During the summer break, I attended a debate camp held by the Cambridge Union in Shanghai. I attended this camp mostly due to my interest in debating. What’s special about this camp is that the teachers are students from Cambridge University and from their debate team. We were being introduced to the British Parliamentary Debating, which is a whole new form of debating for me. 

Of course, from this camp I improved my debating skills through practices and actual debates; however, what really hits me is the interaction with the teachers, who are actually students themselves, and most importantly, they are from Cambridge University. They would share with us their experiences there and give me advice on what I should consider while choosing a university. Furthermore, we played football together; what made it special was that there were people of different age groups all playing together. People aged 12–20 years old, from playing with slippers to wearing leather shoes and suits, really amaze me with the football culture in Cambridge.

I would regard this camp as learning while playing. Games were held to test our reaction speed, which may not seem related to debating, but the teachers made it engaging and made us learn more and more skills apart from debating itself. Debating-wise, this debating camp really made me speak out loud and collaborate with people that I just met and of different age groups. However, everyone there was excellent with their English. 

We always say that the skills we learned can be applied anywhere, anytime, and this debate camp actually helped me with my upcoming Scholar’s Cup global round, which requires debating as part of the competition. This was a great experience added to my summer holiday journey, and I would personally encourage people to join the camp of their interest, as it will really benefit them and allow them to really dive into the things that they are passionate about.

暑假期间，我在上海参加了剑桥辩论营。我参加这个营地主要是因为我对辩论的兴趣。这个营地特别的地方在于，老师是来自剑桥大学和他们的辩论队的学生。我们体验了英式辩论，这对我来说是一种全新的辩论形式。

当然，在这个营地中，我通过练习和实战提高了辩论技巧；然而，真正打动我的是与老师的互动，他们实际上是学生，最重要的是，他们来自剑桥大学。他们会与我们分享他们在那里的经历，并就我在选择大学时应该考虑的问题给我建议。此外，我们一起踢足球；而且还是一群年龄在12-20岁之间的人，有的人穿拖鞋，有的人穿皮鞋和西装，真的让我对剑桥的足球文化感到惊讶。

我认为这个辩论营是边玩边学，老师们把营地安排的很有趣，会安排游戏来测试我们的反应速度，除了辩论本身，还让我们学到了很多的技巧。在辩论方面，这个辩论营真的让我大声发言，并与我刚刚遇到的人和不同年龄组的人合作。而且，这里每个人的英语都很出色。

在这个营地中学到的技能可以在任何地方、任何时候应用，这个辩论夏令营会帮助我参加即将举办的“学者杯”全球赛，它要求辩论作为比赛的一部分。这是一个很好的经历，让我的暑假更有意义，我个人鼓励大家都能参加自己感兴趣的夏令营，因为这真的会让自己受益，并真正深入到自己所热爱的东西中去。

The summer program I attended was called “Reimagining Society: Capitalism, Socialism, and the Environment” at Carleton College. I spent three weeks immersed in intensive learning, exploring subjects such as sociology, German studies, and environmental studies with three different professors over each week. I was in a class of about 30 people from all over the world.

Apart from reading highly challenging scholarly articles every day, I was also actively involved in group discussions, group presentations, and experienced three distinct teaching styles. In simple terms, I learned how our society functions.

In the first week, I explored how capitalism might or might not impact our society, and my class and I examined numerous real-world examples. We engaged in intensive reading on topics such as rationalization, McDonaldization, efficiency, and the iron cage of rationalization.

During the second week, we closely studied an example of socialism: Germany from 1949 to 1989. We analyzed how socialism functioned in East Germany and also noted the problems it caused for East Germans. As someone from Germany, I found this particularly interesting, as it allowed me to delve deeper into the history of my homeland.

Finally, in the last week, we focused on environmental studies. In our capitalist society, the environment and all living beings are impacted by human actions. We examined how the environment shapes our memories and history.

To be honest, the experience was transformative not just because of the academic studies, but also due to the activities and people I encountered. Beyond the classroom, I connected with incredible individuals from around the globe, explored diverse cultures, and sampled a variety of foods. The sleepovers and movie nights, along with engaging discussions and debates, added rich layers to my experience. The friendships I formed and the experiences I shared have left a lasting impression on me, making this summer program truly unforgettable.

These are all wonderful memories.

我参加的夏校是卡尔顿人文夏校，并选择了一个课程项目深入学习——重新想象社会：资本主义、社会主义与环境。我花了三周时间沉浸在紧张的学习中，并与三位不同的教授探讨社会学、德国研究和环境研究等主题，和我一起参加这个项目的，还有来自世界各地的约30位同学。

除了每天阅读极具挑战性的学术论文外，我还积极参与小组讨论、小组展示，并跟三位教授体验了三种截然不同的教学风格。在第一周，我们探讨了资本主义如何影响我们的社会，我和我的同学一起研究了无数现实世界的例子。我们深入研究了合理化、麦当劳化、效率、理性的“铁笼”等主题。在第二周，我们仔细研究了社会主义的一个例子：从1949年到1989年的德国。我们分析了社会主义在东德是如何运作的，以及它给东德人带来的问题。作为在德国出生的我，对这个特别感兴趣，因为它让我更深入地了解了我成长多年的国家。在最后一周，我们专注于环境研究。在资本主义社会中，环境和所有生物都受到人类行为的影响。我们研究了环境如何塑造我们的记忆和历史。

这段经历让我有了新的改变，不仅仅是因为学术研究，还因为我所参与的活动和遇到的伙伴。在课堂之外，我与来自世界各地的令人难以置信的人建立了联系，探索了不同的文化，并品尝了各种美食。勇敢者之夜和电影之夜，以及引人入胜的讨论和辩论，让我的经历更加多元和丰富。我结交的新朋友和他们分享的经历给我留下了深刻的印象，使这个暑期项目真正的令人难忘。这些都是美好的回忆。