詹妮弗写这篇文章是为了回应2020-21通用申请论文选项3。提示内容为：当您质疑或质疑某个信念或想法时，反思某个时刻。是什么促使你这么想的？结果如何？

一种独特的写作方法

詹妮弗在一篇招生论文《体育英雄主义》中采用了一个被过度使用和陈词滥调的话题，并将其转变为令人惊讶、谦逊和深刻的个人风格。

Gym Class Hero I’m not really an athlete. I’m all for a rousing game of badminton or tennis, and I enjoy cross-country skiing and hiking, but I enjoy these activities as recreation. I don’t find enjoyment in testing my physical limits to the point of pain. I’m not competitive by nature; I rarely challenge others, or find myself face-to-face with an opponent. Except, to my surprise, if that competitor, that challenger, is simply myself. “Ok, I need some folks to run a mile,” Mr. Fox, the PE Teacher, bellowed over the 40-odd preteens loitering around the playing fields behind Lafayette Middle School. We were working through a unit on track and field events. Up to this point, I had managed to avoid participation. “It’s four times around the track. Any takers?” A couple people raised their hands and began assembling at the make-shift starting line. “Well, let’s get a few more out there,” he continued. Looking over the rest of us, he made a quick assessment and called out, “Johnson. Patterson. VanHouten. And, uh, Baxter.” I froze. Were there any other Baxters in my class? No. Only me. And, to my dismay, I heard myself saying “Okay!” as I made my way to the track, my heart already pounding, my stomach in knots, with zero confidence in myself. I couldn’t do this. Where did my doubt come from? No one ever said to me, “Oh, you can’t run a mile.” I don’t even remember any askance looks, any raised eyebrows implying I was out of my depth. Middle-schoolers can be a cruel bunch, but not that day. There was just that voice in my head, as clear as a bell: “You’ll never be able to run a mile. You can’t even climb stairs without getting winded. It’s going to hurt. You’ll probably pass out. You could never run a mile.” A whole mile? That voice was right. It was, in my mind, impossibly long. What was I going to do? I ran a mile. There was nothing else to do; I didn’t have time to question it, or come up with an excuse. Sometimes challenging a belief is as easy as just doing something. It wasn’t a conscious “I’m going to challenge this doubt and insecurity I have.” I just started running. Four laps around the track—it took me thirteen minutes. Which, as I research it now, is not particularly impressive. But at the time, I was pretty proud. For someone who never ran, I was just happy I finished. I didn’t feel great; my legs were shaky and there was something rattling around in my chest, but I had proven myself wrong. I could run a mile. Of course, I ended up throwing up about five minutes later. Even if I had new-found confidence and a sense of accomplishment, my body wasn’t quite ready for it yet. I’m sure there’s some lesson to be learned there—something about not pushing ourselves too far, too fast. About knowing and assessing our limitations. But that’s not the important moral of the story. I discovered I wasn’t always right. I learned that I was too critical of myself, too cruel, too unforgiving. Yes, I’m not going to the Olympics anytime soon. Yes, I’m not going to set any records for track. But—once I stopped telling myself no, and just got on with the task at hand, I surprised myself. And that’s something I’m carrying with me into my future: the ability to shut off those doubting voices, and sometimes just going for it. I may surprise myself by discovering I can do much more than I thought possible.

“体育课英雄”批判

总的来说，詹妮弗写了一篇很强的通用应用文章。还有改进的余地吗？当然，即使是最好的文章也可以通过努力变得更强。在下面，你会发现对詹妮弗文章中一些元素的讨论，这些元素使文章更具说服力，同时也会对一些需要修改的地方提出一些意见。

詹妮弗的话题

正如选项3的提示和策略所述，“信念或想法”一词的模糊性允许申请人将其论文引向广泛的方向。当被问及“信仰”或“思想”时，我们大多数人会立即从政治、宗教、哲学和伦理角度思考。詹妮弗的文章令人耳目一新，因为她没有探究这些东西。相反，她把注意力集中在一些既普通又非常重要的事情上，那就是几乎每个人都曾经历过的自我怀疑的唠叨的内在声音。

太多的大学申请者认为他们必须写一些深刻的东西，一些惊人的成就，或者一些真正独特的经历。事实上，许多申请者感到压力过大，因为他们觉得自己的生活平淡无奇，论文中没有什么值得叙述的东西。詹妮弗的文章是这些担忧谬误的一个很好的例子。她写了数百万青少年在体育课上体验到的那种尴尬的不称职感。但她成功地将这一共同经历转化为一篇文章，让我们将她视为一个独特的人。

最后，她的文章实际上不是关于跑13分钟一英里。她的文章是关于向内看，认识到她有时会麻痹的自我怀疑，检查是什么经常阻碍她，并最终在自信和成熟中成长。绕跑道跑四圈不是重点。值得一提的是，詹妮弗学到了一个重要的教训：要想成功，首先需要站起来并尝试。她从中学到的不再告诉自己“不”，而是继续完成手头的任务的教训是招生委员会会钦佩的，因为这是大学成功的关键。

詹妮弗的头衔，“体育课英雄”

当招生工作人员第一次读到詹妮弗的书名时，他们可能会有顾虑。如果你阅读了10个糟糕的论文主题列表，“英雄”文章是申请人明智避免的主题之一。对于申请者来说，令人惊叹的触地得分或赢得比赛的本垒打可能是有意义的，但招生人员已经厌倦了阅读关于这些体育英雄时刻的文章。这些文章听起来都一样，太多的申请人写了那篇文章，而且这些文章往往更多地是关于幸灾乐祸，而不是自我分析和反省。

因此，题为“体育课英雄”可能会立即让招生办公室的读者想到“这篇枯燥的文章，我们又来了。”但这篇文章的实际情况却大不相同。我们很快就知道詹妮弗不是运动员，她的文章也不是关于英雄主义的。在某种程度上，这个标题具有讽刺意味。13分钟的英里肯定不是运动英雄主义。还是这样？珍妮弗这个名字的美妙之处在于，她采用了被滥用的“英雄”一词，并对其进行了重新塑造，使之成为一种内在的东西，一种个人成就感，除了她之外，很少有人会将其视为英雄。

简言之，詹妮弗的头衔有点危险。很有可能她会引起招生官员的初步反应，而在读者还没开始论文之前就用一个会让他们闭嘴的标题可能不是一个明智的策略。另一方面，詹妮弗的文章之美在于它重新定义了“英雄”的概念

写一个好标题有很多策略，詹妮弗当然可以采取更安全的方法。同时，关于“英雄”这个词的剧本在这篇文章中是如此的重要，一些重要的东西可能会因为不同的标题而丢失。

长度

一般的申请论文需要在250到650字之间。你会从不同的顾问那里听到关于篇幅的不同意见，但不可否认的是，一篇600字的引人入胜的文章比一篇300字的好文章能取得更多的成就。理想的大学申请长度取决于作者和主题，但太短往往会失去在成绩和考试成绩之外突出自己的机会。

始终记住，为什么学院首先需要一篇论文：学校有整体招生，希望了解你作为一个个体。如果你多说，学校会更了解你。詹妮弗的文章有606个单词，它们是606个好单词。没有什么枯燥、重复或其他风格问题。她讲了一个引人入胜的故事，没有离题或不必要的细节。

最后一句话

詹妮弗不会获得体育奖学金，也没有一所大学会招募她参加13分钟英里的比赛。她的文章并非毫无瑕疵（例如，她在前三句话中使用了三次“享受”一词）。但是任何读过她的文章的人都会钦佩她的写作能力，以及她从体育课上的尴尬时刻开始向内看、分析和成长的能力。

入学论文的一大考验是它是否回答了招生人员的几个关键问题：论文是否有助于我们更好地了解申请人？申请人是否像我们希望邀请的人分享我们的学术社区，她是否可能以有意义的方式为我们的社区做出贡献？对詹妮弗来说，这些问题的答案是“是的”

詹妮弗的文章不是对选项3的典型回应，事实上，她本可以在其他选项下提交同样的文章。“体育课英雄”将在面对挑战时为选项2工作。这也可能适用于激发个人成长的成就的选项5。请务必仔细阅读所有七种常见的申请论文选项的技巧和策略，找出哪一种最适合你自己的论文。然而，最终，如果詹妮弗在第二、第三或第五题下提交她的论文，这并不重要。每一篇都是恰当的，文章的质量才是最重要的。