Chapter 19 Part Two: Reflections on the "Famous School Complex" Reflections on the "Popular School Complex"

Before going abroad, a friend of my father hosted a banquet to see me off. One of the guests at the dinner table was a private entrepreneur, the boss of a real estate company.When he learned that I was going to Cambridge for further study, he excitedly held my hand: Cambridge University is good, can I build bridges and roads after I come out, and become an engineer? !The people at the table looked at each other, at first they thought he was joking, but after seeing his serious expression, they realized that he really didn't know there was such a world famous school.Everyone couldn't help laughing, and the master was a little embarrassed, so he joked: "Fortunately, the girl didn't go to Harvard University, otherwise, after graduation, wouldn't she be a bodhisattva, eat fast, chant Buddha, and become a nun!" The measure of success by which all are measured.

When the relatives and friends around me learned that I was going to Cambridge to study, they were all happy and encouraged, and naturally called me "Cambridge Girl", which sounds very similar to the sister or sister of the "Harvard Girl" who is popular all over China. younger sister.I am grateful for everyone's love, but I absolutely don't want this "halo": firstly, I dare not want it. Cambridge recruits thousands of students from all over the world every year, and I am just lucky to be one of them I always feel uneasy when I carry the school’s gold-lettered signboard on my body before I finish reading the book. Secondly, I don’t like this title either. what's the matter.A person cannot be labeled, because no matter how gorgeous the label is, it cannot cover the real you; moreover, the halo of this "Cambridge girl" also makes people around me look wrong. The great school made my image in everyone's mind suddenly great and mysterious.My parents are also being chased everywhere to "pass the scriptures and give treasures". At first they just "shared their experience" modestly. talent.I think I still have vanity. After a long time, this halo will definitely affect my vision of myself. If this is also out of shape, it will be a bit bad.So I said to my parents: "You hear people call it that, just enjoy yourself physically and mentally. Don't take it too seriously. You know the virtues of your daughters best. Of course, there are advantages, but those are many. Even the glory of Cambridge cannot cover up the flaws of the stars." After children grow up, it is a process of mutual education with their parents. When I educate them, I am actually reminding myself that I can enter the world. Studying in a prestigious school is just a relatively good starting point; if you are shrouded in the halo of a prestigious school and do not think about making progress, you will inevitably be burdened by the reputation of the prestigious school.

The favor and desire for prestigious schools is a normal human psychology, and there is nothing wrong with it.A university has a university soul.Soul, thought, spirit, and personality.The highest and most refined representation and carrier of the culture of a nation or a country is its institutions of higher learning.A famous school not only has a profound historical accumulation, but also often has an excellent school-running level and rich educational resources, which are very attractive.I don't like being called a "Cambridge girl", but I am very proud to be a part of Cambridge.Here, I am delighted by the beauty of Cambridge: the 800-year-old buildings, the clear and continuous River Cam, the chic and delicate bridges, the boats singing in the stars... No wonder a friend would tell me that in the UK , the east is the most beautiful, and in the east of England, Cambridge is the most beautiful.Here, the ancient cultural atmosphere of Cambridge gave me the enjoyment of spring rain: in the library of the college, I can see Newton's graffiti, Byron's poems, Virginia Woolf's signature, Brooke's manuscript, in the Fitz In the William Museum, you can also immerse yourself in Monet, Van Gogh's paintings and ancient Greek sculptures; here, I was fortunate to meet some good teachers with profound knowledge and temperament. I read more than just books on weekdays. They are also my teachers, whose character, personality, temperament and talent are subtly influencing me; here, I am fortunate to walk with excellent people, nearly 50 students in the class come from more than 30 different countries around the world, with Different educational backgrounds and work backgrounds, some have obtained a master's or doctoral degree. Their rich life experience provided me with various thinking angles in class discussions and after-class exchanges. They made me understand : Who you travel with is more important than where you arrive.Here, the school does its best to provide resources for students' academic research or career development. Cambridge alumni are all over the world in various industries.Realizing the importance of this resource, the school's career counseling center has actively maintained close contact with alumni, and has also established a very large database of alumni information for us to search.Many successful alumni will also return to their alma mater, give us detailed introductions about their industries and institutions, and give us very pertinent career advice based on their personal experience.Living and studying in such an environment, there is naturally a sense of pride, but this kind of pride is not so much from the school's reputation, but rather from the enrichment and happiness of self-improvement in such an environment.

A prestigious school like Cambridge does have her irresistible charm. I cherish my identity as a Cambridge student, but I don't want others to use "Cambridge" to define me.In China, both students and parents attach great importance to the "fame" of universities.However, once you are too obsessed and indulging in anything, and you fall into a complex that you cannot resolve and cannot extricate yourself, there will be a big problem, and the same is true for the worship of famous schools.Some people like to define themselves and others by the colleges they have attended all their lives, and many parents also use the colleges their children have attended as the standard for parents to measure the success of their children's growth and education.In my opinion, such a judgment is too narrow.A good school can provide students with a relatively superior learning environment, but a person's ability and talent cannot be judged by the name of the school he attends.

Yes, after coming to Cambridge, I am glad that I chose her, not because she is the best, but because I think her goodness matches my taste, her beauty matches my temperament, she is my best fit .For a long time, our education has placed too much emphasis on best, best, best—best, best, best, rather than best fit—the most suitable.Our education is to teach people how to excel, rather than emphasizing how to be a happy and balanced person.The Chinese people's strong "prestige school complex" actually reflects a kind of blind pursuit of the best.And best is always relative, best fit is the most important.When pursuing the best, we don't need to consider our own situation, we just need to follow the pace of the public; we don't need to think, we just need to go forward.And when we want to determine the best fit, we must first face ourselves objectively: who am I?what do I have?What am I really after?Where is the distance between me and what I am after?How to overcome such a distance?At the same time, we must consider the options we have, holistically and objectively.Because there is no unified standard for best fit, the brain is constantly running throughout the whole process, and the ability to analyze and judge is cultivated in this way.What is independent thinking?It is relying on one's own brain to draw one's own conclusions, instead of taking other people's ready-made answers to talk and do things.In the final analysis, everyone must choose the most suitable development path, which is the most important.Imitation is of no use. If you don't lead others to run, but follow others or other people's standards all day long, you will suffer a loss one day.Everyone has their own goals in life, but in the long process of life, constant adjustment and repositioning are accompanied from beginning to end.

It is not necessary to blindly pursue prestigious schools. Future higher education should be diversified, rather than a "pyramid" with strict levels. This not only means that there will be different types of universities with different characteristics, but also means that students choose It is bound to gradually become pluralistic and rational.Of course, if you have the strength to choose a prestigious school, that is absolutely true, but if you choose a prestigious school just for her fame, and enter a prestigious school, you will think that you have become a celebrity, and that kind of straight-line thinking is a bit naive.I have stayed in prestigious schools since I was a child: from Nanjing Foreign Language School, a key middle school in Jiangsu Province, to Fudan University School of Journalism, to Cambridge, a famous British school, from regional famous schools to national famous schools and even world famous schools, but I myself I am very clear in my heart: Not to mention that there are still hundreds of thousands of miles away from success, there are still many aspects that need to be improved in terms of my own quality and knowledge structure.I still clearly remember my first class at Fudan University. At that time, we were all immersed in the joy of being "the proud son of heaven" at the beginning, and everyone had a childish pride.The silver-haired old professor said earnestly: "In fact, we are all ignorant, but in different fields. I hope everyone can bear the loneliness and study hard." The plain sentence gave me a huge shock, and it made me feel even more excited. I deeply understand a truth: if you are rich enough, there is no reason not to look at life at the same level.

It is a blessing to be able to study in a prestigious school, but there are also pressures that other schools do not have to deal with.The signboard of Cambridge is too big, and the hope and sustenance that people give her are too strong.In the face of this shining golden signboard, once the individual's strength cannot compete with it, the individual will definitely be injured in the end.Mr. Chen Pingyuan once wrote an article about the pressure on Peking University students to study in China's top universities, from which we can see the difficulties of being in a prestigious school:

"I remember Zhang Ailing said that Hong Kong is an exaggerated place. A fall there hurts more than a fall in other places. The same is true of Peking University. Here, it is easy to become famous, and it is not difficult to lose fame, and the speed is very fast. The "speech" at Peking University is easy to attract the attention of the academic circles; coupled with the continuous stream of advanced studies and visits, it actually acts as an amplifier. Generally speaking, this state is beneficial to Peking University people; because it does not need to spend a lot of effort, You can lead the fashion. But there is another side to the matter. Because it is too easy to get a name, Peking University people must always be alert to the danger of not returning to the name; also because it may lead the trend, if you are too enthusiastic about it, you will inevitably be engulfed by the trend. .”

Everyone has vanity, and it is actually not easy to refuse to become a celebrity under the halo of a famous school.The so-called university does not lie in "bigness", but in "study".Whether you are studying in a prestigious school or doing academic research, you must have concentration and control yourself, so that you can get rid of impetuousness, find peace in the midst of noise, and feel her beauty with a peaceful and knowledge-seeking heart.There are three famous gates in Caius College in Cambridge, from outside to inside: The Gate of Humility (the gate of humility), The Gate of Virtue (the gate of virtue) and The Gate of Honor ( Gate of Honor).The doors of honor are usually closed and only open on two occasions, one is on degree day, when students receive their titles in the Senate.The second is that when an academician of the academy dies, after the requiem mass is held in the chapel of the academy, people will carry his coffin through this door.These three gates systematically show us the educational path of the Elizabethan humanists.Their order reminds Cambridge people of the true meaning of seeking knowledge: first correct the attitude, then improve the quality, and finally achieve results.

There is an old Chinese saying: A hero does not ask where he comes from.However, due to the fixed thinking, many Chinese people will unconsciously only look at the starting point and not the end point, so if a child goes to Cambridge, Oxford or Harvard due to subjective and objective factors, the society will publicize him (her) as a success model of theIt's the same when you go out of school. People may think that you graduated from Cambridge, so you must be very good, and you will definitely have a great future.As a graduate of a prestigious school, you can use this inference to encourage yourself, but you must never use it to judge yourself.The real contest actually starts from the moment they enter the society. If students do not have their own development and always want to live on the reputation of the school they study after graduation, it seems that the difference is not very different from a broken book with a good cover. Big.

As the old man Mao Zedong said, "Looking at things in the long run should take a long view", and the most important thing is to devote yourself to the improvement of character and the continuous enhancement of one's own strength.In a nutshell, there is one sentence: instead of pursuing a "famous brand", it is better to make yourself a real "famous brand".