Writing Contest 作文比賽
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English as Foreign Language Category
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Intersections, Grand and Small: An Extended Definition of a Double Major
By Andrew Wu 吳柏德
To my mind, the word “intersections” is at once beautiful, complex, and spectacular. By definition, “intersections” are “points of convergence and divergence” as well as “elements that are shared.” Thus intersections, for me, cross multiple dimensions. Physically, they can be crossroads; in the mind, they can be interconnected ideas and insights; in life, they can be relationships, choices and experiences. Intersections, in mind and matter, connect and construct our world.
By this definition, each individual’s life events can be seen as countless intricately woven intersections, brought together to form a greater whole. We are who we are and know what we know because of our past, and what we become will be defined by the choices we make.
Perhaps the most famous intersection in American Literature is penned in Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” 1 In the poem, the speaker reminisces on how he once stopped at a fork in the road and weighed his options. Looking back, like Frost’s persona, I have come to see my own college journey as a path “less traveled by,” and without a doubt, it has “made all the difference.” Being a double major, to me, has truly been a “grand intersection” in my life, for it is not only an important life choice and an integration of distinct disciplines and traditions; it has significantly influenced who I am and who I hope to become.
Every double major’s road is different; mine starts from my parents. Some of my fondest memories are those of my mother reading to me. She used to tell me that books were like windows and that places full of books were magic castles, where adventures took flight and where adventurers could find everything: excitement, peace, and nourishment. She used to tell me that imagination was involved in the creation of every book, and so ever since I was a child, I’ve seen reading as a journey of endless possibility, and have marveled at the power of language to instruct and inspire. Behind that power, I firmly believe, is the full capacity of the human experience, a treasure trove of lives and traditions that are intense, complex, and sensational.
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—Complete version available in P。S magazine issue no.2
Timed Writing
Our Miraculous Upbringing, a World of Communities Intertwined
By Andrew Wu 吳柏德
On my first day of college, our anatomy professor opened his first lecture with these words: “I’ve studied the human body for more than five decades now, but I’m still constantly in awe of the complex beauty and seamless integration that drive the lives and minds of each and every one of us. All of us are miracles, in every sense of the word.”
Over the past few years, I’ve often pondered in awe at how miraculous the human experience is. Not only our bodies, but also our spirits and minds. And although our parents are major figures in this process of molding who we become, our community (our “village”) contributes just as much into who we grow up to be.
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