I asked some classmates what their New Year dreams are. Most of the replies are “An offer from a good graduate school.” They think that such a dream is more practical, “You just have to consider about reality and be rational.” This is a very common thought in Tsinghua. But I always feel uncomfortable when I hear terms like “reality” or “rational” which do not have clear definitions. Why is that an offer more “practical”? If it is their dream to do great research with the best scientists in the world, this dream does help. However, many students actually are not interested in research. They do not have any feelings, or some of them even feel miserable, when they read papers. When professors talk about exciting research frontiers in lecture, they do not bother to listen at all. Tedious experiments are thought to be low-level tasks which cannot show their talent. So what are they going to do after they get the offer? Being drowned in papers and talks and experiments and getting more miserable? Or do they think that once they get a good offer, they can just sit behind and wait for the arrival of Nature and Science from Heaven?

For those who are not interested in research but still desperately want offers from top schools in the world, fame should be what they are targeting for, otherwise it is unnecessary for the offer to be from schools with top rankings. Many Tsinghua students have been receiving compliments from family, friends, and strangers. I loved to talk with others when I traveled around in China. Once people know that I am from Tsinghua, their only first response is, “You are from Tsinghua! So great and smart!!” Many students here live in the atmosphere full of such kind of rather exaggerating praise. They are attached or even addicted to it. They are afraid that they will lose it. They depend on it. The only way to maintain this atmosphere is to get a “good” offer: “You are from Harvard! So smart!!” A real example is that over half of the students in the Dept of Biology applied for Dental Science just because they thought they have a higher chance to get in. I just wonder whether they have clicked on the official webpage when they made the decision.

There is another type of students who look for fame, but not for themselves. They wish to satisfy their parents by getting into Stanford or Harvard. Unlike parents in Western societies who tend to give their children more freedom and support to choose what they love to do, Chinese parents often wish that their children can be very successful, but in a way that is commonly or socially recognized, for instance, getting an offer in Tsinghua. Is it a selfless wish or a selfish wish? Do they really want their children to enjoy a happy life or do they just want to satisfy themselves by comparing their own children to others and earning continuous compliments from neighbors? Okay, it may be the former, but a selfless wish will just become selfish if they act in a wrong way. Many Chinese students live in the shadow of their parents. Because of the fear on parents, or the social value which tells us good children should satisfy parents’ wish, they can do something contradictory to their own wishes. It is better to remember that, however, truly great parents hope that their children can get eternal happiness. If they get a good offer which generates transient joy for their parents, but then feel sad and disappointed as they do not love what they are doing, their parents will not feel happy as well. There are many parents who do not have a son or daughter studying in Harvard, but I am sure they can live happily too.

Even though they may have good reasons to chase for fame, getting a PhD does not sound to me a very “practical” way to achieve it. Why don’t just become a member of Communist Party and work as an high official, or a famous singer to attract eyeballs from thousands of fans? Parents and neighborhoods can then always find them in TV. Perhaps they think that doing research is easier than doing politics. They may have forgotten that it also takes many years of effort to up-level from a PhD to a post-doc, and then from assistant professor to associate professor… Some even take the following path: PhD,post-doc,post-doc,post-doc… Even a student becomes a professor eventually, and he has published many Natures, probably only the scholars in his field know him and understand what he is really doing.

The second “practical” reason for students to aim for a good offer is money. They insist, “I have to feed my family! I have to feed myself! Can you just feed yourself by a dream?” I agree that we have to eat, but perhaps they eat more than others, or they have too many wives to feed, and only good offers can offer them enough money for bread. Moreover, statistics do not show that students graduate from prestigious school are all richer than those from non-prestigious school, and the latter are still able to buy food and cars. If they really have so many people to feed, why don’t they work as a businessman or broker and do some investment, but continue to study for many years and become a biologist who probably wont earn so much? Some may say, “My major is biology. I just know about biology. I am not able to compete with others in other areas other than biology.” This is just an excuse for their conformity to laziness. They are afraid of leaving their comfort zone to explore their real interests and strengths. I believe these students cannot become a good researcher either, without the courage to challenge new things. “What if I lose a job?”, some may ask. Professors can also lose their jobs under the economic crisis. Only God Himself can guarantee He won’t lose a job. Just find another if you lose one. Some science students who get low GPA can still find a good job in a business company, so what are you afraid of?

It is very impractical and inefficient to get fame and money by taking a PhD. If you are really interested in research, only aiming at getting a good offer is also impractical. Many students with this single aim just focus on many tricks which can let them get higher scores in exams and labs, skills which can make professors feel great and writing styles which make their Personal Statements sound good. They remain indifferent to things unrelated to this goal. Once they have submitted all their applications, they don’t know what they should do next. But if they can set their dream higher, they will discover more paths that lead to their destination. My dream is to become a great scientist and uncover the mystery of mind, which sounds too impractical and fantastic to some classmates. I can take multiple practical ways to achieve my goal, besides cramming for exams. I read a lot of articles in my field and some not in my field, take classes and symposium which are not stated in syllabus and not able to give me high scores easily, try to design an independent experiment by myself even though I know it is hard to publish a paper… Strong reference letters, good performance in interview and finally a good offer, if I can get one, will just be “side effects”.

It is logical. Set your dream higher, and then you can figure out more methods to achieve it. With more methods, the probability of succeed is higher, even though your goal may change during the process. It is conformity but not maturity to set a so-called practical dream. Don’t you feel that life is so boring without a challenging dream?

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