2014年12月6日SAT东亚作文题目：
Assignment: Can people who are not famous be better role models than people who are famous?
2014年12月6日SAT东亚作文范文:
Famous people provide us with excellent role models. We admire athletes such as Michael Phelps and Kobe Bryant for their discipline and resilience; we look up to artists such as Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh for their ruthless devotion to their artistic visions. These famous people demonstrated strengths worthy to be respected and emulated by all. However, famous people are also far away from us. We are often so in awe of their titles and achievements that we no longer regard them as ordinary humans like we are, thus unable to relate to their stories.In comparison, achievements of people close to us hit us with a much more resounding impact.
They teach us the simple truth that extraordinary deeds are accomplished by ordinary people like you and me who daily combats our weaknesses. More often than not, ordinary people can be better role models than famous people.
For example, I look up to my father’s friend Linda as my role model. Linda is a professor of English in a renowned university in China. After earning a PhD in America, she returned to China to teach creative writing in university. As a member of a university faculty, she was under great pressure to public academic works to advance in position. After finding an initial publisher, she began a two-year long odyssey to complete her book on creative writing. However, the publisher was unhappy with her vision of the book’s structure; they required significant change. Initially Linda tried to meet their demands; little by little, Linda feltlosing sight of the book she wanted to write. She would rather not publish than compromising her message for the sake of publication. Yet she may lose her current teaching position for not bringing in enough publication. Prepared to lose her job, she cancelled the contract with the publisher. Luckily she did not lose her job, yet she was unable to qualify for any promotion until three years later she found another publisher who was willing to publish her book as it was. Those three years I watched Linda going about her life without being held back by worries of the book. Every time I visit her, she always showered me with smile and delight. There were times she shared her frustration about her book, her resentment of the rigid system, and her joy when there were progress with a new publisher. Yet every day, she left her worries behind, focused on what she love, and gave all she could give for today in preparing lessons and. grading students’ works. She volunteered hours each week in the drama club she oversees, and made friends with many of her students. It was on her that I saw the kind of person I wanted to be: faithful to her vision, passionate about her work, patiently yet optimistically waiting till her efforts are rewarded.
From an outsider’s view, you may think Linda’s life is perfect for what she has achieved at a fairly young age: a PhD, the job of professor in a prestigious university, a book herself authored. Yet watching her close by, I was able to see her daily struggles with worry, uncertainty, and pressure like everyone else. More importantly, she decides to each day live and giveall she can as the imperfect person she is in this imperfect life. As a role model, Linda has given me more inspiration than any celebrity or public figure. She has shown me that extraordinary achievements like hers are achieved by someone I know, someone ordinary and vulnerable.
It is true that we can hold famous people as distant role models. However, when we have someone we genuinely admire nearby—a family member, a teacher, a friend, witnessing them struggling and defeating their problems with our own eyes will strike our souls and change our lives. Ordinary people can be better role models than famous people.