Wang Yuzhou is a senior at the Joint Institute. In 2011, he was one of three students from China selected to join the International Antarctica Expedition with Robert Swan, an environmental leader and explorer who was the first person to walk to the North and South poles. Yuzhou was also a winner of the National Scholarship and the President Award – the highest student honor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He has been admitted to Harvard University, where he will study for a master’s degree in environmental engineering. He also been accepted into Stanford’s MBA program and will pursue that degree after he finishes his engineering studies. Yuzhou shares his reflections on his life in this essay:
Time flies and I’m about to graduate from JI. Looking back, I’m proud to say: I have no regrets. I say this because if I were given a time machine that allows me to make every choice again, I would still stick to the same choices I have made.
To understand whether we have lived a successful life, the answer is not in how much we have achieved, but in whether we believe we have really “lived a life” and made the most out of our precious time to learn, absorb and grow.
Recently, many friends at the JI asked me: “How I can make most out of my college years?” This has motivated me to write this essay, which I believe may help them find their own answers.
Stay curious
The final words of Steve Jobs’ speech at Stanford’s commencement were: “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” Socrates also said, “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.” These words convey the wisdom from those sages. As undergraduate students, we are at the best age for acquiring knowledge. So keeping this in mind will definitely help us have unparalleled advantages for our future career development.
Of course, “knowledge” does not only mean things taught in classrooms. It also implies the wisdom to be absorbed from our discussions with different people, from our travels to various places, from our reading of a variety of books. These are all ways to expand our horizons. Staying curios is always the key.
Seize opportunities
Every one of us will encounter opportunities every day, and some of them could have a huge impact on our lives. I was lucky enough to have seized one good opportunity that changed my life: the International Antarctica Expedition.
In August 2010, I worked as a speech moderator at an event. The invited speaker shared his experience in Antarctica. When the speaker was talking, the screen behind him showed breathtaking icebergs. I was fascinated by his story and the beauty of the icy place. I said to myself, “I want to go to Antarctica, and I want to have such a unique life experience.”
After the speech ended, I walked over to the speaker and asked him for a name card, on which I got his mobile phone number. I kept in contact with him and asked him about how he got the chance to go on the Antarctica expedition. The speaker told me about an environmental protection innovation competition held by Coca-Cola, and the prize was a sponsored expedition to Antarctica with Robert Swan. I realized this was a great chance for me to achieve my dream, so I worked hard, won the competition and seized the life-changing experience.
Every time I recall this story, it reminds me how important it is to “seize the opportunities.” Let’s suppose that I did not go to the speaker and ask for his name card. I probably would have missed this great opportunity of having a unique Antarctica story in my life.
Make an impact
When I was celebrating my 18th birthday, my dad gave me the book Be Your Personally Best as a birthday gift. To my surprise, this book by venture capitalist Kaifu Lee shaped my value system a lot, and I learned about the concept of “Impact” from this book. He said, “Imagine a world with you and another one without you. The difference between the two is your IMPACT.” I was deeply motivated by this idea, and I learned that the best way for self-realization is to maximize my impact in this world.
From then on, impact became my daily motto. After I returned from Antarctica, I travelled to many universities to give speeches about the danger of climate change. Every time I checked my mailbox after a speech, I saw numerous e-mails from the audience, saying things like: “Thank you for helping me to understand climate change. I never thought that I could have an impact on this issue, but after your presentation, I know I can.” These words made me feel happy because I have witnessed my impact on peer students.
From Antarctica to Africa
I heard from one of friends working in Africa that the people in rural Ghana lacked toilets, and their waste has polluted the drinking water. This caused cholera and many other infectious diseases. I found this was also a good chance for me to make a change. I then worked with four of my friends at the JI and designed a waterless sewage system for Ghana. With the support from the volunteers of Beyond the Pivot, an NGO in Hong Kong, the sewage systems were constructed in two villages and saved 1,000 people from cholera. I was happy that I have applied knowledge from books and made a real impact.
I hope that in the near future, I will bring more positive changes and make a greater impact on my country and the world. I sincerely wish that my younger friends at the JI will make the most of their college years.
Wang Yuzhou
May 31, 2013
