The Next Big Thing 下一件大事: Rafael Gu

　　If you’re involved in the swimming scene at SAS, then you’ll know Rafael Gu ’22. This Puxi campus senior has broken a bunch of records in the years he’s been swimming competitively, and come next fall, he’s jetting off to Stanford where he’s looking forward to train and compete against some of the best in the pool.

　　如果你对上海美国学校的游泳项目有所了解的话，那你一定知道Rafael Gu。SAS浦西校区的这位十二年级学生在参加竞技游泳比赛的这些年里打破了一系列记录。明年秋天，他将前往斯坦福大学就读，在那里与泳池里的一些顶尖选手一决高下。

　　The Next Big Thing 下一件大事

　　SASEagles ，

　　The Next Big Thing|下一件大事: 如果你对上海美国学校的游泳项目有所了解的话，那你一定知道Rafael Gu。SAS浦西校区的这位十二年级学生在参加竞技游泳比赛的这些年里打破了一系列记录。明年秋天，他将前往斯坦福大学就读，在那里与泳池里的一些顶尖选手一决高下。#ShanghaiAmericanSchool #SASEagles #BestInternationalSchool #上海美国学校 #国际学校#CollegeAcceptance#斯坦福大学#Stanford

　　Welcome to our WeChat series where we celebrate just a few stories from the Class of 2022.

　　欢迎来到我们的微信系列文章，一起了解2022届毕业生的故事。

　　Tell us about what you’ll be doing at Stanford.

　　跟我们讲讲你将在斯坦福大学做什么?

　　I’ve been recruited to join Stanford’s Men’s Swimming Program, graduating in the year 2026. It’s a very competitive program; for the past couple of years, they’ve recruited people who have actually gone on to compete in the Olympics, so the training will be tough.

　　我被斯坦福大学的男子游泳项目录取，将于2026年毕业。这是一个竞争性很强的项目。在过去几年的时间里，他们录取的一些学生还去参加了奥运会，所以训练是非常艰苦的。

　　How was the recruiting process like? What were some of the schools you spoke to?

　　录取流程怎么样?你申请了哪些学校?

　　For swimming, it usually officially starts towards the end of someone’s sophomore year, in the summer. Before that, coaches can’t really directly contact you, but you can swim at big meets like the Junior Nationals or Nationals, and that’s how you attract their attention.

　　对于游泳项目来说，录取流程通常在十年级结束时的暑假正式开始。在此之前，教练不能直接与学生取得联系，但学生可以通过参加Junior Nationals或Nationals等大赛引起他们的注意。

　　During the recruitment period, coaches from different schools will reach out to you to talk to you, to ask if you’re interested in connecting, if you’re interested in their school. So I was in communication with a lot of these coaches. They’re looking to see how they feel about me, if I’d be a good fit for their program, and I’m doing the same.

　　在录取阶段，来自不同学校的教练会主动与学生取得联系，询问学生是否愿意与其联系，是否对他们的学校感兴趣。我跟很多教练都保持着联系。他们想继续观察我的表现，看看我是否适合他们的项目，与此同时，我也会去了解这些学校和项目是否适合我。

　　I was lucky that I had a lot of really good schools that were interested in me…UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech, Princeton… Towards the end, it was down to just two schools. I was doing a lot of my own research too, and ultimately decided on Stanford. It was important to me how I felt about the team and the coaches themselves. I’m going to be spending the next four years of my life with them, so it was important that I felt good about them, that I felt like it was going to be a good fit.

　　我很幸运，因为很多很好的学校都对我感兴趣……加州大学伯克利分校、佐治亚理工学院、普林斯顿大学……最后，选择范围缩小到了两所学校。我自己也做了很多研究，最终决定前往斯坦福大学。对我来说，我对球队和教练的感觉很重要。我将在接下来的四年里与他们一起学习、训练，因此只有我感觉好的、适合我的才是最重要的。

　　What are you looking forward to the most about college?

　　你对大学最期待的是什么?

　　I think the social aspect. In college, there’s going to be a lot of clubs, and for me as an athlete, there’s going to be a lot of different sports, so I’ll get to meet a lot of new people. I’ll get to train with a lot of different people too. Aside from swimming, Stanford also has a diving program, so I’m going to get to know people on both the swimming and diving teams. There’s going to be a lot of international students too…people from different backgrounds with different experiences. It’s very diverse. I think it’s going to be a very fun part of my life.

　　我想应该是大学的社交生活。在大学里，会有很多社团。作为一位运动员，我会接触很多不同的体育运动，结识很多新朋友。我也会和很多不同的人一起训练。除了游泳，斯坦福大学还有一个跳水项目，因此我既会结识游泳队的队员，又会结识跳水队的队员。还会有很多国际学生……来自不同背景，经历各不相同。这是一个非常多元化的环境。我认为这将会是我一生中非常有趣的一段时光。

　　And what will you miss most about SAS and Shanghai?

　　你会最怀念上海美国学校和上海的什么?

　　Of course, all my friends. And also the all the people who have supported me along the way, like Coach Biros and all my teachers, my peers. It’s such a supportive place. I’ll miss the swim team, I feel that we’re very united. We do a lot of things together; for example, we’ll be having the Secret Santa Christmas party soon, which I’m really looking forward to. As for Shanghai, I think I’ll miss how convenient life is here.

　　当然是我的朋友们，还有一路走来为我提供支持的人们，例如教练Biros以及我的老师们和同学们。这是一个充满关怀与鼓励的地方。我会想念游泳队，这是一个非常团结的队伍。我们一起做很多事情;例如，我很期待下周的圣诞派对，我们会交换礼物。至于上海，我想我会怀念这里便利的生活。

　　What will you be working on, both in the short term as well as the long?

　　你的短期和长期计划是什么?

　　My short term goal right now is to get my time close to the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Men’s A Cut, and my long term goal is to hopefully go to the Asian Games, and maybe even compete in the Olympics.

　　目前我要努力让自己的成绩接近美国大学生体育协会(NCAA)男子A组的标准。长远来说我希望自己能参加亚运会，甚至是奥运会。

　　Anything you want to say to young, aspiring swimmers?

　　你对充满抱负的年轻游泳运动员们想说些什么?

　　This isn’t just for swimmers, but for anyone who is passionate about a sport. Go after what you really like. You don’t necessarily have to be the best at that sport, as long as you enjoy it and find meaning out of it.

　　我想说的不仅适用于游泳运动员，还适用于热衷体育运动的任何人。勇敢追求自己的梦想。你不一定非得成为一项体育运动中的佼佼者，只要自己喜欢，并能从中找到意义就足够了。

　　When I first joined SAS’ swim team, I was actually quite slow. I think I was the second to last person on the team then. But even though I didn’t score high, I didn’t mind, because I really enjoyed swimming with my friends.

　　我最开始加入SAS游泳队的时候，我实际上游得很慢。我当时的速度在游泳队里排倒数第二。但即便是成绩不佳，我也不介意，因为我真的非常喜欢和朋友们一起游泳。

　　That’s the most important thing about being an athlete—enjoying the sport and being willing to work hard for it.

　　这是体育运动最重要的事情——享受它，愿意为之付出努力。

　　Congrats on getting into your dream school and dream team, Rafael! Stanford is incredibly lucky to have such a passionate and driven athlete in their pools.

　　恭喜你考入了自己理想的大学并成为梦想加入的运动队的一员，Rafael!斯坦福大学非常幸运能够录取到这样一位充满热情和干劲的运动员加入他们的游泳队。

　　Our seniors are off to amazing places around the world, and we are excited to be sharing those stories. Keep an eye out for our next edition of “The Next Big Thing”.

　　我们的高中毕业生正出发去往世界各地的大学，我们也非常乐于分享这些求学故事。请关注下期“下一件大事”。