【特约撰稿】 “Jon，你在哈佛学到什么了?”

　　“结交那些更有价值、更有成就的人，扩展你的人脉，建立起自己的圈子，并且视其为终生的伙伴，这就是为什么我非要去名校深造的缘由——因为那里人才汇集。”-----江帆 Jon Frank(傲美达首席执行官)
　　When I was growing up as a young boy, my mom told me that I could do anything that I wanted to do at all, in the world…so long as I made a lot of money. This set off a string of interesting events.
　　当我还是一个小男孩儿的时候，妈妈告诉我在这个世界上我可以做任何我想做的事……只要我挣好多钱。这便引发出一系列有意思的事情。

　　When I was applying to undergraduate universities, I knew that I wanted to go to Brown University. Why? Actually, I had no good reason. I knew a few people who had gone there, and I was familiar with Brown as “the cool Ivy League school,” where people were more than just smart—they were interesting, independent, unusual. Brown has a reputation for attracting people who are socially active, non-conformist…and cool. And I wanted to be like that! I visited of course, and felt perfectly at home there. So when I got into Brown, Early Action, I was thrilled.
　　当我申请大学本科时，我就知道自己想去布朗大学。为什么呢?实际上我没有很好的理由。我知道有很多人都去那里学习，而且我熟知布朗大学是因为它是“美国超酷的常青藤院校”，那里藏龙卧虎、人才济济，他们富有乐趣，他们独立，他们非比寻常。布朗拥有良好的声望，而且吸引了众多在社会上表现非常活跃的人，他们不会循规蹈矩……而且他们很酷。我想和他们一样棒!当然我前去参观了布朗学校，并且觉得那里的学习生活非常完美。于是我获得提前录取，带着激动的心情步入那里。

　　At Brown I majored in Urban Studies—I always was very excited by real estate. By building buildings. And I wanted to build some of my own. I thought to myself, “If I could build big buildings in my life, now that would also be very cool.”
　　在布朗大学学习时，我的专业是城市研究，并且总是对房地产异常兴奋。伴随着建筑专业知识的学习，我开始想象着建造一些属于自己的建筑物，心想：“如果我能在自己的人生中打造众多大楼，想想将来，现在的专业学习简直太棒了。”

　　But unfortunately, after graduating from Brown, I found that my first job at ING in real estate was bad. It was boring, focused entirely on numbers, and unexciting. When I applied to Harvard University for their MBA program in 2005, I actually wanted to get OUT of the real estate business.
　　然而事与愿违，从布朗毕业后，我发现我的第一份工作——在房地产业有些许声望的荷兰国际集团(ING)很让我失望。每天的工作都是关注一些无聊的数字，让人觉得乏味不堪。2005年，当我申请哈佛大学MBA项目时，实际上我已经有跳出房地产商圈的打算了。

　　People often ask me, “Jon, what did you learn at Harvard?” And to be honest, I remember very little of what was taught to me in class. Yes, I took finance courses, marketing, etc. I studied successful companies like Dell and Apple, and worked on my homework til late in the night. But actually, what I learned at business school had nothing to do with the course materials themselves.
　　人们常问我：“Jon，你在哈佛学到什么了?”，坦白说我能回忆起被教授的东西几乎很少。是的，我修了金融学、市场营销等等课程，研究了像戴尔和苹果这样非常成功的公司，完成我的研究课题甚至学习到深夜。但是实际上，在商学院里，我的收获不是课题研究、学术等这些学习材料本身。

　　Actually, above all else, I learned three things at Harvard Business School:
　　1) Sometimes, you just need to TALK. 100% of HBS’ grade structure is based on class participation. It doesn’t matter how you do on homework, there are few to no tests, all that REALLY matters is that you raise your hand and speak in class. Now keep in mind, this can be quite difficult to do! You are surrounded by the smartest people on earth—it is hard (especially for Chinese people) to feel confident enough to speak. So lesson #1 was, to get a good grade at HBS, and perhaps “to be successful in life,” sometimes you just need to TALK. To speak. To be confident, bold, and come out with your opinions, no matter how “smart” you deem them to be. Given the choice between outspoken and smart, in business, I would take outspoken every time.
　　实际上，除了以上所述，在哈佛商学院里我还收获到了3个心得体会：
　　1)有些时候，你只是需要去说。哈佛商学院的学分结构100%源于课堂参与。老师并不在乎你是怎么做作业的，而且有些甚至没有考试，但是他们往往看重的是你在课堂上举手发言的积极表现。你需要知道，这其实是件很难的事情。你被地球上最聪明的人所簇拥、包围，因此你很难非常自信地去发言(尤其是中国人)。所以，如果你想在哈佛商学院取得很好的分数，或者 “在日后生活中获得成功”，你需要上的第一课就是说话——说，自信地说，大胆地说，连带你的观点，无所谓对他人而言你是否够聪明，在直言不讳与聪明这两者间，在商业里我每次的选择永远是前者。

　　2) Figure out what you’re GOOD at. I think about it as “the airplane test.” The next time you’re on an airplane, look around you. What are you better than everyone else on the plane, at? Talking? Math? Science? I did the same test with myself inside the HBS classroom…but there of course, is even more intense. These are the smartest people on earth. So lesson #2 is, if you can find something that you are better at than they are…DO IT PROFESSIONALLY. You will be successful in your career. For me, that thing was leadership. Even compared to everyone else in that classroom, I was a better leader than they were. That was a very, very valuable lesson.
　　找出你擅长什么，我想这就像“飞机测试”一样。下次如果你是在飞机上，看一下自己的四周，思考下在机舱内你比别人更擅长什么?口才?数学?科学?我在哈佛商学院教室里给自己也做了同样的测试，但是在那里我更紧张，因为他们是地球上最聪明的人。所以第二课是，如果你找到自己较于他人的长处，把它做到最专业，你将在你的职业生涯中非常有成就。对于我来说，长处就是领导力。即使是和班里的每一个人作比较，我都是屈指可数的胜者。总而言之，善于发掘自身长处这点是非常具有价值的一个收获。

　　3) The key to business is PEOPLE. It doesn’t actually matter how good you are at math, science, finance, marketing, etc. At some point, you will be able to hire people to take on those smaller roles. What is even more important, is PEOPLE. Meeting great people, contacts, networking, and building (in your mind) the team that you can take with you for the rest of your life. This, by the way, is why it is so important to go to the best school you can get into: that’s where the most successful people will be.
　　成功的秘诀是“人”。事实上，这并不意味着你需要学习有多优秀，你数学好、科学好、金融学好、营销学好等等。从某种程度上来说，你可以聘用其他人来担任不重要的职位。那什么最重要呢?答案是“人”。结交一些更有价值、更有成就的人，扩展人脉，在脑中建立起自己的团队，并且视其为终生的伙伴。讲到这里，也就是解释清楚了为什么非要去名校深造的缘由了：那里人才汇集。

　　Harvard was an amazing choice for me. The school was big (over 900 students per year in the MBA program alone), which gave me a ton of great people to connect with. Finance people, real estate people, creative types, non-profit types…everyone. I also have gotten a great deal of mileage, of course, from the name brand. Everywhere I go, I can tell people that I got into Harvard and went there—and they are impressed. To say that this opens doors is an understatement! I also got into Stanford’s MBA program, which is actually harder to get into, and in some circles “more fancy.” But Harvard is a better choice for me, especially given my decision to come to China.
　　哈佛是我最棒的选择。学校规模很大(每年900名以上的学生攻读工商管理硕士项目)，也是这个学习平台，给予我结识了众多业内精英的机会。金融业精英、地产业精英，创意和非盈利机构人才，以及每一位人，令我受益颇多，当然也有来自哈佛这个学校品牌的全球知名度。无论走到哪里，我都会告诉人们我是哈佛毕业的，人们对此印象很深。其实在进入这扇大门之前，当时我也收到了斯坦福大学工商管理硕士的录取，坦白讲它也很难申请到，而且从某种程度讲它更吸引我，但是对我来说，哈佛还是最好的选择，特别是它令我有机会来到了中国。

　　When I decided to quit my real estate career after ten years, I had been very successful, and very lucky in the business. I purchased three multifamily properties in the Chicago area (which I still own and operate), and I had the chance to take a giant step back. “What do I want to DO when I grow up?” Sure I was already over 30, but thanks largely to Harvard and the career (and security) that it provided, I could now chart my next course.
　　当我决定辞去房地产工作时，也意味着我结束了长达10年的职业地产生涯，实际上当时我已经非常成功了，而且还很幸运。我在芝加哥地区购买了三处房产(迄今依然由我掌管和运营)，幸运的是我还有机会重新去做选择——“我长大了要做什么?”当然，我那时已经快30岁了，但是感谢哈佛以及哈佛品牌给我带来的事业心选择，使我可以为自己制定崭新的职业规划。

　　So for my next career, I launched the company Admissionado. I didn’t want to build buildings anymore, I wanted to help students to build their dreams. At first we had no designs on the China market, we set ourselves up to help American kids get into US-based schools. But after two years, we looked at our list of clients: over half of them were based in mainland China! Ai ya, that was quite a surprise! So I moved to China, eventually met up with Aoji, and the rest is history.
　　接下来，我创建了傲美达。我再也不想盖什么楼，而是想帮助学生实现他们的梦想。起初，我们对于中国市场没有太多的设想，我们只是想通过努力去帮助有梦想的孩子上美国的学院。但两年后，我们在客户清单列表中发现半数以上的客户都是来自中国大陆!这完全出乎我的意料!于是，我移身中国，最终遇见了澳际，展开了我们深入持久的合作，谱写着属于我们的历史篇章。

　　We are very proud of our track record, and the fact that over 96% of our clients are accepted into top 50 universities. Nobody in China (or anywhere in the world, for that matter) can boast such an fective track record.
　　目前，我们对于自己的经营记录非常骄傲，实际上在我们的客户中有96%以上都已经被排名前50的美国大学所录取，在中国没有人(或是在全球的任何地方)能做到这样的高效的经营记录，为此我们感到荣傲自傲。

　　My time in the real estate business led me to one huge realization: I do not love building buildings, I love building the futures of our students-and inspiring them to craft their own futures. This is the thing that I can do, perhaps better than anyone on an airplane, better than anyone even at Harvard Business School.
　　在房地产行业的工作经历给我了一个巨大的启示：我并不喜欢建造建筑物，而是热爱建造众多学生们的未来，并且鼓励他们去精琢属于他们自己的未来。这是我能做到的事情，甚至比其他任何人，哪怕是哈佛商学院的人都做得出色。

　　By going first to Brown University, and later to Harvard University, I have given myself the chance to do, well...pretty much whatever I want to do. In one word, what did my elite education give me? Well that’s an easy one: FREEDOM. With this freedom, today, I have chosen to inspire and help countless Chinese students, looking for the same thing I was when I went to school. My goal in life is to help them have the same freedom that I have achieved for myself.
　　由布朗大学到之后的哈佛大学，我给自己机会去寻找我想做的事情。总之一句话，我的精英教育到底令我获得了什么?其实很简单：就是自由。拥有这种自由，在今天，我选择了鼓励和帮助无数的中国学生，去寻找如同我在学校时期追寻的那些东西。在人生中，我的目标是帮助他们去拥有同样的自由，从而成就自我。

　　So in conclusion, to all the aspiring college kids out there, aspiring grad school kids, I have three pieces of advice to offer:
　　所以，对于所有有抱负的大学生，有抱负的学校里的孩子们，我有3点建议与大家分享：

　　1) Go to the best school you can get into, period. And don’t do it just for the classes, or to “learn” anything, necessarily. Do it because of the PEOPLE you will meet there. THEY are the key to your success.
　　选择可以申请到的最好的学校，学习期间，千万别把目光只停留在课堂里，或是只选择学习一些必要的。多做一些和人打交道的事情，在那里你认识的“人”才是通向成功的密匙。

　　2) Focus on short-term goals. Not long-term goals. What do I mean? Well think about it—what 16 year old knows exactly what he wants to do for the next…40 years? Aiyo! Nobody does—I am 36 and I still don’t know what I will be doing 20, 30 years from now. It is good enough, for now, to focus on short term goals. Long term goals freeze people, especially people in China, who often have little exposure to the broader world around them. So mei wenti, don’t get frozen. Put one foot in front of the other, and give yourself a break. Go to the best school you can get into—and the next steps will reveal themselves soon enough. Don’t be afraid push the big decisions back, until you are more confident, and have more information. From Brown, from Harvard…you’ll be able to do whatever you want to do anyway. You can decide later.
　　专注短期目标，而非长期。这是什么意思?大家想一想，16岁大的孩子怎么可能会准确地知道他40岁想做什么?没有人会知道，我现在36岁了也不能确定20、30年后会做什么。专注短期目标对于眼下来说足以，而长期目标会冷藏人，特别是中国人，很少有机会接触到更广阔的世界。所以没问题，拒绝冰封。迈开步伐，给自己一个突破。尽可能去你可以去的最好的大学，之后下一步自然会迎刃而解。别担心，推迟你的重大决定直到你更加自信并且掌握更多信息。在布朗、哈佛，你将有能力去做任何你想做的事情。

　　Be realistic. Too many students, especially in China, are enamored with unrealistic advice. “Just follow your dreams, and everything will work out for you!” I do not believe this—I believe in learning the rules of the game, and then playing the game…to win. How do you get into a great school? Ask an expert, then follow his advice. Never lie, but don’t be afraid to stretch the truth to show your greatest strengths. Are you from an accounting background, and you want to switch into fashion? Okay, lets dig in, and solve it one step at a time. There IS a way to do it, but the strategy will require more than just “following your dreams.” Don’t just pursue your dreams wildly—be smart, patient, realistic, and learn the rules of the game. Play to win my friends.
　　现实一些。太多的学生尤其是中国学生，常常会陷于不切实际的想法中。“照着你的梦想走，一切都会迎刃而解!”我不信这个，我坚信，学习游戏规则，之后再去玩这个游戏，我就会是赢家。你如何走进一个非常棒的学校?去咨询一个专家，然后遵循他的建议。绝不撒谎，但别拒绝展示真实的你，因为那可能会成为你的强项。你是来自于会计专业背景，但你想转成时尚专业?让我们来一步一步挖掘、解决它。这里真的有一种方法可以实现梦想，但是这个策略会比“照着你的梦想做”复杂许多。别仅仅去追求你的远大梦想，请聪明、耐心、现实，并且去学习游戏规则。去赢吧，我的朋友们!

　　We at Admissionado are so excited to be here, working with Aoji to help kids achieve their dreams. Please stop by our offices in Beijing or Shanghai to say hello—we are here to help!
　　傲美达对未来充满期待，我们期待帮助更多的孩子去成就他们的梦想。欢迎大家光临我们在北京或是上海的办公室，我们在这里，请让我们帮助你!