“Thank you for your application. We would like to congratulate you,” the letter read. Those words can make your heart skip a beat and bring tears to your eyes. The feeling of following your dreams is inexplicableand proof that all your hard work was worth it.

“感謝你的申請。我們要恭喜你，”信上寫道。那些話能使你的心為之一顫，讓你熱淚盈眶。追隨夢想的感受是難以言喻的，并且證明你所有的努力都是值得的。

It is a signpost in life, a trail marker. It is a day you will never forget, the day you opened that envelope and your future was revealed. But what about all those days in-between—the ones that make and break you, the days that are nothing special.

那是人生中的一個標記，人生路上的里程碑。那是你永遠不會忘記的日子，那天你打開那個信封，你的未來就隨之展現。但是在你獲得錄取信之前的所有日子呢？那些使你成功也使你崩潰的日子，那些平平淡淡的日子。

Would you have received that acceptance letter had you not attended the college fair at your school? What if you had forgotten to send an essay with your application, would you have been rejected?

要是你那時沒有參加學校的學院展，你還會收到錄取信嗎？如果當時在寄申請書的時候，你忘記附上一篇個人陳述，你會被拒絕嗎？

In life, one step creates the next. Each day is of equal importance, no matter how good or bad. There is no moment in life that does not matter. Regardless of how insignificant, each choice, each day, each idea, is the birth of the next. Something simple can completely reshapeyour life. It’s just like the Butterfly Effect and you never know what is at the end. To go back in time and change one moment in the many that create your life could change everything that follows.

人生中，步步相隨。無論好與壞，每一天都一樣的重要。人生中沒有一個時刻是無關緊要的。不管如何不值一提，每個選擇、每一天、每個想法，都會引出下一步。簡單的事情可以完全重塑你的人生。那就像是“蝴蝶效應”，你永遠不知道最后的結果是什么。若回顧從前并改變創造你人生的眾多時刻中的一個，隨后的一切也會被改變。

If I’ve learned anything, it is that everything matters. You can struggle through life in an attempt to create the perfect path, but the truth is you will always wonder if it could have been better. Everything is important and nothing need be changed—to climb up the hill may be difficult, but you’ll reach the top no matter which path you choose.

要是說我悟出什么道理，那就是任何事情都是重要的。你可以奮斗一生，試圖創造完美的人生之路，但事實是你總是懷疑是否原本有更好的路可以走。每件事情都是重要的，任何事情都無需改變——攀山的過程可能是艱辛的，但無論你選擇哪條道路，你終會到達頂峰。