Do your best in classes, but don't let pressure get to you. Your mother and I have no expectations for your grades. If you graduate and learn something in your four years, we would feel happy. Your Columbia degree will take you far, even if you don't graduate with honors. So please don't give yourself pressure. During your last few months in high school, you were so happy because there was little pressure and college applications are finished. But in the past few weeks, we saw you are beginning to worry (did you know you bite your nails when you are nervous?). Please don't be worried. The only thing that matters is that you learned. The only metric you should use is that you tried. Grades are just silly letters that give the vain people something to brag, and the lazy people something to fear. You are too good to be either.
在功課上要盡力，但不要給自己太多壓力。你媽媽和我在成績(jī)上對(duì)你沒(méi)什么要求，只要你能順利畢業(yè)并在這四年里學(xué)到了些東西，我們就會(huì)很高興了。即便你畢業(yè)時(shí)沒(méi)有獲得優(yōu)異的成績(jī)，你的哥倫比亞學(xué)位也將帶你走得很遠(yuǎn)。所以別給自己壓力。在你高中生活的最后幾個(gè)月，因?yàn)閴毫Ρ容^小，大學(xué)申請(qǐng)也結(jié)束了，你過(guò)得很開(kāi)心，但是在最近的幾個(gè)星期，你好像開(kāi)始緊張起來(lái)。（你注意到你緊張時(shí)會(huì)咬指甲嗎？）千萬(wàn)別擔(dān)心，最重要的是你在學(xué)習(xí)，你需要的唯一衡量是你的努力程度。成績(jī)只不過(guò)是虛榮的人用以吹噓和慵懶的人所恐懼的無(wú)聊數(shù)字而已，而你既不虛榮也不慵懶。
Most importantly, make friends and be happy. College friends are often the best in life, because during college you are closer to them physically than to your family. Also, going through independence and adulthood is a natural bonding experience. Pick a few friends and become really close to them – pick the ones who are genuine and sincere to you. Don't worry about their hobbies, grades, looks, or even personalities. You have developed some real friendships in high school in your last two years, so trust your instinct, and make new friends. You are a genuine and sincere person – anyone would enjoy being your friend, so be confident, outgoing, and pro-active. If you think you like someone, tell her. You have very little to lose. Give people the benefit of the doubt; don't stereotype and be forgiving. People are not perfect, so as long as they are genuine and sincere, trust them and be good to them. They will give back. This is my secret of success – that I am genuine with people and trust them (unless they do something to lose my trust). Some people tell me that occasionally I would be taken advantage of. They are right, but I can tell you that that loss is nothing compared to what I gained. In my last 18 years leading people, I have realized that only one thing matters – to gain the trust and respect of others, and to do so, you need to trust and respect others first. Whether it is for management, work, or friendship, this is something you should ponder.
最重要的是在大學(xué)里你要交一些朋友，快樂(lè)生活。大學(xué)的朋友往往是生命中最好的朋友，因?yàn)樵诖髮W(xué)里你和朋友能夠近距離交往。另外，在一塊兒成長(zhǎng)，一起獨(dú)立，很自然地你們就會(huì)緊緊地系在一起，成為密友。你應(yīng)該挑選一些真誠(chéng)誠(chéng)懇的朋友，跟他們親近，別在乎他們的愛(ài)好、成績(jī)、外表甚至性格。你在高中的最后兩年已經(jīng)交到了一些真正的朋友，所以盡可以相信自己的直覺(jué)，再交一些新朋友吧。你是一個(gè)真誠(chéng)的人，任何人都會(huì)喜歡跟你做朋友的，所以要自信、外向、主動(dòng)一點(diǎn)，如果你喜歡某人，就告訴她，就算她拒絕了，你也沒(méi)有損失什么。以最大的善意去對(duì)人，不要有成見(jiàn)，要寬容。人無(wú)完人，只要他們很真誠(chéng)，就信任他們，對(duì)他們友善。他們將給你相同的回報(bào)，這是我成功的秘密——我以誠(chéng)待人，信任他人（除非他們做了失信于我的事）。有人告訴這樣有時(shí)我會(huì)被占便宜，他們是對(duì)的，但是我可以告訴你：以誠(chéng)待人讓我得到的遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)我失去的。在我做管理的18年里，我學(xué)到一件很重要的事——要想得到他人的信任和尊重，只有先去信任和尊重他人。無(wú)論是管理、工作、交友，這點(diǎn)都值得你參考。
Do keep your high school friends, and stay connected to them, but do not use them as substitutes for college friendship, and do not spend too much time with them, because that would eat into your time to make new friends.
要和你高中時(shí)代的朋友保持聯(lián)系，但是不要用他們來(lái)取代大學(xué)的友誼，也不要把全部的時(shí)間都花在老朋友身上，因?yàn)槟菢幽憔蜁?huì)失去交新朋友的機(jī)會(huì)了。
Start planning for your summers early – what would you like to do? Where would you like to live? What would you like to learn? What have you learned in college that might change your mind? I think your plan of studying fashion is good, and you should decide where you want to be, and get into the right courses. We of course hope you come back to Beijing, but you should go where you think is best for you.
你還要早點(diǎn)開(kāi)始規(guī)劃你的暑假——你想做什么？你想呆在哪兒？你想學(xué)點(diǎn)什么？你在大學(xué)里學(xué)習(xí)是否會(huì)讓你有新的打算？我覺(jué)得你學(xué)習(xí)藝術(shù)設(shè)計(jì)的計(jì)劃很不錯(cuò)，你應(yīng)該想好你該去哪兒學(xué)習(xí)相應(yīng)的課程。我們當(dāng)然希望你回到北京，但是最終的決定是你的。
Whether it is summer-planning, or coursework planning, or picking a major, or managing your time, you should take control of your life. In the past, I have helped you quite a bit, whether it is in college application, designing your extracurricular activities, or picking the initial coursework. I will always be there for you, but the time has come for you to be in the driver's seat – this is your life, and you need to be in control. I will always remember the exhilarating feeling in my life – that I got to decide to skip kindergarten, that I got to decide to change to computer science major, that I got to decide to leave academia for Apple, that I got to decide to go to China, that I got to decide to go to Google, and most recently, that I got to decide to start my own business. Being able to decide means you get to live the life that you want to. Life is too short to live the life others do or others want you. Being in control feels great. Try it, and you'll love it!
不管是暑假計(jì)劃，功課規(guī)劃，抑或是選專(zhuān)業(yè)，管理時(shí)間，你都應(yīng)該負(fù)責(zé)你的人生。過(guò)去不管是申請(qǐng)學(xué)校、設(shè)計(jì)課外活動(dòng)或者選擇最初的課程，我都從旁幫助了你不少。以后，我仍然會(huì)一直站你身旁，但是現(xiàn)在是你自己掌舵的時(shí)候了。我常常記起我生命中那些令人振奮的時(shí)刻——在幼兒園決定跳級(jí)，決定轉(zhuǎn)到計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)專(zhuān)業(yè)，決定離開(kāi)學(xué)術(shù)界選擇Apple，決定回中國(guó)，決定選擇Google，乃至最近選擇創(chuàng)辦我的新公司。有能力進(jìn)行選擇意味著你會(huì)過(guò)上自己想要的生活。生命太短暫了，你不能過(guò)別人想要你過(guò)的生活。掌控自己的生命是很棒的感覺(jué)，試試吧，你會(huì)愛(ài)上它的！
I told your mom I'm writing this letter, and asked what she wanted me to say. She thought and said: "just ask her to take care of herself." Simple but deeply caring – that is how your mother is, and that is why you love her so much. In this simple sentence is her hope that you will become independent in the way you take care of yourself – that you will remember to take your medicine, that you will get enough sleep, that you will have a balanced diet, that you will get some exercise, and that you will go see a doctor whenever you don't feel good. An ancient Chinese proverb says that the most important thing to be nice to your parents is to take care of yourself. This is because your parents love you so much, and that if you are well, they will have comfort. You will understand this one day when you become a mother. But in the meantime, please listen to your mother and take care of yourself.
我告訴你媽媽我在寫(xiě)這封信，問(wèn)她有什么想對(duì)你說(shuō)的，她想了想，說(shuō)“讓她好好照顧自己”，很簡(jiǎn)單卻飽含著真切的關(guān)心——這一向是你深?lèi)?ài)的媽媽的特點(diǎn)。這短短的一句話(huà)，是她想提醒你很多事情，比如要記得自己按時(shí)吃藥，好好睡覺(jué)，保持健康的飲食，適量運(yùn)動(dòng)，不舒服的時(shí)候要去看醫(yī)生等等。中國(guó)有句古語(yǔ)，說(shuō)“身體發(fā)膚，受之父母，不敢毀傷，孝之始也”。這句話(huà)的意思用比較新的方法詮釋就是說(shuō)：父母最?lèi)?ài)的就是你，所以照顧好自己就是孝順最好的方法。當(dāng)你成為母親的那天，你就會(huì)理解這些。在那天之前，聽(tīng)媽媽的，你一定要好好照顧自己。
College is the four years where you have:
?the greatest amount of free time
大學(xué)是你自由時(shí)間最多的四年。
?the first chance to be independent
大學(xué)是你第一次學(xué)會(huì)獨(dú)立的四年。
?the most flexibility to change
大學(xué)是可塑性最強(qiáng)的四年。
?the lowest risk for making mistakes
大學(xué)是犯錯(cuò)代價(jià)最低的四年。
So please treasure your college years – make the best of your free time, become an independent thinker in control of your destiny, evolve yourself into a bi-cultural talent, be bold to experiment, learn and grow through your successes and challenges.
所以，珍惜你的大學(xué)時(shí)光吧，好好利用你的空閑時(shí)間，成為掌握自己命運(yùn)的獨(dú)立思考者，發(fā)展自己的多元化才能，大膽地去嘗試，通過(guò)不斷的成功和挑戰(zhàn)來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)和成長(zhǎng)，成為融匯中西的人才。
When I faced the greatest challenge and opportunity in my life in 2005, you gave me a big hug and said "bonne chance", which means "good luck" and "good courage". Now I do the same for you. Bonne chance, my angel and princess. May Columbia become the happiest four years in your life, and may you blossom into just what you dream to be.
當(dāng)我在2005年面對(duì)人生最大的挑戰(zhàn)時(shí)，你給了我大大的擁抱，還跟我說(shuō)了一句法語(yǔ)“bonne chance”。這句話(huà)代表“祝你勇敢，祝你好運(yùn)！”現(xiàn)在，我也想跟你說(shuō)同樣的話(huà)，bonne chance，我的天使和公主，希望哥倫比亞成為你一生中最快樂(lè)的四年，希望你成為你夢(mèng)想成為的人！
Love,
愛(ài)你的，
Dad (& Mom)
爸爸（和媽媽?zhuān)?/p>
相關(guān)閱讀
《小王子》經(jīng)典溫情語(yǔ)錄重溫
Winnie the Pooh 小熊維尼的人生哲學(xué)
《絕望主婦》各集結(jié)束語(yǔ)精選
比爾·蓋茨：寫(xiě)在年度公開(kāi)信之前
（來(lái)源：新浪博客 作者：李開(kāi)復(fù) 編輯：Julie）
