4、当我收到哈佛录取通知时，我对父亲说：“还记得我11岁时说过的‘我想上哈佛’吗？”
2005年Elks（厄尔克斯）全国基金会7月11日至14日将在内华达州里诺（Reno）市的会议中心举行颁奖大会，来自全美国各州的共10000多名会员将出席这次大会。
关怀和互助（Care and Share）是基金会的宗旨，所以基金会每年拿出200多万美元作为奖学金，奖励500名优秀学生。其中最高的一等奖为最有价值的学生奖，每年评选出一名男生和一名女生，可获得4年每年15000美元总共60000美金的大学奖学金。
2005年全美共有11000多名优秀生提出申请，最后定夺为来自宾夕法尼亚州的罗伊·金米（Roy Kimmey）和马里兰州的陈海雯（Haiwen Chen）获最高一等奖，并应邀出席基金会的年会，两位学生今年均获哈佛大学录取。
我们一行刚到里诺市后，海雯就成了明星似的，首先会务组派加长型林肯房车来机场迎接我们，安排我们入住豪华的希尔顿饭店。
除了出席会议的晚宴等活动，13日专们安排接受代表咨询，回答问题，大会的简报也有海雯的相片和介绍。海雯与我们出入饭店时很多人都找她合影，在电梯里大家都向她表示祝贺。
最使我感动的是在一次主要捐助人的晚宴上，一位老太太手里拿着很老很旧的傻瓜相机要和海雯合影。美国很多人并不追求自己生活的奢华，却乐于捐助社会。参加会议的会员有富翁，也有普通百姓，有政府官员和律师等等，但大家都平等相处，没有什么人炫耀地位和财富，都相互交换名片，相互握手拥抱，相互问候寒暄，都为教育事业捐助设奖感到自豪，一股浓郁的重教兴学之风让人感慨万千。
在14日的大会闭幕式上，陈海雯在地区奖学金负责人Emma Hasse（艾玛·赫斯）女士，马里兰州奖学金负责人Joe allozzi（乔·蒲拉兹）先生，马里兰州主席Lee Davis（李·大卫）先生和全国基金会奖学金负责人Jim OKelley（金·凯利）先生的陪同下登上主席台，这时会场上10000多名会员起立鼓掌欢迎，掌声雷动，经久不息。海雯作了大约10分钟的演讲，全国基金会托管委员会主席Jack Traynor（杰克·崔勒）先生给海雯颁了奖。
海雯发言的原文是：
You have no idea how much of an honor it is for me to be named the Elks National Foundation's Most Valuable Student。Before I begin I have to thank Ms。Emma Hasse，Mr。Bill Milburn，and the whole Essex Lodge of Maryland，Mr。Carroll Wagner，Mr。Lee Davis and the entire Maryland，Delaware，D。C。association，and the Foundation Board of Trustees Chairman the Honorable Jack Traynor，its Director Jim O’Kelley，and the whole national association。
Most especially I want to thank Mr。Joe Pallozzi，the Maryland state scholarship chair，for his care and concern。His continual guidance throughout this entire process has been invaluable，and without him I would certainly not be here today。Lastly，I want to thank my parents who are here as they always are，supporting me，encouraging me，and of course saying embarrassing things about me。
Now I wish to take a moment to share an experience which has had a profound effect on me。Imagine youre eight years old，a child on vacation with your family in China。One night after dinner while walking home，you encounter a little five-year-old destitute girl on the street covered in dust and forgotten to society，begging for money and food，what would you do？You help her，give her what you can spare，but she begins following you，whimpering and begging with a shrill broken voice，tapping you with sooty fingers covered in hardened mud。I experienced such an encounter one night while walking down a street in Fuzhou，my hometown in China。I looked at her，and her thin frail figure seemed like it would disintegrate with the slightest touch，and her dark hollow eyes，so completely and painfully void of hope were the windows to a soul dimming as rapidly as the dusk。Those brief moments，which have been so vividly engraved upon my memory，has since shaped my ideals and aspirations。I truly realized how unfortunate so many people in the world are，and I shuddered to think how many other little girls lived as she，lived day-by-day hoping only to survive。
The memory of that little girl has been a great inspiration for me to use my resources to try to make a difference in the lives of others。I have been fortunate enough to have had opportunities at Catonsville High School to be of service。I was the president of the National Art Honor Society，whose goal is to make our community and the world a more beautiful place in which to live。To achieve this goal，we have done countless projects，making crafts and painting canvasses ranging from the face of an eager young child to graffiti covered walls。Last year we were even able to design and paint a mural for the local YMCA，raising over$1500 for the Johns Hopkins Childrens Center。I helped to make crafts，paint，write and edit articles for our monthly publication，The Palette，and organize events such as our annual community crafts fair and our art auction，where we sold our student pieces and did face painting for children。Seeing the glitter in the eyes of a child，whether it be from acquiring new hope that she will not always have to be ill or simply from having a Sponge Bob Square Pants or a rainbow cat painted on her face，I have come to love volunteering，and it has taken on profound significance for me。
In addition，I volunteered as a tutor。I really enjoyed being able to help a fellow student understand something and improve。I remember one particular instance where my using the idea of a scale on which each variable was a weight to explain balancing an equation caused an instant epiphany。
Most recently，I volunteered at St。Agnes Medical Center，our community hospital。Being allowed to assist nurses in caring for patients as well as to observe surgery，I discovered that I want to spend the rest of my life as a physician so that I can help alleviate the pain of others。
Obviously the first major step for me is to get an education。This past year I completed my senior year of high school and was very fortunate to be named a member of the top 5%of my class，National Merit Finalist，Maryland Distinguished Scholar，AP Scholar with distinction，and of course the Elks National Foundation's most valuable student。I graduated on June 2nd this year，and this fall I will be attending the college of my dreams，Harvard，where I’ve wanted to go since I was about eleven years old。
In fact，I remember that day in early July，while passing through Boston when my father first took me to see Harvard，and told me that it was one of the best universities in the world。I absolutely fell in love with its ivy covered brick walls and cast iron gates，and I said，“Dad，I think Im going to Harvard”and I believe he just chuckled。So last December 15th when I received my acceptance letter at about 5：13 p。m。I told my dad“Remember what I said when I was eleven？Well，I think Im going to Harvard。”
But of course after the initial excitement，what with calling everyone we knew，family，friends，cousins cousins and those people we once sat next to on an airplane，it kind of struck that we were facing a bill of about$45，000 a year for four years。So what was the first thing we did？We panicked。
I knew I needed to apply for scholarships because even with the hard work of my parents，my mom even holding two jobs，I knew I had no way to realize my dream of going to Harvard without outside financial assistance。So，you can only imagine my joy and deep sense of gratitude when I received that phone call from the Foundation that Wednesday afternoon in May telling me I was not only receiving a scholarship from the Elks but that I was receiving the 1st place scholarship from the Elks。I was so absolutely stunned，I'm sure I was rather incoherent。When I realized the amount I was even more overwhelmed。I apologize for my incoherency by the way Debbie；I hope it wasn’t too difficult to understand me。
Anyway，after some general arithmetic，we realized that combined with some other means of financial aid my dream of going to Harvard was now a reality。That was exciting，and of course there was more of the calling everyone were ever met。
Naturally，none of this would be possible had it not been for the amazing people back home and here today。I want to thank the Elks Foundation for your unparalleled generosity。I am totally amazed by the staggering amount of money you give to students who require financial aid every year and I am certainly very grateful that you have chosen me this year for the top scholarship。I can only hope that one day I can do the same to help someone else。
The memory of the ephemeral moment with that little girl remains with me today and it will remain with me for the rest of my life，but it has ceased to be a nightmare of human suffering；rather，it has become an inspiration for fortitude and hope。I see her face in moments of weakness，and in her fading eyes I find strength；today I volunteer in hopes of returning light to those fading eyes，and today I dream of becoming a doctor。
I fully understand and appreciate the honor of the Elks National Foundations Most Valuable Student Award，understand that receiving it carries tremendous responsibility。On behalf of my family，I want to express our deepest and unending gratitude。Without this I would never have been able to realize my dream of going to Harvard。From the bottom of my heart，thank you。
下面是海雯发言的主要意思：
您不能想像被评为Elks全国基金会最有价值的学生，对我来说是一种什么样的荣誉。首先，我要感谢Emma Hasse（艾玛·赫斯）女士、Bill Milburn（比尔·米耳贝）先生和Essex（依色斯）分会；Carroll Wagner（卡罗·维格勒）先生、Lee Davis（李·大卫）先生和马里兰协会，还有基金会托管委员会主席尊敬的Jack Traynor（杰克·崔勒）先生和Jim OKelley（金·凯利）董事以及全国所有的会员。
我最要特别感谢的是马里兰州奖学金负责人Joe Pallozzi（乔·蒲拉兹）先生，他的关心和引导以及在整个申请过程中的协助作用简直无法估量，没有他的帮助，我今天肯定不会站在这里。最后，我想感谢父母，他们总是支持我，鼓励我，当然也包括有时为难我。
此刻，我想与大家分享我的一些经历。请想像一个8岁小孩和家人在中国度假时，一天晚上，在餐馆吃完饭回家时，遇到一个大约5岁灰脸脏衣似乎被社会遗弃的女孩向你乞讨金钱和食物，你会怎么做呢？你帮她，给她一点你能给的，但她还是跟随你，用悲惨的声音乞讨，并以乌黑的手指敲打着破碗。我在我的家乡福州遇到这种情景，我看着她那瘦小的身材似乎弱不禁风，而凹陷的眼睛，像一扇窗口传出暗淡灵魂中的哀鸣。这一刻，令我刻骨铭心，也深深地影响着我的理想和抱负。我在思考这世界上还有多少不幸的人，有多少这样为生存而活着的小女孩呢？
小女孩的记忆使我萌发要尽力服务他人的抱负，我也幸运地有机会在凯特维尔高中展开服务工作。我是学校国家艺术协会主席，其宗旨是使我们的社区和世界更加美好。为了达到这一目标，我们开展了很多活动：做工艺品艺卖，在社区活动中为小孩画脸谱。去年我们为本地YMCA俱乐部画壁画，筹集到1500美元捐献给约翰霍普金斯儿童中心，我还参加撰稿和编辑《THE PALETTE》（调色板）月刊。我热爱做义工，这对我很重要。近来，我在社区医院做义工，帮助护理病人，还能观摩手术。我决定学医去帮助他人减除病痛。
显然，我的第一步是要接受教育，我已完成高中学业，取得应届前5%的排名，列入国家奖学金最后名单、马里兰州杰出学生、AP杰出学生，当然还有Elks全国基金会的最有价值的学生奖。我今年6月2日毕业，秋季将入学梦寐以求的哈佛大学，这一梦想始于我11岁时。
我记得那是七月的一天，当我们路过波士顿时，我父亲第一次带我参观哈佛大学，并告诉我这是世界上最好的大学之一。我被常春藤的红砖灰瓦、废弃铁门所吸引，我说：“爸，我想上哈佛”，我想那时我父亲只是暗自发笑。去年12月15日下午5：13分当我收到哈佛录取通知时，我对父亲说：“还记得我11岁时说过的‘我想上哈佛’吗？”
那时我们很兴奋，打电话给所有认识的家庭、朋友、亲戚的亲戚，甚至偶尔坐飞机认识的朋友等，让大家分享我的快乐。短暂的激动过后，首先面临着四年每年45000美元费用的恐惧。
我知道我必须申请奖学金，即使我母亲做两份工作也难以供我上学，要圆我的哈佛梦，我需要其他的财政资助。你可以想像当我5月的那个星期三下午接到基金会打来电话时高兴的心情，我不仅获得Elks基金会的奖学金，而且是一等奖，我当时都有点目瞪口呆了。
加上其他财政资助，我的哈佛梦已成现实，那是多么激动人心的事啊！当然又是一连串电话的相告。
当然，没有大家的支持也就没有今天，所以，我要感谢Elks基金会的慷慨解囊，我深为基金会每年都提供巨额资金资助学生所感动，也特别感激我能选上最高奖学金的获得者，我希望有一天我也能同样帮助别人。
我深感Elks全国基金会“最有价值学生”奖的荣耀和责任，我代表我们全家，表示衷心地感谢，不然的话我的哈佛梦不会如此的圆满，再次从心底发出：谢谢！
