教育的奇妙之处，往往不在于将一张白纸涂满色彩，而在于唤醒一块顽石内部的温润。当一个少年与一门学科势同水火时，我们是强行修剪她的枝蔓，还是换一种土壤，让她重新找到生长的理由？
Alice的故事，便始于这样一种“断裂”。申请季落幕，她一共收到来自美国、英国、澳大利亚、新西兰、中国香港等国家和地区的22封录取/预录取，累计奖学金约116万元人民币。
美国方向，她拿下加州大学戴维斯分校、加州大学圣巴巴拉分校、凯斯西储大学、罗彻斯特大学等9所院校的录取；英国方向，爱丁堡大学、曼彻斯特大学、圣安德鲁斯大学向她抛出橄榄枝；澳大利亚收获了墨尔本大学、悉尼大学；中国香港地区，香港城市大学也发来了录取通知。
The beauty of education often lies not in filling a blank canvas with colour, but in awakening the potential hidden within a seemingly ordinary stone. When a young person finds themselves at odds with a particular subject, do we force them down a predetermined path, or do we provide a different environment in which they can rediscover a reason to grow?
At the end of the university application season, Alice had received 22 offers and conditional offers from institutions across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong SAR, along with scholarships totaling approximately RMB 1.16 million.
In the United States, she secured offers from nine universities, including the University of California, Davis, the University of California, Santa Barbara, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Rochester. In the UK, she received offers from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Manchester, and the University of St Andrews. She was also admitted to the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney in Australia, while City University of Hong Kong extended an offer in Hong Kong SAR.
手握众多选项，Alice最终选择了香港城市大学的材料科学与工程专业——吸引她的，是那里一个提供200万基金支持的创业项目，她想参选。
“大学期间我想开始创业，”她说，“通过化学和软件辅助材料工程。”
然而，三年前的她，最讨厌的学科恰恰就是化学。
With so many options available, Alice ultimately chose to study Materials Science and Engineering at City University of Hong Kong. What attracted her most was an entrepreneurship programme supported by a HKD 2 million fund, which she hopes to join.
“I want to start a business while I’m at university,” she said. “I’d like to combine chemistry with software to support materials engineering.”
Yet three years ago, chemistry was the subject she disliked most.
初三刚开始学化学时，Alice学得慢，一个知识点需要反复搓磨才能弄懂。
“当时老师非常不耐烦，我每天晚上都要上化学辅导课，成绩还是很差，所以对化学产生了厌恶心理。”
回忆起那段疯狂刷题的初三时光，Alice至今记忆犹新：“六点下课接着去上辅导课，十二点才回到家，写作业到两三点，第二天六点起床。”
她坦言，中考能考到680多分，纯粹是靠刷题堆出来的，而不是靠对知识的真正理解。
When Alice first started studying chemistry in Year 9, she found it difficult. She often needed to revisit concepts repeatedly before fully understanding them.
“At the time, my teacher was very impatient. I attended chemistry tutoring classes every evening, but my grades were still poor, so I gradually developed a dislike for the subject.”
She still vividly remembers those days of endless exam preparation.
“I would finish school at six o’clock, go straight to tutoring, get home at midnight, do homework until two or three in the morning, and then get up again at six.”
She admitted that her Zhongkao score of over 680 was largely the result of repetitive practice rather than genuine understanding.
【图】Alice学习化学知识点
转轨广州斐特思后，Alice明确要走理工科方向。在升学老师的建议下，她尝试选择了化学学科。
“化学老师的教学风格跟以前完全不一样，让我觉得化学非常有趣，很有逻辑性。”在化学老师的“鼓励式”教育下，Alice渐渐感到，“化学好像也没那么难，我能学进去了，成绩也能提高了。”
After transferring to Fettes College Guangzhou, Alice knew she wanted to pursue a STEM-related pathway. Following advice from the university guidance team, she decided to give chemistry another chance.
“The teaching style was completely different from what I had experienced before. It made chemistry feel logical and interesting.”
Through her chemistry teacher’s encouragement-based approach, Alice gradually realised that chemistry was not as difficult as she had once believed. “I found that I could understand it, and my results started to improve.”
【图】Alice与获港中文、伦敦大学学院录取的同学们一起上课
她开始尝试自己理解知识点，而不是单靠刷题和依赖老师灌输。
“Demi老师教我先背定义，再把知识点串成一整个逻辑链，理清底层逻辑。”Alice发现，这样学化学会记得很牢。慢慢地，她对化学产生了兴趣。
Instead of relying solely on rote practice and teacher instruction, she began trying to understand concepts independently.
“Ms Demi taught me to memorise definitions first, then connect concepts into a complete chain of logic and understand the underlying principles.”
Alice found that this approach helped her retain knowledge much more effectively. Gradually, she developed a genuine interest in chemistry.
【图】Alice自主设计制作的可视化元素周期表
但真正让她从“不讨厌”走向“热爱”的，是一次实验课上的发现。
Alice想为自己设计的服装研发一款能体现金属光泽感的新布料，于是泡在实验室里反复验证。
“我发现做实验的时候，我没有任何压力，非常放松。我可以反复做五六次，只为了拿到一个结果。”
What transformed her attitude from simply tolerating chemistry to genuinely loving it was a discovery she made during a practical lesson.
Alice wanted to develop a new fabric with a metallic sheen for a fashion project she had designed. To achieve this, she spent long hours in the laboratory testing different ideas.
“I realised that when I was doing experiments, I felt no pressure at all. I was completely relaxed. I could repeat the same experiment five or six times just to get the result I wanted.”
【图】Alice研究实验到深夜
Alice发现，做事一向没什么耐心的自己，居然可以不讨厌做实验，而且很快进入心流状态。“这个发现让我感到非常意外。”
从此，去实验室做实验成了她的解压方式。
在AS大考中，她的化学顺利拿到了a的成绩。
She was surprised to discover that, despite usually being impatient, she actually enjoyed laboratory work and could quickly enter a state of complete concentration.
“That discovery really surprised me.”
From then on, laboratory work became her preferred way to relax and recharge.
In her AS examinations, she achieved an a grade in Chemistry.
【图】Alice获得加拿大初级化学奥林匹克竞赛**奖
相较于被刷题和上课填满的初中时光，转轨广州斐特思后，Alice有资源、有途径、有时间去尝试很多事情。
在探索和确定未来方向的三年中，她尝试了软件设计、服装设计、创立社团、拳击、马术……“家人和老师都觉得我悟性很高，学东西非常快。”但仔细看她所做的事，会发现这些看似分散的探索，最终都指向了同一个方向——用跨学科的路径，走向材料科学。
广州斐特思是Apple杰出学校，常有Apple中国教育团队入校开设大师课、举办夏令营。
Alice在Katherine老师的带领下，参加了苹果全球开发者大会Swift学生挑战赛冬令营。
“我主要做的方向，是辅助化学材料科研的软件。”Alice的设想是，通过软件和VR形式呈现材料分子内部结构，以缩减材料研究过程耗费的精力与时间。
Compared with the exam-focused routine of her previous school, Fettes College Guangzhou gave Alice the resources, opportunities, and time to explore a wide range of interests.
Over three years, she experimented with software development, fashion design, club leadership, boxing, horse riding, and many other activities.
“My family and teachers always said that I learn things quickly.”
At first glance, these pursuits seemed unrelated. Yet they all gradually converged on the same destination: materials science.
As an Apple Distinguished School, Fettes College Guangzhou regularly hosts workshops and camps led by Apple’s education team in China. Under Ms Katherine's guidance, Alice participated in the WWDC Swift Student Challenge Winter Camp.
“My project focused on software that could support chemical and materials research.”
Her vision was to use software and virtual reality to visualise molecular structures, reducing the time and effort required in materials research.
【图】Alice参加WWDC Swift 学生挑战赛冬令营
【图】Alice作为学生代表
接待英国驻广州总领事馆代总领事杜睿和先生
Apple中国教育团队教会了Alice用“用户思维”设计软件和产品。
她运用所学的化学知识，设计了一款用于辅助医院做口腔检查、提高就医效率的儿童口腔窥镜——这款设计目前已经获得专利，并投入市场。
在校内的服装设计课程中，Alice用化学实验提取了自己喜欢的元素，融合到自主设计的服装中。“我一共制作了三套服装，学化学、做材料、制作新材料服装，做的都是我喜欢且有意义的事情。”
通过改变分子种类来创造新材料，让材料工程方向的深造，成为Alice未来想走的路。
The Apple education team taught her to approach software and product design through the lens of user needs.
Drawing upon her chemistry knowledge, she designed a paediatric oral examination device intended to improve efficiency in dental clinics. The design has since been patented and brought to market.
In fashion design classes, she incorporated elements extracted through chemical experiments into garments she designed herself.
“I created three outfits. Studying chemistry, researching materials, and designing new materials-based clothing all feel meaningful to me.”
The possibility of creating new materials by altering molecular structures inspired her to pursue further study in materials engineering.
【图】Alice穿上自己设计和制作的蓝色衣服参加成人礼
【图】Alice担任艺术节时尚发布会走秀模特
在美国参加夏校期间，“我了解到微观上材料为什么会对环境产生影响。”这个认知，也让Alice萌生了创立模拟联合国社团的想法。
她成为广州斐特思模联社**任社长，并带领团队获得2026国际青少年模拟联合国大会冬季会议颁发的**团队奖牌。
During a summer programme in the United States, she gained a deeper understanding of how materials affect the environment at a microscopic level. This experience also inspired her to establish a Model United Nations club.
As the founding president of FCGMUN, she led the team to receive the Outstanding Delegation Award at the 2026 International Youth Model United Nations Winter Conference.
十一到十二年级，Alice的生活被学术成绩、活动项目与申请文书填满。
家里给予她充分的自由，但这也意味着她需要有足够的自律，去确定读什么大学、选什么专业、未来做什么工作。“我们要想专业、工作、活动是否对未来有帮助，压力非常大。”
By Years 11 and 12, Alice’s life was filled with academic work, extracurricular projects, and university applications.
Her family gave her considerable freedom, but that freedom came with responsibility.
“We constantly had to think about whether our university choices, careers, and activities would actually help us achieve our future goals. That was quite stressful.”
【图】Alice修改的文书
“我的申美文书改了17个版本！”
在碧桂园教育集团升学指导Cheryl老师的带领下，Alice参加学校内外的大学展，一遍遍修改申请文书。
“我跟Cheryl老师说需要她帮我看文书，她立刻就从碧桂园教育集团总部过来找我。”
Her US application essay went through 17 different versions.
With the support of Cheryl, a university counsellor from the Bright Scholar Education Group, and Jay Jay, her school-based counsellor, Alice attended university fairs and revised her application materials repeatedly.
“When I told Cheryl I needed help with my essay, she immediately travelled from the group headquarters to meet me.”
【图】Alice参加学校内外大学展
Alice回忆起高压的申请季，她和Cheryl老师、本校升学指导Jay Jay老师一起，奋战到凌晨4点提交美国方向的申请。“美国大学申请每个学校的系统都不一样，有非常多的信息要提交。”
压力大的时候，Alice会找以前的初中同学聊聊天。但那些正在准备高考的同学，并不能完全理解她的压力。“有时候我会羡慕她们，完全不用想这些，只需要一心准备高考。我问她大学要选什么专业，她说没想好，等高考结束，考到什么成绩再选学校和专业。”
Alice说这话时，语气里早已不是迷茫，而是一种清醒的笃定。
从讨厌化学的初三女孩，到收获22封录取、手握专利、立志用材料工程创业的少女，Alice用了三年时间，完成了一场深刻的自我重塑。
而今，她已经准备好开启下一段旅程——不是被动等待去翻越人生路途上的山岭，而是主动地，向她亲手绘制的山峰走去。
