對專業的熱愛和執著
 
But there was a twist. While I had the choice of all the best universities, the university authority, to my chagrin, was to decide what I should study in the 4 years to come, namely, Economics. They meant that as an honor for a student with caliber since economics in the booming age calls for the best talents. That decision to me, however, (was) a dream shattered.

My subsequent effort to transfer into my desired program was a long and heartbreaking story. I was powerless in the face of rigid rules and laws in the Chinese education system. But I decided that my passion for Sociology was not to be stifled. I jumped at any opportunity that came my way. I audited an impressive array of sociology courses including “Sociology Theories”, “Social Stratification and Social Mobility”, “Sociological Methodology” and so on.

計算機專業的學生談電腦和英語語法
I often see the striking resemblance between computer science and English grammar. The analogy lies in the fact that even though there are numerous rules to follow, and there are no shortcuts to learning and mastering them, English grammar exists so that people can communicate in an infinite number of ways and still make sense. Another way of looking at it is in order for the English language to be meaningful, grammar is necessary, indeed, indispensable. However, grammar is there not to limit language, but to enrich it. Same is true for the type of “languages” we computer majors deal with. That’s why the Chinese traditional wisdom on “eating bitterness” can be extremely valuable or limiting at the same time. Undoubtedly one has to plough through what may be a very dull and painful process of studying, analyzing, reviewing, editing and experimenting. However, learning is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end. It has to be to applied to real life situations. It has be to used and used creatively. The “eating bitterness” philosophy stresses the former at the expense of the latter. My achievement is therefore much beyond solid training in mathematics, physics and computer languages. It rests on original and creative applications in the real world.

女孩要不要學數學
In the past 20 years or so, I did a few things that went pretty much against popular wisdom. Some people said that mathematics was just not for girls. Well, I represented my Province during my second year at Middle School to compete in the National Mathematics Olympics. I carried off the second prize. In less than two years, I again participated in the event as a High School student and was the bronze medallist. When I graduated from college, I had several career options, but I chose one that surprised many and upset a few: I became a manager at China National Automotive Industry Sales Co., a leading state-owned company in the automotive industry. Some of my family members teased me, half seriously and half jokingly, when they said, “What do you have to do with heavy-duty trucks?” I was not directly associated with manufacturing per se, but my work at the company was to ensure that customers get their much needed parts and to identify their opinions of the vehicles, which in turn promoted the production, marketing and distribution of more and better vehicles. I suppose I was not too far-fetched when I responded, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, to the queries about my relationship with trucks and sedans, “I build them.”

Now I have set sight to another intellectual challenge: to prepare myself for a teaching position in economics. Although, as a student, it never occurred to me that I was ever going to the podium to teach, the idea germinated and became a burning desire a few years after I had left the academic environment during which time I had the opportunity to observe, witness and learn how sound economics could drastically improve the quality of life of people and the competitiveness of a nation and how poor economics gave rise to low morale, waste, inefficiency, depression and desperation.

談論職業目標的方式有意思
My short-term goal, not to be confused with my career goals, is to put myself behind the wheel. This may sound strange to American adults who take vehicle ownership for granted. In China, the automotive industry is still in its infancy and passenger cars, costing twice as much as in Western nations, are still beyond reach by ordinary citizens.

I want to do something about the lamentable situation in my country’s automotive sector, having already spent four years as a Project Manager with xxx Automotive Industry Sales Corp., an indisputable industry leader in China. My short term career goal is to revisit all the auto industry data and knowledge I have accumulated over the years, develop and sharpen tools to make some sense out of the existing information and acquire new perspectives on market research and management trends by means of an MBA program. My long term goal is to establish a consulting company providing market research for the automotive industry so that automotive manufacturers and investors, whether Chinese or foreign, can achieve desirable results by optimizing their technical and human resources and achieve comparative advantages.

 談論寒酸 (對比“苦難童年”)

“Han Suan,” literally “cold and sour,” is a Chinese expression describing a shabbily dressed student or scholar spending long and cold hours plodding away at some rather tedious and thankless subject matter. I was born into a scholarly family that was struggling financially to make both ends meet while the only entertainment seemed to center around book reading. A perfect picture of “Han Suan.” That said, I must add that books presented to me the intellectual challenge and the excitement of discovery such as no other media could ever match. I actually believed that I was hooked onto a subject matter that was not only going to lift our family, and many other families, out of scarcity and poverty but also improve our country’s overall economy.

語言要能夠支持內容
(Original)
In 1991 I took part in a project that nearly copied a milling machine design made by German with CAD technology twenty years before. Staring at the Germany blueprints, I realized the technical gaps between the world (world’s) leading countries and my country vividly. This experience directly spurred my incipient interest in the research on Mechanical Engineering. Then I started the long path of strenuous pursuance¡­

Improved version: While I was still as freshman in 1991, I took part in a project in which a milling machine design done by Germans with CAD technology twenty years before was closely duplicated. Staring at the German blueprints, I was struck dumbfounded by the technological gap between the world's leading industrial countries (nations, industrial powers) and my motherland. That experience has been goading me to delve deeper and deeper into research of Mechanical Engineering ever since. I felt then that it was my responsibility to help close the gap. (Over seven years has passed, and I am glad to say that I have done my share to my country's technological progress in my field. But to actually help put my country at a technological par with that of the West, I must receive advanced education in a Western university. For that, I am now applying for Ph.D. studies in your distinguished program.)

語言和內容都不行

Grown up (Growing up) in a poor and illiterate family, I always felt my parents' vibrating hearts for anticipating leading a comfortable and dignified life. (I knew all too well my parents' yearning for a dignified life, relieved of worries over basic necessities.) Since I beheld the pale face of my mother because of excessively selling her blood to the county hospital in order to obtain sufficient school fee for me, I told myself that it is your own responsibility to refine your parents' life quality step by step. (Every time my tuition was due, up, my mother had to sell her blood again. Looking at her pale color and frail body, I felt wrenching pain in my heart. At a tender age, I was determined to quickly stand on my own feet and help alleviate all the sufferings they had to endure.)