总结一下，我在北京大学完成了三件事。首先，我的知识基础得到了极大的丰富和加强。除了阅读本专业的学术性书籍，我还读过数百本关于不同主题的书。第二，我和一群真正独立思考并性格各异的人交上了朋友。通过这些朋友，我学会了如何独立思考自己的生活，以及如何追求精神自由。这些人不仅是我终生的朋友，还在我后来经营新东方的事业中发挥了重要作用。他们中的一些人也成为了我在新东方的合伙人。第三，因为我的专业是英语，经过两年的学习，我逐渐有了阅读英文原著的能力。它极大地减少了我探索外面世界的障碍。结果就是我们英文专业的学生能够比其他同学更早地看到一个更大的世界。这段经历让我理解了任何问题都可以从多个角度来看待。它还帮助我养成了多维度思考的习惯。
In short, entering such a good university is undoubtedly a turning point in my life. It’s also a privilege. The most important thing is to be able to learn from friends that are better than me one way or another, because if you follow someone who is better than you, sooner or later, you become even better.
总之，进入这样一所好大学无疑是我人生中的一个转折点，也是一种特权。最重要的是能够从那些比我更优秀的朋友那里学习，如果你追随一个比你更好的人，你迟早会变得更好。
I remember that Warren Buffett once said, it’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behaviour is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction. There is no doubt that I was actually following that in Peking University. This is not a deliberate choice, but an opportunity given to me by such an environment. Of course, in a certain sense, it is also the result of my personal pursuit.
我记得沃伦·巴菲特曾经说过，与比你更优秀的人交往。挑选出那些比你优秀的伙伴，你就会朝那个方向发展。毫无疑问，我在北京大学就是这样做的。这不是一个深思熟虑的选择，而是这样一个环境给我的一个机会。当然，从某种意义上讲，这也是我个人追求的结果。
After my graduation, I remained in Peking University, working as an English teacher. Actually, I wasn’t a teacher in the true sense. I was a teaching assistant. I taught English classes to first-year university students, because at the time China required every university student to study English. Students were also required to pass college English test levelled at band 4 and 6. They can’t graduate if they fail the exams. So, some graduates of English major remained on campus and became an English teacher. Although this was only an unintentional act of teaching students English, it allowed me to stay at Peking University and I continued to gain more knowledge. The experience gave me two benefits. Firstly, teaching hours were only eight hours a week, leaving me with plenty of time to go to the library to study. Secondly, as a teaching assistant at Peking University, it gave me the access to reach out to many famous professors, communicating with them and asking questions. I learned a lot from these professors.
毕业后，我留在北京大学当英语老师。实际上，我不是真正意义上的老师，而是个助教。我教大学一年级的学生英语课，当时中国要求每个大学生都要学英语。学生还必须通过大学英语四级和六级考试。如果考试不及格，他们就不能毕业。于是，一些英语专业的毕业生留在了校园，成为了一名英语教师。虽然教学生英语只是一个无意的行为，但是它让我留在北京大学，继续获得更多的知识。这段经历给了我两个好处。首先，每周只有八个小时的教学时间，让我有足够的时间去图书馆学习。其次，作为北京大学的一名助教，它让我有机会接触到许多著名的教授，与他们交流并提出问题。我从这些教授那里学到了很多。
I had a very good time at Peking University for six years working as a teacher. There was a beautiful campus for me to take a walk, famous professors for me to look for advice and excellent students to communicate with. It was also a very good stepping stone in my personal development. I read a lot of books in six years, and the bookshelves in my small house in Beijing were full of thousands of books.
我在北京大学当了六年的教师，度过了一段非常愉快的时光。我在美丽的校园中散步，向著名的教授讨教，和优秀的学生交流。这也是我个人发展的一个很好的垫脚石。在六年的时间里，我读了很多书，在北京小房子的书架上，摆满了成千上万本书。
Later on, students around me and my university classmates started to go abroad to study in the United States. With more and more went abroad to study, I also had the idea to so. I passed the TOEFL and GRE exams and applied for American universities. Unfortunately, none of the universities offered me scholarships. At that time, as a poor teacher, I was unable to afford to study abroad. So, I started to teach as a tutor in a training institution to earn some money in the hope that I have the funds to study in the US. By doing so, I saw a different world outside the ivory tower and found out the training industry in China was very prosperous. I also realised that a large number of teachers were not effective in teaching students. I already gained rich experience in teaching, so I decided to open my own classes. However, Peking University was unhappy about what I was doing in running these classes. I was then punished by the University for tutoring outside. The punishment led me to resign. Because if you were not appreciated in our work, it’s better for you to move on. I made up my mind already that if I left Peking University, I would run a training school to use my teaching skills to coach more students, helping them get high scores so that they can pursue a better future. Looking back, the punishment at Peking University planted a seed for my future success.
