardens for community service, played UNO, went for Autodesk and the gallery for art experiences and hiking to the Big C nearby. Then I come to conclude that I have to be open, be passionate, be proactive and laughed with each other in order to be one with the culture. Here is one last sentence from this noble character: “Don't settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make each day a new horizon.… it would be a shame if you did not take the opportunity to revolutionize your life and move into an entirely new realm of experience. So be a pilgrim and explorer not only in study, but also in life.”
总结
无论是学术上知识的学习和历练亦或是活动上与各方文化之间的融入，世界这个大教室都有着它的独到之处。它宽于书本，它深过课堂，不留于书面，更看重实践，最重要的是它能够深化我们个人对于过去的反思，对于当下的认知以及对于未来的描绘勾勒。这是我所认为的世界教室能为我们七德学子所带来的无比珍贵的机会。
