[Teacher Zhang talks about education]American university application lists will be released soon. Knowing yourself is more important than attending a prestigious school!

Chinese Herald columnist Teacher Zhang (Zhang Yunteng)

I once wrote “Only by knowing yourself and understanding others can you achieve the “best version of yourself”! ” article, the editor of the WeChat version wrote “”Chinese-style” parents are wrong! Stop forcing your children to compete for first place! “As the title, I changed it to this new title during the revision to highlight my original intention of writing this article. The admissions of American universities for the class of 2026 will be fully announced in four weeks. We hope that students waiting for the results to be released can be mentally prepared.

A few years ago, a child from Nanjing was admitted early to Yale University. His mother said: “I keep in mind the concept conveyed to me by the admission counselor – let the children be the best version of themselves. Therefore, we do not encourage children to strive for the first place. We encourage children to touch the highest place within their reach. We only hope that children can become the best version of themselves.”

One year, at a briefing held by Yale University for a New Zealand student delegation, I directly asked the admissions officer who was giving the lecture: “For many years, New Zealand students have applied to American universities. It has been more difficult to get admitted to Yale than to Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and MIT. Why?” The admissions officer was stunned for a moment, and then said: “Please tell your students that they must ‘Be Yourself’!”

American university application, one session“Know yourself and the enemy”The test!

The emphasis on education among Asian immigrants in New Zealand has gradually fueled the trend of studying abroad in the United States and the United Kingdom. Every year from mid-December to the end of March or early April of the following year, this is the day when American university early application (EA/ED), regular application (RD) and British university applications are announced one after another. The result is always happy for some and sad for many. If you think that the application results of New Zealand students are not as good as expected, that is not necessarily the case. One is because many applicants misjudge their own strength and competitiveness. This mentality even leads to the loss of favorable opportunities in the early application stage.

Every year, I study the number of applications and admissions to the top 30 prestigious schools in the United States during the EA/ED stage, and then compare the applications and admissions of New Zealand children over the years. I find that Chinese parents and children generally value prestigious schools that are high-ranking and familiar to them. New Zealand students should do more homework on “knowing themselves and knowing their enemies”. Unless they are all-round super outstanding applicants, they should put down their Dux, Head Boy or Head Girl status, slightly adjust their school selection mentality, and target ED applications to prestigious schools such as Cornell, Brown or Dartmouth (some people also bet on EA to apply to MIT, which is extremely difficult). As for the dream complex of “Hayepsi Ma”, let’s leave it to the RD application to summarize! If they can pay attention to application strategies, New Zealand students can show a brighter ranking in the fierce competition for American university applications.

One year, a boy with “fairly excellent” grades targeted 10 top-ranked American universities. After evaluation, the admissions consultant suggested that he modify his school selection list and hoped that he would delete top schools such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford and MIT. However, the boy said with confidence that he should at least be admitted to one of the top 10 schools! However, he also accepted the advice of his consultant and enrolled in a university ranked around 30 in the United States. The result? The only school that admitted him was the last school he filled in.

A counselor said that there is an elite private middle school in the Houston area where she lives. The average academic score of the graduating class every year is almost 91 points or above, and the average SAT score of the school is close to 1500 (out of 1600). There are hundreds of public and private elite middle schools in the United States with excellent academic performance, and there are countless top-notch students with excellent grades and talents. During consultations with parents, I have repeatedly encountered students who did not score 1,400 on the SAT, but who thought they would not read unless they were Hayes. This is something that even a fairy consultant cannot do. The consultant reminded New Zealand parents and children not to view the United States and the world from a simple and incomplete “local perspective.”

All-round excellent students are certainly the favorite of American universities. On the other hand, in order to increase the diversity of campus culture and campus vitality, universities also expect students to come from different growth and education backgrounds. Based on this kind of thinking, coupled with New Zealand’s high-quality education system and good national image originated from the United Kingdom, New Zealand students always receive more than expected favor when applying to universities in the United States and the United Kingdom. Is New Zealand the best springboard for admission to top universities in the United States and the United Kingdom? This statement is by no means groundless.

Too much “feeling good about yourself” often deceives yourself! Be pragmatic! Don’t be so obsessed with “Hayepsi Ma” that you can’t let go of it.

The most difficult thing in the world is to know yourself!

“Proverbs” are the accumulation of human wisdom. There is a famous saying in Greece, where there are many talented philosophers: “The most difficult thing in the world is to know yourself.” The Japanese said: “If you want to know yourself, it is best to ask others. People who always sing praises to themselves have only one audience.” The Germans said: “Only among the crowd can you know yourself.” There is an old proverb in Malaysia: “You can count the stars in the sky clearly, but you can’t see the soot on your face.” The Russians said: “Before you make fun of others’ hunchbacks, straighten your waist first.” The Irish said: “The more incompetent a person is, the more he likes to find fault with others.” Americans believe: “If you can’t command yourself, you can’t command others.”

The discussion of “knowing yourself” can be elevated to the level of psychology and philosophy. The above-mentioned wise sayings from various cultural backgrounds remind us that “knowing yourself” is a very critical piece of wisdom. Knowing yourself and your enemy, not knowing yourself and your enemy, knowing yourself and not knowing your enemy, not knowing yourself and not knowing your enemy, these situations affect people’s choices again and again in their lives, and each decision affects their future destiny. In life, only those who know themselves and their enemies can make the most correct judgments and choices.

There are treasures hidden in the wisdom of the ancients. Sun Tzu pointed out in “Strategy” that the one who knows what can and cannot be fought wins. He also said: “Know yourself and the enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger; know yourself without knowing the enemy, and you win and lose every time; don’t know the enemy and yourself, and you will lose every battle.” In life, if you want to achieve the best version of yourself, “knowing yourself and understanding others” is the breakthrough and the key!

You Hongwen, a girl from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, wrote a book “Flying Solo for the Dream”, describing her growth story when she entered Harvard as an undergraduate. The reflections caused by each experience were strung together into a life journey of “understanding yourself” from various angles. I wrote an article about this, “A girl from an ordinary family dreams of flying solo, and achieves herself through persistence and hard work!” 》 column article.

With the aura of Taiwan’s several national cello champions, Hongwen went to the United States alone at the age of 15 and studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Department and Hathaway Brown Girls’ High School. Studying with young musicians from all over the world, under the tutelage of cellist Professor Richard Aaron, she was shocked to realize that all the skills she had gained in Taiwan over the years, including bow holding, vibrato, left- and right-handed skills, the concept of timbre, and the relationship between the human body and the piano, all needed to be revised. Hongwen said that the situation of some students was even worse. The teacher did not allow them to practice any new music for a year. They had to constantly revise and practice scales and bows every day until the teacher approved it.

Almost starting from scratch, Hongwen was shocked by the endless music world time and time again. She deeply understood that “only a strict teacher can produce a good student.” On the road of musical life, masters taught her to “know herself”, the first-class music environment helped her “understand others”, and “knowing yourself and the enemy” made you a better and best You Hongwen.

At the honorary doctorate awarding ceremony at the 357th Commencement Ceremony of Harvard University, You Hongwen played the cello for all the distinguished guests as a representative of the 2008 graduating musicians. She said: “Whether I perform solo at the Carnegie Music Festival or collaborate with famous artists, my mentality is ‘not for myself, just to serve music’. I am so honored to be able to spread beauty and share the joy and happiness of art with everyone.”

Looking back on You Hongwen’s years of experience after leaving home, it was a process of constant self-examination and self-transcendence. “Only by knowing yourself and understanding others can you achieve the best version of yourself.” Her growth story is a moving testimony.

Mr. Kai-Fu Lee’s“Apocalypse of life”！

Mr. Kai-Fu Lee graduated from Columbia University with the highest honors in computer science. Five years later, he received a doctorate in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University and stayed at the school to teach. The world’s first “non-person-specific continuous speech recognition system” he developed was rated as one of the most important scientific inventions in 1988 by the US “Business Week”. The “Othello” human-machine battle system he developed defeated the world champion chess master in 1988.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Before 2009, he successively served as the global vice president of Apple Computer Company, the president of Cosmo Software Company, a subsidiary of SGI Computer Company in the United States, the dean and global vice president of the China Research Institute of Microsoft Corporation, and the president and global vice president of Google China. In 2013, Kai-Fu Lee was selected as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine.

Since Kaifu Lee published the book “Be Your Best Self” in 2005, he has successively published books such as “Walking with the Future”, “Love on the Net”, “Conversations with Kaifu Lee”, “The World Is Different Because of You: Kaifu Lee’s Autobiography”, “Weibo Changes Everything”, “Living to Death: The Death Credits I Learned”, “Artificial Intelligence”, “AI New World”, etc. Each of his books is a bestseller on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. It is not an exaggeration to praise him as “the author of a lifetime”.

Kai-Fu Lee’s brilliant achievements obviously cannot be described by just “being the best version of yourself”. At 22:17 on September 5, 2013, he sent a message on Sina Weibo: “The world is impermanent and life is limited. It turns out that everyone is equal in the face of cancer.” Li Kaifu suffered from lymphoma. The doctor said that the reason for his illness was “too much pressure” and “irregular work and rest time.” After successfully fighting cancer for 17 months, Kai-fu Lee appeared in front of the public again. He had a new understanding of so-called success and achievement.

“Everyone can succeed; I can choose my success”, “Not wasting this life is my success” are all Kaifu Lee’s bold words before his serious illness. The experience of fighting cancer allowed him to re-recognize himself and further understand the essence of life. At this moment, what he keeps in mind is Master Xingyun’s statement: “Human life is rare, and life is not easy once. It is not easy to change the world. It is not easy to do a good job for yourself.”

Parents and friends, the most important thing is for children to “be able to do well for themselves”! To “be the best version of yourself”, please allow your children to “be themselves” first!

[This article is an updated version, originally published in this column on March 9, 2023]

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