首先，我谨代表成都石室中学剑桥国际高中课程中心，祝贺我中心高三年级的江蝶同学被英国牛津大学数学专业预录取并获得全额奖学金！

　　在我的印象中，江蝶同学是一位聪慧、上进、果敢、坚毅的学生。江蝶同学几乎是在一年前才决定申请牛津大学的，在此期间她为了这一梦想做了充分准备，并在去年的10月15日申请截止日期前递交了申请。在不到一年的时间里，她除了要同时参加高二的AS-Level和高三的A-Level数学全球统考外，还需要在她的个人陈述中展现独到的见解。这需要超强的实力和坚定的信念--因为对于海外学生来说，申请英国牛津大学的竞争是异常激烈的。但是，江蝶同学凭借自己优异的成绩和在学术上的杰出表现，在2012年11月的最后一天，收到了来自牛津大学的面试通知，这是非常难得的！但江蝶同学在兴奋之余并没有被暂时的胜利冲昏头脑，因为接下来她还面临着更为严峻的挑战--牛津大学极为苛刻的面试和是否能在12月9日之前赶到牛津大学参加面试。然而，江蝶同学不仅是一位在数学领域很有天分的学生，还是一位内心无比坚定的年青人。她仅用了两天时间就准备好了去英国参加面试的签证材料，于12月3日飞往北京英国大使馆递交了签证申请。为了不过多地耽误学习，江蝶在递交完签证材料后还返回学校上了三天的课，随后才又返回北京领取签证，随即前往牛津大学参加面试。

　　抵达牛津后，迎接江蝶的是一系列超乎想象的、令人精疲力竭的面试。在整个面试过程中，江蝶一直沉着应对、机智回答，将面试官抛出的百般刁难的难题一一化解，令面试官刮目相看。整个面试一直持续到12月12日才结束，期间江蝶同学一直住在牛津大学里面，这让她有机会对牛津大学以及牛津大学城这座小而美丽的城市有了更加全面和深刻地了解，也更加坚定了她就读牛津的决心。

　　值得一提的是，江蝶同学不仅申请了牛津大学，同时还申请了由英国怡和集团针对中国、新加坡、马来西亚等国家的申请牛津大学本科入学的学生所特设的怡和奖学金，今年总共只有9个名额。在从牛津大学返回学校之前，她在上海作了短暂停留，参加了怡和奖学金的面试，并在众多参加奖学金角逐的申请人中脱颖而出，顺利通过了面试获得了这份来之不易的全额奖学金（中国地区仅有江蝶和另外一位上海学生获得资格）。只要她被牛津大学录取，怡和集团将承担她在牛津大学学习期间每年21100英镑的学费、9250英镑生活费及往返机票，奖学金总额高达100万人民币之巨。

　　经过短暂的等待，1月12日，江蝶终于等来了激动人心的时刻，她收到了从牛津大学发出的预录取通知书和怡和集团奖学金的确认通知，这也为她此次的牛津申请画上了圆满的句号。不过，江蝶同学仍然需要继续完成在剑桥国际高中高三下期的学习，因为英国大学提供的所有录取通知书都是有条件的，学生必须在高三A-Level 全球统考中取得令人满意的成绩。希望几个月后江蝶同学能够如愿以偿的进入牛津大学埃克塞特学院学习数学专业。该学院将在明年庆祝建校700周年，当她毕业的时候，她会成为该学院众多优秀毕业生中的一员。

　　江蝶同学取得的成功不仅因为她的聪明才智，还因为她克服了极大的困难，付出了百倍的努力，她谦逊而又自信的人生态度，以及她追求梦想的坚定决心为她打开了属于她的胜利之门。她完全值得拥有她所获得的所有成功。

　　最后，我要感谢我的同事们，你们在教学上无私的帮助和在海外升学上精准的指导让这个中国女孩的梦想变成了现实，我感谢你们！

　　Yolanda from Chengdu Shishi Cambridge A-Level Centre has been offered a place at Oxford University and awarded a full scholarship!

　　Congratulations to Yolanda for being offered a place to read mathematics at Oxford University!

　　Yolanda's preparation to meet the 15th October application deadline began almost a year ago. In addition to taking her AS-Level exams and A-Level maths exam, great thought had to go into composing her personal statement. It had to be more than merely good - the competition for places at Oxford is fierce, particularly for overseas students. But on the last day of November, the good news arrived - the offer of an interview! But now the bad news - if she wanted to be interviewed in Oxford rather than China, she would have to be there by 9th December. However, Yolanda isn't just a mathematician, she's a determined young woman and she did want that interview in Oxford. On Monday 3rd she was at the British Embassy in Beijing to apply for her visa, then back to school for three more precious days of learning, returning to Beijing on Friday 7th to collect the visa, then to London and on to Oxford. Phew! Just made it!

　　The gruelling series of interviews lasted until 12th December and Yolanda stayed at the University. She was able to explore the grounds and also the small and beautiful city. She then returned to school, having enjoyed the experience.

　　Yolanda didn't only apply for Oxford. She was also interested in a scholarship awarded by the Jardine Foundation on behalf of Jardine Matheson. This is given to only a few students each year from all of China, including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Again, just like the applications for Oxford, the competition is clearly numerous and of top quality. But by the time she had returned from Oxford she had already been to Shanghai and enjoyed success in an interview for the scholarship. But that success only guaranteed yet another interview, this time in Hong Kong! On 10th January Yolanda learned that she had been awarded the scholarship bestowed due to the kindness of the Jardine Foundation. But that scholarship is only awarded if students are accepted into certain Oxford or Cambridge colleges. Would Yolanda be given a wonderful scholarship, but have no place at Oxford? Two days later she learned the happy answer to that question.

　　Yolanda still has some work to do, because all offers from British universities are conditional upon students obtaining satisfactory A-Level results. But it is to be hoped that in a few months' time Yolanda will be studying mathematics at Exeter College, Oxford. The College will celebrate its 700th anniversary next year and she will join a long list of distinguished alumni when she graduates.

　　Yolanda's achievement has been due not only to cleverness but also to hard work, unassuming confidence and utter determination. She richly deserves every bit of her success.

　　Andrew Derham