工程专业申请文书——请描述你感兴趣工程学领域

[Prompt: Please discuss your interest in the field of engineering and discuss your interest in a specific engineering discipline.]

Mechanical Pencils

A city bus pulls into the Beijing station. The folded doors creak open, and a six-year-old boy hops off, followed by his mom. The boy will begin school in a week, and they are shopping for school supplies. As the boy and the mother stroll past the store counters, the mother suddenly says, "Lele, let’s get you a mechanical pencil." I was fascinated as soon as I saw the round plastic barrel and pointed tip -- a piece of engineering brilliance.

My first pencil box contained four wooden pencils, a razor, and a strip of sandpaper used to sharpen the lead. Living in the last years of pre-modernized China, I had never seen a mechanical pencil before. I don't remember the trip home from the store, for the only thing on my mind was the yolk-colored barrel. As soon as I got home, I tried to open the pencil to see the magic behind a button that, when pressed at one end, advanced the lead at the other end. After many wasted lead fragments and a bent barrel, the pencil was ripped out of my hand, and I was scolded for not valuing goods. Respect for my elders stopped me from further exploration of the pencil, and so ended my first encounter with engineering; but my fascination with "how does it work?" was unleashed. The following years were full of long, intense stares at moving bicycle gears, adventurous peeks inside my grandfather’s typewriter, and temporary blindness from prolonged examinations of burning light bulbs.

When I arrived in the United States, I had to put my curiosity on hold for a year. With only a basic knowledge of the alphabet and the lyrics to "B-I-N-G-O, " I devoted all my time to learning English, completing the English as a Second Language program two years ahead of schedule. But my fascination with the mechanics of objects around me soon resurfaced. My meager collection of McDonald's Happy Meal toys soon dwindled, as I began prying open poor Simba to see the gears and wheels inside. A few years later, I found myself covered with motor oil as I lay next to my father under our car, learning how to change the oil filter. Watching the black fluid pouring smoothly out of the engine, I knew then that I would become a disciple of engineering.

At the same time as I discovered my love of engineering, I also realized what a large field it is. What kind of engineering would I choose -- electrical, mechanical, chemical? One day, sitting in my AP Biology class, a diagram comparing the electron pumps of a cell to turbines in a dam appeared before me. Suddenly, it all connected under the light of the projector: the gears in Simba’s stomach, the burnt memory cards of my computer, the fascinating science of biology all came into union under the bioengineering field. I had found my calling, and all because of a little mechanical pencil.

点评：

1.文字描写细致生动，结构紧凑；

2.故事十分真切，没有虚构的特殊经历，通过平常的小事来反映作者对于工程方面的兴趣和学习能力；

3.对于一些写Essay时总是觉的没有东西可写的人来说，本文无疑是一个十分出色的例子，挖掘个人的物质并不一定要很独特的经历，许多平常的小事一样可以反映一个人的性格和兴趣；

4.文风朴实，符合理工科严谨踏实的作风；

5.文章给人的印象不是很深刻，这与内容选材有关，文末对生物学的兴趣来的比较突然，没有一个很好的铺垫，是个败笔。

翻译：

［命题要求：请描述你感兴趣工程学领域，并论树你对特定工程科目的兴趣。］

我的那支自动铅笔

一辆公车慢慢驶入北京站。折叠门在辗轧声中打开，一个六岁的男孩跳着走了下来,接着是他的妈妈。男孩将在一周后开学，因此他们正准备为新学期准备些用品。当男孩和母亲走过商店的柜台时，妈妈突然说，Lele，给你买支自动铅笔吧。当我看到那圆形的塑料笔桶和笔尖时，我不禁着迷了，一件完美的工程作品。

我的第一个铅笔盒包括四支木制铅笔，一把削刀和一卷用来磨尖笔头的砂纸。在还未实现现代化的中国，我还从来没有看到过自动铅笔。我不记得从家到商店的路途，脑海中唯一想的就是那蛋黄色的笔桶。当我回家后，我立刻尝试着去打开铅笔探索那个按钮后面的秘密，因为当我按下一头的按钮，笔的另一头就会自动出来。当我浪费了很多笔芯后，并把笔桶弄弯了后，铅笔从我手中被拿走了，而且我被指责不珍惜物品。我哥哥阻止了我进一步探索铅笔的行动，我和工程学的第一次接触就这样被终止了，但我探索它工作原理的热情却未曾消失。接下来的几年我经常在祖父的打字机边研究它是怎么工作的，甚至因为研究发亮的灯泡而导致暂时性的失明。
 
当我到了美国后的一年，我不得不把我的好奇搁到一边。由于一开始只会一些基本的英语，我把全部的精力都放在语言课程上，并提前２年完成了之前定下的ESL课程。但是我对于机械的热情很快又浮现了。我收集的本来就不多的麦当劳快乐套餐玩具越来越少了，因为我总是把可怜的Simba打开来研究里面的齿轮和轮子。几年后，我已经是满身机油和我父亲躺在车下学习怎么更换机油过滤器。看着黑色的机油缓缓的从引擎中流出来，我意识到我要成为一个工程学方面的专业人士。
 
对工程学的兴趣越厚，就越发现这是一片非常广阔的领域。到底我该选择哪个工程专业呢－－电气，机械，还是化学？有一天在AP生物课上，我看到一个比较细胞的电子泵和一个水坝的涡轮图表。突然，我觉的我可以把这一些联系起来，Simba肚子里的齿轮，电脑里烧掉的记忆卡，以及迷人的生物学所有这些都可以归类到生物工程的领域中。我终于发现了我的使命，所有的这些都是因为那支小小的自动铅笔。