'People sabotage themselves by not even trying': How this Malaysian got into Stanford

“不试试怎么知道自己不行”：这个马来西亚人是怎么进斯坦福的？

For many high-achieving students, attending a prestigious US university is the ultimate dream. Apart from the bragging rights that come with attending an elite institution, students can also benefit from (depending on the university) strong industry connections as well as networking opportunities. Despite the benefits, there are some scary odds that may deter some students from applying.

对于许多成绩优异的学生来说，就读于美国名牌大学是终极梦想。考入精英院校不仅名声大噪，还可以受益于强大的关系网，当然，这也取决于大学本身。尽管好处多多，但是也有一些可怕的几率，学生可能无法申请。

For instance, out of a pool of 55,471 applicants to Stanford University’s Class of 2025, only 2,190 received offers of admission — or an admit rate of 3.95%. However, according to the Class of 2009 Stanford graduate Atiqah Nadiah Zailani, the only way to get accepted into a university you want is to actually apply.

例如，2025届斯坦福大学的申请者有55471名，只有2,190人收到了录取通知书——录取率仅为3.95%。然而，斯坦福大学2009届毕业生，阿提卡-纳迪亚-扎拉尼称，被心仪学校录取的唯一方法就是申请。

The X-factor that got her into Stanford University

成功申到斯坦福的神秘因素

“I get asked a lot about how I got into Stanford, and the answer is simply that I applied. A lot of people sabotage themselves by not even trying,” the 35-year-old tells Study International.

“我经常被问及是如何进入斯坦福大学的，答案很简单，就是我申请了。很多人甚至不去尝试就觉得自己不行，“这位35岁的年轻人告诉《国际研究》。

“I was lucky that I managed to get accepted, and I believe that beyond my grades, my co-curricular activities and strong recommendation letters from my teachers definitely helped.”

“我很幸运，我被成功录取了，当然，除了成绩之外，我的课业活动和老师的有力推荐信也绝对有所帮助。”

Zailani was one of the few Stanford University undergraduate students who was given permission to start her master’s programme while she was still completing her bachelor’s degree. Despite a full course load, she managed to complete both programmes concurrently, which led her to graduate in 2009 with two qualifications instead of one — no mean feat.

在斯坦福，扎拉尼是为数不多获准在完成学士学位的同时，就开始了硕士课程的学生。尽管课业负担很重，但她还是设法同时完成了这两个课程。所以2009年毕业的时候，她获得了两个资格证书——这真的是 个了不起的成就。

So, how did she differentiate herself from the competition when applying to Stanford University?

那么，在申请斯坦福大学时，她是如何从竞争中脱颖而出的呢？

“There are thousands of outstanding candidates with strong SAT scores, so the best way to differentiate yourself from the masses of qualified people is to do interesting things, have ideas and aspirations that you detail in your essays, and have strong recommendation letters from your teachers or other relevant figures,” she suggests.

她建议：“有成千上万的优秀候选人SAT分数很高，想让自己从众多候选人中脱颖而出，最好方法是做有趣的事情，有想法和愿望，并在你的文章中详细说明，再加上老师或其他权威人物的有力推荐信就更好了。”

It’s worth remembering that top universities admit only the best of the best, so they are constantly on the lookout for people who will go on to do fascinating things and make their alma mater proud.

值得关注的是，顶尖大学只招收精英中的精英，所以他们一直在寻找坚持做吸引人的事情 并让母校感到自豪的人。

It’s not just about your grades — passion matters, too

成绩很重要，但是激情同样重要

Not everyone who goes to Stanford has their future mapped out, and Zailani was one of them.

不是每个去斯坦福大学的人都能规划好自己的未来，扎拉尼则做到了。

She wanted to be an environmentalist growing up — “a cross between Jane Goodall and David Suzuki” — and always imagined herself working in jungles or diving into oceans to save the planet.

她从小就想成为一名环保主义者，成为“简·古道尔，并且总是想象自己在丛林中工作，或是潜入海洋拯救地球。

While life brought her down a different path, her passion for the environment stayed.

虽然生活把她带上了一条不同的道路，但她对环境热情依旧。

She returned to Malaysia and served the government through national strategic planning and implementation work, and has since moved on to be a technical advisor for Ivory Coast. She also dabbles in strategic advising for UN-HABITAT, a body of the United Nations that focuses on urbanisation in Malaysia.

她回到马来西亚，通过国家战略规划和实施工作为政府服务，此后又转而担任象牙海岸的技术顾问。她还涉足联合国人居署的战略咨询工作，人居署是联合国的一个机构，专注于马来西亚的城市化问题。

Still, she did not give up on her dream. Zailani has been making headlines recently for bringing the tiny home craze to her hometown Kuala Lumpur. Despite not having a background in design, no materials to work with, and no team, she set herself up on a mission to build an off-grid, solar-powered, rainwater-harvesting, and sustainable tiny house in the outskirts of the capital city.

但她并没有放弃自己的梦想。扎拉尼最近上了头条新闻， 因为她把小房子的热潮带到了她的家乡吉隆坡。尽管没有设计背景，没有材料，也没有团队，她还是决定在首都郊区建造一座集离网、太阳能、雨水收集和可持续发展等特点为一体的小房子。

Zailani was inspired to make minimalist living commonplace in Malaysia after a short stint with an NGO in Tanzania, where she found locals living happily in 100 sq ft village huts.

扎拉尼在坦桑尼亚的一个非政府组织工作了一段时间后，发现当地人在100平方英尺的乡村小屋里生活得很开心，于是受到启发，决定在马来西亚普及极简主义生活。

Her tiny home, she mentions, was an experiment. Zailani wanted to push her limits and see if she was capable of designing and building the house she wants, but also to test how environmentally sustainable it can be within the Malaysian context.

扎拉尼说，她的小房子是一个实验。她想挑战极限，看看自己是否有能力设计和建造自己想要的房子，同时也想测试一下在马来西亚的环境下，房子的环境可持续性如何。

She enjoyed the journey immensely and spent RM250,000 (just over US$56,000 at the time of writing) on the project. The best part about the process was working with like-minded people, both friends and volunteers, and watching something come into being by her own hands.

她非常享受这段旅程，并在这个项目上花费了25万令吉（在撰写本文时略高于5.6万美元）。在这个过程中，最棒的部分是和志同道合的人一起工作，有朋友，有志愿者，看着一些东西在自己的手中变成了现实。

The most challenging aspect, however, was sourcing the materials.

然而，最具挑战性的工作是采购材料。

“It took me months just to find an appropriate solar system company. Given that the awareness and availability of resources are still relatively low in Malaysia, it took extra time and effort, and was often time frustrating,” says Zailani.

扎拉尼说，“光是找到一家合适的太阳能系统公司就花了我几个月的时间。鉴于马来西亚对资源的意识和利用性仍然相对较低，所以就需要额外的时间和努力，而大部分时间带来的结果还非常令人挫败。”

Choose the right environment that will help you blossom

合适的环境是成功的关键

Zailani’s openness to exploring other cultures and a different way of life are just one of her many stellar qualities. Instead of being afraid of studying abroad after securing a scholarship, this Bukit Bintang Girls School (BBGS) alumnus saw the opportunity to study in the US as an adventure.

扎拉尼乐于探索其他文化，对不同生活方式持开放态度，当然这只是她众多优秀品质中的一个。这位武吉免登女子学校（BBGS）的校友在获得奖学金后并不害怕出国留学，而是把去美国留学的机会看作是一次冒险。

“I loved my time at Stanford and in the US. I made amazing friends and grew as a person in so many ways,” she recalls.

“我喜欢在斯坦福和美国的时光，结识了好多很棒的朋友，在各方面都有所成长，”她回忆到。

“When I first went to Stanford in 2005, it was just a few years after the 9/11 incident in 2001, and I was obviously a Muslim with the way I dress. There was some fear that I would be harassed or targeted, but I’m happy to share that it never happened.”

“2005年我第一次到斯坦福，距离2011年的“9·11”事件没几年，我的穿着能明显的看出是一个穆斯林。有人担心我会被骚扰或成为骚扰目标，但我很高兴地告诉大家，这种情况从来没有发生过。“

Zailani’s advice to students is to focus on identifying the best environment that would help them grow and discover themselves.

扎拉尼对学生的建议是，要确定并专注于最佳成长环境，对于发现自己和成长大有裨益。

“Different countries, and different universities within a country, will offer different experiences,” she says. Whether you choose to study at one of the top universities in the world or a smaller, more focused institution, choose well and enjoy the ride, she explained.

“不同的国家，甚至同一个国家的不同大学，都会提供不同的体验。”她解释说，无论你选择在世界顶级大学学习，还是选择一所规模较小、更专注的高校学习，妥善选择后都要享受这段旅程。

Her parting advice? While grades and degrees are important, “the kind of person you will become in the environment you end up in is even more important!” she says.

她的其他建议？那就是：成绩和学位固然很重要，但“在你最终所处的环境中，你将成为什么样的人更重要!”