This video is unlike any other straight A video you've ever seen before and if by the end you don't think that's true, then I'll personally do your homework for you.

這段視頻與你以前看過的任何其他直 A 視頻都不同，如果到最後你還不這麼認為，那我就親自為你做功課。

Hey, it's Amy. I got a 4.0 from Caltech and I was valedictorian in my high school.

嘿，我是艾米我在加州理工學院拿了4. 0的高分 還是高中的告別演說者

I got straight A pluses except for I think two A's and that was when taking 11 AP classes.

除了兩門 A 之外，我的成績都是全 A，而那是在選修 11 門 AP 課程的情況下取得的。

I did three sports and I slept eight hours a day.

我做了三項運動，每天睡八個小時。

A lot of you guys ask me, how do you get good grades even while doing so many activities, so many other things and sometimes I'm like, bro, I don't know.

你們很多人都問我，你是如何在參加那麼多活動、做那麼多其他事情的情況下還能取得好成績的，有時候我會說，兄弟，我不知道。

I've been thinking long and hard about it from watching other YouTube videos for inspiration and yeah, I mean, I do agree with most of the things in those generic videos.

我從觀看其他 YouTube 視頻中汲取靈感，仔細思考了很久，是的，我的意思是，我確實同意這些普通視頻中的大部分內容。

We do need to understand the material as we go.

我們確實需要邊做邊理解材料。

Maybe we should put our phone away.

也許我們應該把手機收起來。

Like that generic advice is only helpful to some extent.

就像那些通用建議一樣，只能在一定程度上起到幫助作用。

We know deep down inside what we need to do to get straight A's.

我們內心深處知道，要想得到全 A，我們需要做什麼。

I've already made several YouTube videos like how to max your GPA, blah blah blah, right?

我已經在YouTube上製作了幾個視頻，比如如何最大化你的GPA，等等等等，對嗎？

So if you follow the tips I give you, you will get A's, but that's a big if.

所以，如果你按照我給你的建議去做，你就能拿到 A，但這是一個很大的 "如果"。

The problem is that mindset and converting the tips.

問題在於心態和轉換技巧。

I'm actually no different from you guys.

其實我和你們沒什麼不同。

I've had terrible teachers and teachers who I felt like they had a personal vendetta against me, so it gave me bad grades.

我遇到過很糟糕的老師，也遇到過我覺得他們和我有私人恩怨的老師，所以我的成績很差。

And I even had a physical disadvantage that I'll reveal at the end of the video in my last story.

我甚至還有一個身體上的劣勢，我將在視頻的最後揭曉我的最後一個故事。

So what made me get straight A's over the other people who have the same information from the internet?

那麼，是什麼讓我獲得了全 A 的成績，而不是其他從網上獲得同樣資訊的人呢？

So the thing I'm going to do differently in this video is make the tips and stories come to life.

是以，在這個視頻中，我要做的與眾不同的事情就是讓提示和故事變得生動。

A little bit of tough love here, but nowadays people are always like,

這裡有一點嚴厲的愛，但現在的人總是這樣、

Oh, I don't have resources to do this. Maybe I didn't go to a good school.

哦，我沒有資源做這個。也許我沒上過好學校。

Well, my school wasn't that good either.

我的學校也沒那麼好。

And for the ACT SAT, I used purely free resources.

至於 ACT SAT，我使用的是純粹的免費資源。

With that attitude of I didn't have good resources,

抱著這種態度，我沒有好的資源、

I should have failed the AP Environmental Science exam because my teacher sucked.

我本該在 AP 環境科學考試中不及格的，因為我的老師太差勁了。

And with that, story one is APES, AP Environmental Science.

是以，故事一是 APES，AP 環境科學。

So this was supposed to be a throwaway AP class.

所以，這本來是一門可有可無的 AP 課程。

Basically just one that I would take to say I have another AP, but it was supposed to be so easy that it wouldn't really add to my workload.

基本上，我只需要參加一個考試，說我還有一個 AP，但它應該很簡單，不會增加我的工作量。

That's what all the upperclassmen told me.

所有的高年級學生都是這麼告訴我的。

They were like, you need another AP? Just take APES.

他們說，你還需要 AP 嗎？就選 APES 吧。

And I was like, okay, cool. I like that.

我當時想，好吧，酷。我喜歡這樣

Another weighted GPA, not much work, another five on the exam.

又是加權 GPA，沒做多少作業，考試又是 5 分。

Brilliant idea for my junior year.

大三時的好主意

Unfortunately, the first day of class, I felt something was wrong.

不幸的是，第一天上課，我就覺得不對勁。

And you know that first class when they're supposed to talk about the syllabus and how they're planning to help you get that five on the AP exam?

你知道第一堂課，他們應該談論教學大綱，以及他們打算如何幫助你在 AP 考試中取得 5 分嗎？

Well, he didn't cover any of that.

這些他都沒說。

And then when the students asked him, hey, like, how are we preparing?

然後當學生們問他，嘿，我們準備得怎麼樣了？

He's like, oh, you know, learn what we can throughout the year, do a few projects.

他的意思是，哦，你知道的，在這一年裡學習我們能學的東西，做一些項目。

And yeah, that's exactly what he did.

沒錯，他就是這麼做的。

In the first month, we were doing this project where I had to film a rock in different nature settings.

第一個月，我們在做一個項目，我必須在不同的自然環境中拍攝一塊石頭。

How does that help me get better or understand environmental science at all?

這對我更好地瞭解或理解環境科學有什麼幫助？

My classmates were chatting with me one day.

有一天，我的同學和我哈拉。

They're all like, man, we're not taking the AP exam. We're going to fail.

他們都說，夥計，我們不參加 AP 考試了。我們會失敗的

We were getting closer and closer to the exam date.

離考試日期越來越近了。

And on top of that, we were doing these very meaningless projects, which I was also scoring badly in because the scoring is so objective.

除此之外，我們還在做一些毫無意義的項目，我在這些項目中的得分也很低，因為評分太客觀了。

So I felt like I wasn't going to get an A, let alone a five on the AP exam.

是以，我覺得自己拿不到 A，更不用說 AP 考試的 5 分了。

But then one day after coming back from school, I was like, no, what do I want?

但有一天從學校回來後，我就想，不，我想要什麼？

I want an A. I want a five on the exam.

我要得 A，我要考 5 分。

That's what I signed up for.

這就是我簽約的目的。

And even though I didn't sign up for the teacher, I signed up for a result.

儘管我沒有報名參加教師培訓，但我報名參加的是一個結果。

I can still make that result happen.

我仍然可以實現這一結果。

It's not like getting an unexpected teacher forces me to get a different result.

這並不是說我意外地得到了一位老師，迫使我得到不同的結果。

If I really wanted to get a five, there are ways to do that.

如果我真的想得到 5 分，還是有辦法的。

So I went on to Amazon.

於是我就去了亞馬遜。

I did some quick research, found, I think, the Princeton Review AP Environmental Science textbook.

我做了一些快速研究，找到了《普林斯頓評論》AP 環境科學教科書。

And I asked my mom to buy it.

我讓媽媽買下了它。

Easy to convince the Asian parents to buy something for academics, you know.

你知道，說服亞洲父母為學業買東西很容易。

Once I got the book, the next problem was how am I going to study this when I already have other schoolwork?

拿到書後，下一個問題是，我已經有了其他課業，該如何學習這本書呢？

I already had my regular classes plus homework.

我已經有了正常的課程和家庭作業。

And I still had homework for AP Environmental Science class.

我還有 AP 環境科學課的作業要做。

Basically, every night before going to bed, I took that book from my bedside table.

基本上，每天晚上睡覺前，我都會從床頭櫃上拿起那本書。

I sat under my covers and I read that for 20 minutes.

我坐在被窩裡，讀了 20 分鐘。

It felt so strange, you know, starting from page one, reading the intro, doing those practice problems.

從第一頁開始，讀導言，做練習題，感覺很奇怪。

But I did it.

但我做到了。

And keep in mind that this wasn't every night.

請記住，這並不是每天晚上都會發生的事。

I think something that students struggle with is that they think consistency means 100% of the time.

我認為，學生們最頭疼的問題是，他們認為一致性意味著 100% 的時間。

But consistency just means most of the time.

但一致性只是指大部分時間。

And for this, maybe it means six out of seven days a week.

對於這一點，也許意味著一週七天中有六天都是如此。

You need to realize what consistency means to you.

你需要認識到一致性對你意味著什麼。

Because if you set your goal too high, you're not going to do it at all.

因為如果你把目標定得太高，你根本就做不到。

And that's worse than if you set a more attainable goal and you at least were able to do something better.

這還不如你設定一個更容易實現的目標，至少你能做得更好。

I continued to do the projects, but I stopped putting as much effort into them just good enough.

我繼續做這些項目，但我不再投入那麼多精力，只求做得足夠好。

Because the grades the teacher gave us were going to be that kind of grade anyway.

因為無論如何，老師給我們的成績都會是這樣的。

So why put more effort there?

那麼，為什麼要在那裡投入更多精力呢？

That's something I learned as well to get A's.

這也是我為了拿 A 所學到的。

You want to figure out where you want to put your effort that provides the most value for you.

你要想清楚在哪裡投入精力能為你帶來最大價值。

If the textbook isn't helpful and it's not going to be on the test, don't force yourself to read it.

如果教科書沒有幫助，也不會出現在考試中，就不要強迫自己去讀。

If a project isn't a big percentage of your grade, then don't spend a huge chunk of time making everything very pretty.

如果一個項目在你的成績中所佔比例不大，那麼就不要花大量時間把一切都做得非常漂亮。

The prettiness often is not what gets you the grade anyway.

無論如何，漂亮與否往往並不能決定你的成績。

With being a straight A student and trying to be a straight A student, sometimes, you know, you feel a little different.

作為一名成績優秀的學生，並努力成為一名成績優秀的學生，有時候，你知道，你會感覺有些不同。

I mean, I was the only one in that class who was going to take the AP Environmental Science exam.

我是說，我是班上唯一一個要參加 AP 環境科學考試的人。

And when I was chatting with my classmates again, they were like,

當我再次和同學們哈拉時，他們都說

Amy, you're insane. How are you going to take the exam?

艾米 你瘋了你打算怎麼參加考試？

I was like, oh, I just bought the book and I'm reading it.

我當時想，哦，我剛買了這本書，正在讀呢。

And they were like, wow, that's commitment.

他們覺得，哇，這就是承諾。

But they didn't change and that didn't really inspire them to do anything, which I thought was interesting.

但他們並沒有改變，這並沒有真正激發他們做任何事情，我覺得這很有趣。

It's human nature for me to be like, why am I doing this extra work every night before I go to sleep?

對我來說，每天晚上睡覺前做這些額外的工作是人之常情。

At the end of the day, after homework, like, yeah, I just want to collapse into my pillow.

一天結束後，做完作業，我只想倒在枕頭上。

But it's the knowledge of every single day counts that kept me going.

但是，正是因為知道每一天都很重要，我才堅持了下來。

So, yeah, it was insane.

所以，是的，這太瘋狂了。

I read that thick book, thick with two C's from cover to cover.

我從頭到尾讀完了那本厚厚的、有兩個 C 的書。

I tested myself with the practice problems.

我用練習題測試了自己。

I supplemented with YouTube videos when I didn't understand something.

遇到不懂的地方，我就用 YouTube 視頻作為補充。

My story is inspiration that in your case, especially if you're able to watch this YouTube video, you have a wealth of knowledge right at your fingertips that you've got to tap into.

我的故事對你有啟發，尤其是如果你能觀看 YouTube 視頻，你就能獲得豐富的知識，你必須加以利用。

There are no excuses.

沒有任何藉口。

If you don't have access to a book like I did, it costs money, then you can borrow from a library.

如果你像我一樣買不到書，需要花錢，那麼你可以從圖書館借書。

There are so many ways to get the results you want.

有很多方法可以獲得你想要的結果。

If you want an A, ask, how am I going to get that A?

如果你想得到 A，那就問，我怎樣才能得到 A？

That's also a tip that I learned from this book and this book.

這也是我從這本書和這本書中學到的技巧。

It's called an implementation question.

這就是所謂的實施問題。

You need to ask yourself, how are you going to get to what you want?

你需要捫心自問，你將如何實現自己的願望？

And then when there's a habit that you want to do, like for me reading the book, it's filling in the blanks here.

然後，當你想養成一個習慣時，比如對我來說，閱讀這本書，就是在這裡填空。

At this time, at this location, I will do this.

此時此刻，在這個地方，我將這樣做。

So for me, every night before I go to bed, I'm going to read for 20 minutes.

是以，對我來說，每天晚上睡覺前，我都要讀 20 分鐘的書。

And guess what?

你猜怎麼著？

Exam time rolled around.

考試時間到了。

I ended up with a five.

最後我得了 5 分。

Yay, that was so exciting.

耶，太激動人心了。

And I think it felt even better than the other fives I'd gotten on my other AP exams.

我覺得這比我在其他 AP 考試中拿到的 5 分還要好。

That five was self-made.

那五個人是自己創造的。

I showed to myself that there's no one standing in the way of a certain goal, of a five on a test.

我向自己證明，沒有人可以阻擋我實現某個目標，在考試中拿到 5 分。

As far as the actual letter grade, because I started focusing on the more high value things like assignments and even proactively asking for extra credit, I also ended up with an A+.

至於實際的字母成績，由於我開始關注作業等價值更高的東西，甚至主動要求加分，我最終也獲得了 A+。

So in this whole story, the biggest thing was I didn't take no for an answer.

所以，在整個故事中，最大的亮點就是我不接受拒絕。

I didn't accept that maybe I was going to end up with a B.

我沒有接受也許我最終會得 B 的事實。

No, I asked, is there a possibility for extra credit?

不，我問，有可能獲得額外學分嗎？

And I pushed for it.

而且我還推動了它。

And for the AP test too, I was like, no, I'm not going to accept that.

對於 AP 考試，我也是一樣，不，我不會接受的。

Everyone else is not going to take it.

其他人是不會接受的。

I'm still going to take it because that's what I came here for.

我還是要接受，因為這就是我來這裡的目的。

And I'm going to make me be able to get a five.

我要讓我能得到 5 分。

All right, at Caltech, there were many hard classes.

好吧，在加州理工學院，有很多艱苦的課程。

But I don't think I ever struggled as much and felt so distraught and bad about myself and had my ego crushed so hard as this French cinema class.

但我覺得，我從來沒有像這堂法國電影課一樣，讓我如此掙扎，如此痛苦，如此自責，如此自卑。

It was also supposed to be a relatively fun class because we could watch movies in class and then write essays about them.

這也應該是一門相對有趣的課，因為我們可以在課堂上看電影，然後寫文章。

So I was like, whoa, why not?

所以我就想，哇，為什麼不呢？

You know, we have these humanities requirements.

你知道，我們有這些人文要求。

I have all these chemical engineering classes.

我有所有這些化學工程課程。

Let's take this one.

就拿這個來說吧。

When I got my first essay back, I still remember that pit in my stomach, like my stomach and heart had just dropped to the floor.

當我拿回第一篇作文時，我仍然記得胃裡的那個坑，就像胃和心都掉到了地上。

It was probably one of the worst grades I've ever gotten on an essay, probably the worst grade I've ever gotten an essay.

這可能是我作文成績最差的一次，也可能是我作文成績最差的一次。

It was a C+.

這是一個 C+。

Man, I was like, what did I do wrong?

我當時就想，我到底做錯了什麼？

In all my classes before, I thought I was a good writer and like I got decent grades in them.

在我以前上的所有課程中，我都認為自己寫得不錯，成績也很好。

I asked the teacher like, like, what can I do?

我問老師，我能做什麼？

She gave us a rewrite, but she said that that could only bump it up one letter grade.

她讓我們重寫，但說只能提高一個字母的分數。

So it would go to a B minus.

是以，它將獲得 B 級減分。

And I was like, OK, I'll take it.

我當時想，好吧，我接受。

I'll rewrite it because I need to do everything I can write.

我會重寫的，因為我需要做我能寫的一切。

That tip there is even if you think is an insignificant improvement or bump in points or anything like you got to take anything you can get because all those little points will add up.

即使你認為這只是微不足道的進步或積分的提升，你也要抓住一切機會，因為所有這些小積分都會累積起來。

Plus the practice of redoing an essay that was bad or redoing a problem that you did wrong.

再加上重做一篇寫得不好的作文或重做一道做錯的題的做法。

That's just going to make you more able to get it right in the first place next time.

這隻會讓你下次更有能力一開始就做對。

So to do that first rewrite, I set up a meeting with the French cinema professor.

是以，為了完成第一次改寫，我約見了法國電影教授。

She talked to me about what was bad about my essay and I like chatted back asking questions.

她跟我聊了聊我作文的不足之處，我也喜歡反問她一些問題。

So I thought I had a good understanding once I sent in that rewrite and I got that bump, that B minus.

所以，當我把重寫的稿子寄出去之後，我覺得我已經很好地理解了，而且我也得到了B級的減分。

Essay number two, we have three essays total in this class.

第二篇作文，我們這堂課一共有三篇作文。

Once I got the second essay back, it was just like, bro, I suck.

當我拿到第二篇論文的時候，我就想，兄弟，我太差勁了。

This one I got a B minus or a B.

這個我得了 B 負或 B。

I had already put in so much effort and met with a professor and I thought I understood what she wanted.

我已經付出了很多努力，也見過了一位教授，我想我明白她想要什麼。

But here she gives me another bad grade.

但在這裡，她又給了我一個差評。

What was I doing wrong?

我做錯了什麼？

Like, what more could I do?

我還能做什麼呢？

I know I'm talking very passionately about A's, but if you want A's, gotta be passionate about it.

我知道我在熱情洋溢地談論 A 級，但如果你想得到 A 級，就必須對它充滿熱情。

You gotta care.

你得在乎

I met with her again and I did another rewrite.

我又和她見了面，又重新寫了一遍。

So bumped it up from, you know, if it was a B minus to a B, B to a B plus.

所以就把它從 B 負提高到了 B，再從 B 提高到了 B+。

Either way, going into that third essay, I was like, man, I am not ending up with an A and I will just have to accept that.

無論如何，在寫第三篇作文時，我就想，夥計，我不會得 A 的，我只能接受這個事實。

So for the third essay, the final essay, the final countdown.

所以，第三篇作文，也就是最後一篇作文，是最後的倒計時。

So I asked my friend to show me her essay.

於是，我讓朋友把她的作文拿給我看。

In a sudden spark of realization, I was like, bro, you got a good grade.

我突然意識到，兄弟，你的成績不錯。

How did you write it?

你是怎麼寫的？

My friend was amazing.

我的朋友太棒了。

You know, that's another good tip.

你知道，這是另一個好建議。

Surround yourself with good friends who are generous, who are not competitive with you.

身邊要有慷慨大方、不與你競爭的好朋友。

And that's the good thing about Caltech.

這就是加州理工學院的優點。

Everyone was really nice.

每個人都非常友好。

We're all in this together.

我們同舟共濟

You know, we're all in this together.

要知道，我們是一條船上的。

And she emailed me the exact essay.

她還通過電子郵件發送了那篇文章。

I read it and I was like, dang, this is what the professor wanted.

我讀了之後就想，當，這就是教授想要的。

Why didn't she tell me that?

她為什麼不告訴我？

Sometimes the professor gives obscure answers or the teacher tells you things that in theory is what she wants.

有時教授給出的答案晦澀難懂，或者老師告訴你的東西在理論上就是她想要的。

But then when put into practice, it's just so much easier to see an example of what they really want.

但當付諸實踐時，就會更容易看到他們真正想要的例子。

This essay was just written in a different style, different structure, different approach than I did.

這篇文章的寫作風格、結構和方法都與我不同。

I've never written an essay that way, but I was like, OK, I'm going to try this.

我從來沒有這樣寫過一篇文章，但我想，好吧，我要試試這個。

Wrote an essay similar to my friend's.

寫了一篇和我朋友類似的文章。

Well, not like plagiarizing, of course.

當然，不是剽竊。

It's just like following the, you know, approach.

這就像遵循，你知道的，方法。

I ended up with an A minus overall, but an A plus on that essay.

最後，我的總成績是 A 負，但那篇作文是 A 正。

If I didn't get those little points from the rewrites, I would not have gotten an A.

如果我沒有從改寫中得到這些小分數，我就拿不到 A。

The email that said what grade I got, professor was like, this is an outstanding piece of work and the best essay you've ever written.