今年秋天，Oscar迎来了他在狄邦华曜的第三年。从温州的公立初中“出走”之后，Oscar来到这里——

在这里，他打破对自己“理科生”的刻板印象，找到了真正的学术兴趣与发展路径；

他拾起几乎三年未碰的民乐，在学校的支持下创建社团，并遇到了一群志同道合的老师和同学；

他感受到全新的学习体验，感受到“被看见”，感受自由带来的自律。

让我们一起听听他的故事。

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This autumn, Oscar entered his third year at Dipont Huayao Collegiate School. Having left his last school, a public middle school in Wenzhou, Oscar chose to come here.

In here, he broke the stereotype of “only good at science” and discovered his passion in learning and path of development.

He returned to traditional Chinese music which had been put aside for nearly 3 years, and with the support from the school, he established a Chinese music club where he met a group of teachers and scholars who share the same passion.

Here he gained fresh new learning experience, he gained recognition, and he gained self-discipline out of freedom.

Let’s listen to his story.

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1

理科转文科

从功利学习转向主动学习

在老师和同学的印象中，Oscar是个有点“文艺”的男生。但一直以来，无论是课程选择还是学业表现，Oscar看起来都更像是个理科生——他去年修读的AP微积分、AP物理等理科课程，都拿到了满绩或接近满绩的好成绩。有了优秀的数理基础，在对自己未来专业方向的选择上，Oscar也更加偏向工程或者经济等理工科专业。

然而随着学习的不断深入，Oscar逐渐感到自己在理科的学习开始吃力起来。“我发现越到后面，我越学越难，越学越不理解。有时候虽然我能做得好题目，但我自己的思考其实是没有跟上的。”面对理科学习上的瓶颈，Oscar开始自我反思，是否理科并不是真正适合自己，是否自己的兴趣其实在别处。

同时，Oscar也在向多方寻求建议和帮助。表哥在爱丁堡大学读数学系，他告诉Oscar，大学里面的数学往往都是那种即使知道了答案，也未必能写出解题方法的问题。要深入学习，需要能力与热爱的双重加持。这让Oscar想去读理科的心又退却了几分。

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In the eyes of teachers and scholars, Oscar shows an artistic temperament. But all along he had been learning like a science student, whether it is his course selection or academic performance. Last year he got perfect or near perfect GPA in AP science courses such as AP Calculus and AP Physics. With solid math and science foundations, Oscar naturally turned to engineering or economics when he was deciding his future major.

However, as he got deeper into his study, Oscar struggled more and more in science subjects. “The further I went, the harder it got. Sometimes even though I worked out a problem, I found my comprehension of the knowledge didn’t actually reach that level.” Having encountered a bottleneck in science, Oscar began to reflect on himself: Is science really my thing? Could it be that my passion is actually somewhere else?

Oscar also sought suggestions from many people. His cousin was studying in the Mathematics Department of the University of Edinburgh, and he told Oscar that when you’re studying math in colleges, you’ll always encounter problems that you can’t figure out the solution even when you’ve been told the answer. Making a profound study requires both capacity and passion. Cousin’s words discouraged Oscar even more in studying science.

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于是，Oscar找到狄邦华曜的升学指导老师，与他共同探讨转为学习文科方向的可能。老师其实并没有替Oscar做决定，但他观察到了Oscar的兴趣爱好会更加偏向文科，而他选修数学、物理这些课程更多地是出于想要维持一直以来的优异的GPA，并非来自兴趣。对于Oscar想转向文科的尝试，老师也非常支持。

所以，今年Oscar的课表风格有了很大的转变，选修的课程几乎都是人文方向。在如此大的转向下，Oscar却仍然保持了优秀的成绩——大部分课程都在96分以上。不同于学理科的日渐吃力，学文科的过程对Oscar来说是“一直保持思考”的过程。“我在学习的时候能够不断得到新的思考，这种正向激励就让我的学习更加轻松愉快。”

谈及最喜欢的一门文科的课程，Oscar回答是郑老师的语文课。不同于人们印象中那种照本宣科、咬文嚼字的语文课，郑老师的课程永远是开放、自由且有启发性的。在他的课堂上没有标准答案，每个同学都能畅所欲言，只要言之成理就可以。

Oscar曾经就《暗恋桃花源》这部剧为主题写过一篇课堂作业，文章的主题和诸多论点都得到郑老师的肯定。郑老师建议他将这篇作业重写为一篇正式的学术论文发表，这样既能训练Oscar进行规范学术写作的能力，又能为日后申请大学添砖加瓦。在郑老师的指导下，Oscar润色了文章的语言，加入了摘要、故事梗概等重要的部分，并为许多论点增添了论据，使之成为一篇完整的学术论文。

最终，这篇论文也成功在期刊发表。作为高中生已经有论文发表，这是非常了不起的成果了。

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Therefore, Oscar went to the college counselor of Dipont Huayao Collegiate and discussed with her about the possibility of switching to a liberal arts track. The counselor didn’t make the decision for him, but she noticed that Oscar’s interests fall more in the field of liberal arts. The reason he selected Math and Physics is because he wanted to maintain his high GPA instead of being interested in them. So, the counselor supported Oscar’s attempt to change track.

And this year, Oscar’s schedule had a magnificent change. Most of his courses are humanity courses. With such a major change taken place, Oscar maintained his excellent academic performance. He got 96 points or above in most of his courses. Instead of struggling as he used to in science study, the process of liberal arts learning is a process of “continuous thinking.” “I keep having new thinkings during my study, which is a positive regeneration and makes my study easier and happier.”

When asked about his favorite subject, Oscar said it’s Chinese Language and Literature. Not like the common impression of echoing what the books say and chewing upon wording, Ms. Zheng’s class is always an open, free and inspiring place. There’s no standard answers in her class, and scholars can give any reasonable answers they can think of.

Oscar once wrote a report about the play Secret Love In Peach Blossom Land. The theme of the report and many arguments in it received recognition from Ms. Zheng, and she suggested Oscar rewrite it into an academic thesis and publish it. This would not only train his academic writing ability, but also become a highlight in his college application materials. With the help from Ms. Zheng, Oscar polished his report, added an abstract and a passage introducing the plot of the play, and put more grounds to his arguments, making it a real academic thesis.

Later, the thesis was published on a journal. Having a thesis published is an outstanding achievement for an upper school scholar.

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除此之外，Oscar还告诉我们，也正是在语文课上，他发现了自己对传媒的兴趣，并将其定为自己申请的专业。在某个章节中，郑老师给大家展示了不同年代各种各样的广告，让大家对这些广告进行分析——

广告吸引人的亮点在哪里？它的主题思想是什么？针对的是哪部分受众人群？

从日常生活处处可见的广告入手，进而启发大家探讨新闻传播学的理论知识。这样的课堂可谓是趣味与学术并重。而Oscar也正是在这节课上受到了启发，他在探讨这些问题的过程中发现了无限的乐趣，进而确定了将传媒作为自己的申请方向。

此后，Oscar还参与了许多传媒相关的实践，如视频剪辑、运营自媒体账号等，还提前了解了多所大学传媒方向的课程大纲，更加坚定了自己的选择。升学老师与Oscar交流后也非常支持他，帮他做了许多调查，筛选出传媒专业强势的school list供Oscar参考。

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Besides that, Oscar told us he found his passion on public media, and he’d like to major in that. During one session in class, Ms. Zheng showed scholars commercials of different ages, and ask them to analyze these commercials:

What’s in a commercial that attracts people? What’s the theme of a commercial? Who are its targeted population?

Using commercials which we see every day, Ms. Zheng inspired scholars to think and discuss about speculative knowledge of Journalism and Communication. Such a class is both enjoyable and of high academic level. It was that very class that  inspired Oscar. He found infinite joy in the exploration of these problems, and finally decided to choose public media as the field for his college study.

Since then, Oscar started a range of media-related practices including video editing and we-media operation. He also learned in advance the syllabuses of public media courses of several universities, and it confirmed him in his decision. The college counselor showed great support after talking with Oscar, having made a lot of research and provided a list of universities strong in public media majors for his reference.

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2

文体两开花

“被看见”后建立充分自信

有趣的是，语文课堂并非Oscar与郑老师的初次相识。课堂之外，他们俩还是学校民乐life block的“合伙人”。谈起这段经历，Oscar笑称，他与郑老师是“不打不相识”。

从小学起，Oscar就一直参加市里最为顶尖的民乐团，民乐中的管乐都有涉猎。可惜的是，初中三年，由于学校管理严格，Oscar抽不出时间练习，技艺逐渐有些荒废。幸而来到狄邦华曜之后，学习之余，Oscar有充足的时间拓展自己的兴趣。

除此之外，学校还鼓励大家创办社团。于是，Oscar与一位二胡造诣极高的同学一拍即合，并召集了一众志同道合的好友，创立了学校第一个中西合璧的乐团。乐团创立的初衷很简单，就是希望与大家一起玩玩乐器，搞搞音乐。在乐团中，Oscar是民乐部分的负责人。而作为为数不多的玩民乐又懂一些西洋乐器的成员之一，他还要担起改写乐谱的重任，将民乐的曲谱改编成西洋乐器可以演奏的，或是反其道行之。

在日常排练之外，Oscar还为乐团争取到几次上台表演的机会，但遗憾的是，由于疫情等不可抗力，最终乐团只正式上台表演过一次。

狄邦华曜一直对社团的发展有多方面的支持。Oscar提到，有一次社团需要购置一批打击乐，向学校申请资金，学校很快就批下来了一笔丰厚的资金。除此之外，每个社团还会有一位老师担任supervisor，给社团以支持。

Oscar回忆，郑老师刚来学校的第一天，就在台上发言时“扬言”要建立一支 Chinese orchestra，大有向Oscar的民乐团“叫板”的意味。Oscar虽然有些被“挑衅”后的气鼓鼓，却也不愿错过与同好交流的机会，主动email联系了郑老师。后来，他得知郑老师有过25年弹琵琶的经历，两人一拍即合，一直合作运营社团至今。

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The interesting fact is that it was not in a Chinese Language and Literature class that Oscar and Ms. Zheng first met. Outside the classroom, they formed a “partnership” in the life block of traditional Chinese music. When telling this story, Oscar joked that he and Ms. Zheng had a “no discord, no concord” past.

Oscar had been attending the top Chinese orchestras in the city ever since elementary school time. He plays almost all the Chinese pipe instruments. Unfortunately, because of the strict policy in his middle school, he didn’t have time to practice his instruments throughout those three years, and his skills got rusty. But here at Dipont Huayao Collegiate, he has enough time of his own to develop his hobbies after school.

The school also encourage scholars to establish clubs and associations. Oscar took this opportunity and found a skillful Erhu (a Chinese instrument) player in the school who stroke an instant chord with him. Together they assembled a group of like-minded friends and formed the first sino-western orchestra in the school. The purpose of founding this orchestra is simple: just a group of scholars who want to play instruments and music together. Oscar is in charge of the Chinese part of the orchestra, and as one of the few Chinese instrument players there who knows about western instruments, he also needs to prepare scores for different instruments, rewriting a score for a Chinese instrument into one for a western instrument, or the other way round.

Besides daily rehearsal, Oscar has helped the orchestra win several opportunities to conduct performances. Unfortunately, they’ve only done one on-stage performance due to the pandemic and other reasons beyond their control.

Dipont Huayao Collegiate has been offering all kinds of support to the orchestra all along. Oscar mentioned that once they applied for a fund for the purchase of some percussion instruments. The application was soon generously approved. Also, a teacher is appointed as supervisor to every association to offer support.

Oscar remembers that the first day Ms. Zheng came to this school, she announced on the stage that she was going to organize a Chinese orchestra. To Oscar it sounded like a challenge to their orchestra. He was a little irritated by that “challenge”, but he didn’t let go the opportunity to communication with another Chinese music enthusiast and emailed Ms. Zheng. After knowing that Ms. Zheng has 25 years of Pipa (a Chinese instrument) playing experience, he immediately teamed up with her, and they’ve run the orchestra together ever since.

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除了民乐，Oscar也热爱体育运动。他擅长篮球和排球，早早就被校队“预定”，最近就要代校出征，迎战外校的队伍了。

被问到“能赢吗”，Oscar大手一挥：“这都是小问题。”我们问他为何这么自信，他说：“因为我有一群特别棒的队友啊！”

在Oscar的言语间，我们看到了一位充分被“看见”、被尊重的孩子，能发挥出的巨大潜力及自信心。

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Other than traditional Chinese music, Oscar is also passionate about sports. He’s good at basketball and volleyball and was “drafted” early by the school teams. He’ll be playing as a school team member against other schools soon.

When asked “Can you win?”, Oscar simply gave a flourish: “That’s out of question.” We wondered why he was so confident, and he said: “Because I have a group of excellent teammates!”

From the way he talked, we saw a fully recognized and respected child glowing with potential and confidence.

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其实，Oscar来到狄邦华曜的过程也是一波三折。从温州的公立初中出走后，他还曾辗转于上海的几所国际学校，但始终都没能找到归属感。

就像他在采访中分享的，来到狄邦华曜之后，最大的感受就是变得更加自信，个性也更为舒展。

在Oscar看来，狄邦华曜的校园是一方“自由的天地”。

这种自由一方面是选择的自由，学校提供了充足的资源和宽广的空间，让学生不管是在学术上还是课外活动中都能够自由发展自己的多种兴趣。

另一方面则是对学生充分的信任，允许他们为自己的选择、为自己的未来负责。“所以，自由反而给我带来了自律。”Oscar说。

在这片自由的天地中，他还将探索更多可能性。

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Actually, the account of how Oscar came to Dipont Huayao Collegiate is full of twists and turns. After leaving the public middle school in Wenzhou, he flitted from one international school to another in Shanghai, but none of them makes him feel like home.

But since he came to Dipont Huayao Collegiate, his greatest change was the development of confidence and personality, just like what he said in the interview.

To Oscar, Dipont Huayao Collegiate is a “land of freedom”.

Such freedom consists of two aspects: one is the freedom to choose. The school offers abundant resources and space for scholars to develop their hobbies as they wish both in academic learning and after class activities.

The other aspect is full trust on scholars. they are allowed to make their own choices and take responsibility for their decisions. “That’s why such freedom brought me self-discipline.” Said Oscar.

And in this land of freedom, he has more to explore.

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