Ivy Day 2021-04-08

【Aiden in English】

Let’s get the big one off the table first: I’m going to New York University （NYU） to study business at Stern. Was it my first choice? No. Is my future bright? Yes. Is it a good school and opportunity? Absolutely. Am I excited? 

        Not really. Let me explain.

Since elementary school, most well-off middle-class Chinese-Americans are branded with one singular goal: make their way to an Ivy League school. A “Why?” question is normally immediately rejected. The concept is synonymous with breathing: you just do it. 

        So when I received my Early Decision II result from NYU, I barely even flinched. In fact, I had completely missed the ED II release date and found out later that night during a video game session from my mother (to whom I asked to leave the room because the match went into overtime).

        But why did I lack any excitement? New York City very well could be considered the most exciting place in America. The sleepless city holds the most opportunity for business on the east coast. Stern School of Business year-after-year ranks within the top five undergraduate business programs in America.

        The ghost of the Ivy League hovers over my fingers as I type these very words. In a sense, I have failed the simplest of goals. While I constantly tell myself that NYU’s business school outranks many Ivy League options, that nagging thought at the back of my mind nibbles away every second.

        So what is the message out of all this? In some weird, twisted sense, I feel obligated to warn upcoming students of this pitfall. If I were placed in front of a high school freshman, the first thing I would tell him or her would be that stress is good- just don’t stress about stress. Pressure is a crucial part of academic success. Without it, I, with many of my classmates, would probably be staring at a failing grade in each course. However, it’s vital that students do not compound more anxiety and pressure than necessary. The Yerkes-Dodson Law states that with most activities, extreme arousal results in poor performance, and in more difficult tasks, it’s actually better to be only slightly stressed rather than a nervous wreck. 

        As a teacher of youngsters, I’ve dealt with many parents pursuing the Ivy League child dream. To those parents who try to force their average children up into the top echelon of education, understand that laws of averages will eventually balance a student into the level they deserve to be in (I’m not telling you， parents， to stop pushing your kids, but just be reasonable when they run into competition too difficult for them). Excess pressure often may backfire, especially with the increasing difficulty of coursework. Even though my journey took me to an unexpected location, I sit here now, perhaps not as excited as I would’ve been for a Wharton acceptance, but satisfied.

        You’re going to get to the place you were meant to be. 

【红霞译文】

咱干脆开门见山：我将去纽约大学斯特恩商学院学习。第一志愿？不是；前景如何？不错；学校可好就业咋样？绝对不成问题。我兴奋吗？

真不见得，且听我一一道来。

自打上小学起，多数处于中产阶级的美籍华人目标执着：卯劲爬藤，甭问为什么，反正都是顺理成章的事情：动手吧。

        因此当接到纽大“二期早申决定”录取通知时，我几乎毫无反应，其实我完全忘记了放榜日子，那晚电子游戏比赛正酣，妈妈前来透露消息（因为恰逢加时赛，我催她赶紧走开）。

        但我为啥激动不起来呢？纽约堪为美利坚最火的地方，这座不夜城拥有东海岸最大的商机，而斯特恩商学院每年又列居全国大学生商科专业排名前五位。

        只要我一揿到这几个键，藤校鬼怪便随指尖游动，从某种意义上说，我未能实现最起码的目标，我反复告诫自己纽大商学院比许多常春藤学校更具优势，灵魂深处才逐渐淡定下来。

        那么，上述所言究竟想表明什么？从某种怪异扭曲的视觉来看，我有义务提醒那些即将陷入泥潭的学生，假如来到高一新生面前，我首先会告诉他/她紧张是件好事-——只是不要因为紧张而甚感紧张，压力对学业成功至关重要，没有它，我、还有不少同学恐怕每门课程都有可能落到不及格的地步，关键在于大家没必要过分焦虑自施压力，耶克斯—多德森定律指出，在多数活动中，极度刺激会造成表现欠佳；而面对复杂工作，最好略感压力而非极度紧张。

        身为初小学生的任课老师，我跟许多怀揣常春藤儿童梦想的父母打过交道，对于那些试图敦促中等水平的子女升入快班尖子梯队的父母，要明白均衡法则终将让每个学生找到适合自己的支点（在此我并不是要家长停止强推自己的孩子，而是要理解摆在少男少女面前的竞争实在太难了），压力过大往往会适得其反，尤其当课业难度加重更是如此。尽管成长旅程带我去了一个意想不到的地方，眼下我坐在这里，也许没有像收到沃顿商学院那样激动，但还是心满意足。

        你注定会要去属于自己的地方。

Driver Test @ North Montco Technical Career Center

(北蒙郡技工中心·驾照路考 03-27-2021)