去讓自己收獲成功的必備條件

Day One

第一天

The very first day of class, I walked in and addressed my students.

在課程開始的第一天，我走進(jìn)教室，給我的學(xué)生作課前講話。

“You will be graded on your homework, weekly quizzes and two exams. I do not play favorites, I do not grant extensions, and I do not grade on a curve.”

"你們的成績(jī)由3部分組成：作業(yè)成績(jī)，每周小測(cè)以及兩場(chǎng)考試。我不會(huì)偏心，不會(huì)允許作業(yè)延期，也不會(huì)按照正態(tài)給分。"

One hand shot up “Is it true that less than half of your students pass?”

一個(gè)學(xué)生舉手提問道：“聽說你的課程只有不足一半的學(xué)生可以順利通過，這是真的嗎?"

“Yes, that’s true. Last semester out of 17 students, 5 earned a B or better. You are welcome to switch sections if you want.”

"是的，就是這樣。上個(gè)學(xué)期，這門課一共有17名學(xué)生，只有5個(gè)人拿到了B或者更好的成績(jī)。如果你現(xiàn)在想要選擇其他的老師，我也不會(huì)反對(duì)。”

Four of the students got up and left, but Albert, somewhat surprisingly remained. Albert was one of my students last semester. Last semester he wasn’t doing too well, and I told him he may be better off dropping the class - but he stuck it out to the end, and earned a D for his efforts.

聽完我說的話之后，有4名學(xué)生起身離開。但讓我有點(diǎn)意外的是，艾伯特竟留了下來。他是我上學(xué)期課程的一名學(xué)生。那時(shí)他表現(xiàn)得并不好，我也曾告訴他，退課對(duì)他來說也許更好——但他還是堅(jiān)持到了學(xué)期末，并最終通過努力只得到D的成績(jī)。

I spoke to him after class again today, and he assured me this semester was going to be different. He was determined to do better.

今天，在課后我又一次找他談話，他對(duì)我保證這學(xué)期的表現(xiàn)會(huì)有所不同。他決心比上學(xué)期做得更好。

Albert came in for office hours, frequently emailed me for help and struggled with the material. He did better, but continued to have difficulty with some of the same concepts he had struggled with the previous semester.

之后，他時(shí)不時(shí)地在辦公時(shí)間來找我，也經(jīng)常通過郵件來尋求幫助，請(qǐng)教一些材料上不明白的問題。他確實(shí)比上學(xué)期有所進(jìn)步，但和之前一樣，對(duì)于一些同樣的概念他還是很難理解。

In the end, things did turn out differently. Instead of a D, Albert had earned a C, when a B was required to continue to the next level. He would have to repeat Introduction to Computer Science for a third time.

最終，他的期末成績(jī)確實(shí)有所不同。這一次他得到了C，比先前的D進(jìn)步了。然而，如果想要進(jìn)入到下一個(gè)等級(jí)的學(xué)習(xí)，他必須得到B，這也意味著，這次他還是沒有通過課程，他必須第三次選修“計(jì)算機(jī)概論"這門課。

The Next Semester

下一個(gè)學(xué)期

The following semester I had a batch of 15 students - Albert among them. I gave them the usual speech, a few switched sections, but Albert stayed in his seat. I pulled him aside after class.

又到了新的一學(xué)期，這次有15名學(xué)生選修了這門課——艾伯特依舊是其中的一位。按照慣例，我作了課前講話，有幾名學(xué)生選擇了離開，但艾伯特同往常一樣留了下來。課后，我又一次把他拉到一旁。

“Albert, I hope you understand the situation. You could easily pass this class if you took a different section. You know that I grade strictly, I don’t accept late work, and I don’t grade on a curve. Are you sure you want to remain in my section - or would you rather switch?”

"艾伯特，我希望你能清楚地了解自己的情況。如果你選擇其他的老師，將會(huì)很容易地通過這門課。你知道，我評(píng)判嚴(yán)格，不會(huì)接受遲交的作業(yè)，也不會(huì)按照正態(tài)給分。你確定還要呆在我的課堂上，或者你想要選擇其他的老師?"

“You know, I appreciate your concern Sid. I’ll think about it” he said.

他回答道：”你知道的，我非常感謝你對(duì)我的關(guān)心。我會(huì)認(rèn)真考慮的。"

The next week he was back in class - my class. Albert was in my section to stay, but I wasn’t going to go easy on him just because it was his third time. In some ways, I was even harder on him. He was focused and tried hard, but he was no model student. His grades fluctuated from Ds to Bs, and I had to have the old mid-semester “Do you want to drop out?” talk with him once again. Once again, he opted to stay for the whole semester rather than take the incomplete.

然而，在下一周的課堂上，我還是見到了他的身影，他最終還是選擇了留在我的班上。但我并沒有打算因此而對(duì)他放松要求。在某種意義上來說，我對(duì)他更嚴(yán)格了。我經(jīng)常關(guān)注他的舉動(dòng)，他也確實(shí)很努力，但還是成不了模范學(xué)生。他的平時(shí)成績(jī)總在D和B之間搖擺不定。我不得不在期中又一次找他談話，"你是否想要退課?"。然而他像前兩學(xué)期一樣，還是拒絕了我的建議。他選擇了學(xué)完整個(gè)學(xué)期的課程，而不愿半途放棄。

Finally, this was to be his semester - he barely earned his B. I was proud of him - and a bit relieved I wouldn’t have him repeating my class a fourth time.

最終，這學(xué)期末他勉強(qiáng)得到了一個(gè)B。我為他感到驕傲，除此以外，還有一點(diǎn)的欣慰，因?yàn)樗K于可以不用第四次出現(xiàn)在我的課堂上了。

My Class Grows

更多的身影

After Albert made it out of my class, something interesting happened. A couple semesters later my section started to grow, and I soon had to turn people away because my section was full.

在艾伯特順利地通過這門課程，從我的課堂上離開之后，有趣的事情發(fā)生了。兩個(gè)學(xué)期之后，我的班上出現(xiàn)了越來越多的學(xué)生，很快地，我不得不因?yàn)檫x課人數(shù)的限制而拒絕一些同學(xué)。

Why would people continue to sign up for my section when they knew they I was a harsh grader, and they stood a better chance of passing in a different class? I asked them, and learned that Albert had recommended me. Apparently, he was doing well in the upper level courses and when people asked him why, he told them he had learned a lot from being my student.

為什么還是有那么多的學(xué)生愿意選擇我的課堂，即便他們已經(jīng)了解到我是一名嚴(yán)格的老師，而且他們完全可以選擇其他更容易讓他們通過課程的老師?我問過我的學(xué)生這個(gè)問題，他們告訴我，那是因?yàn)榘卦?jīng)向他們推薦過我。顯然，艾伯特在他的高級(jí)課程中表現(xiàn)得很好，當(dāng)其他同學(xué)詢問他原因時(shí)，他告訴他們，那是因?yàn)樗麖奈业恼n堂中學(xué)到了很多。

I had to go find out for myself what was going on.

我必須自己去尋找艾伯特會(huì)如此推薦我的原因。

Why didn’t you just switch?

你為什么就是不愿意換一個(gè)老師教?

I learned that Albert wasn’t just doing well in courses - he was now tutoring undergraduates in computer science. I caught up with him one day, and asked him for the full story.

我了解到，艾伯特不僅僅只是在課堂上表現(xiàn)得很好——他現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)是本科生計(jì)算機(jī)課程的一名老師了。有一天我在路上遇到他，并詢問了他當(dāng)初如此堅(jiān)定地不換老師，并如此推薦我的原因。

He told me that as classmates struggled in the higher level classes, he was so thankful I had been hard on him and forced him to really learn the introductory material without passing him along. By letting him struggle, when he actually passed my course he knew he was ready for the next level, and that confidence helped motivate him in future classes. Because I was so harsh on him in his introductory courses, it didn’t faze him when later professors were strict with deadlines, because he was already used to it.

他告訴我說，當(dāng)他的同學(xué)都在更高級(jí)的課程中拼了命地學(xué)習(xí)時(shí)，他很感激我能夠在基礎(chǔ)的課程中對(duì)他嚴(yán)格要求，而不是隨便放他通過，讓他有機(jī)會(huì)真正地掌握那些計(jì)算機(jī)最基本的入門知識(shí)。雖然我的嚴(yán)格曾讓他努力了很久，但是當(dāng)他順利通過課程時(shí)，他清楚地知道自己完全作好了準(zhǔn)備去迎接更高級(jí)的課程，也正是這種信心在未來的學(xué)習(xí)中一直激勵(lì)著他。因?yàn)樵诟耪撜n程中我曾對(duì)他如此嚴(yán)厲，以至于在后來的課程中即使有教授對(duì)截止時(shí)間非?？量?，他也沒感到擔(dān)憂，因?yàn)樗缫蚜?xí)慣了這么一套緊張的學(xué)習(xí)模式。

“I appreciate that, but you didn’t need three semesters to learn that. Why didn’t you just switch sections your second semester instead of repeating my section over and over?” I asked him. “I gave you the chance to switch twice, and you know you could have passed in a different section.”

我問他：“我很欣賞你的這種態(tài)度，但是你并不需要花費(fèi)3學(xué)期的時(shí)間來收獲這種信心。在第二學(xué)期的時(shí)候，你為什么不選擇換一個(gè)老師來教，而是要一次次地走進(jìn)我的課堂?我給了你兩次機(jī)會(huì)去重新選擇，你也知道，如果你真的那么做了，你會(huì)輕而易舉地通過課程。"

“I know,” he said, ” but I needed to know that I had what it takes.”

他回答道：“我知道，但是我必須確定，自己已經(jīng)擁有了成功所需的必要條件。”

“If you can find a path with no obstacles,it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”  - Frank A. Clark

“如果你可以找到一條沒有任何障礙的路，那么很有可能這條路并不能帶你通向任何地方”——Frank A. Clark

Conclusion

結(jié)論

Albert may have learned a thing or two about computer science from me, but I learned a valuable life lesson from him. He already knew the value of hard work and persistence, but having him as my student has taught me that when you expect the best out of people, they’ll give you their best. People don’t want to be coddled, and they don’t want rewards they don’t deserve.

艾伯特也許從我的課堂中學(xué)習(xí)到了一些有關(guān)計(jì)算機(jī)方面有用的知識(shí)，但是我卻從他的身上學(xué)到了人生中寶貴的一課。他已經(jīng)知道辛勤工作和堅(jiān)持不懈的價(jià)值所在，除此以外，作為我的學(xué)生他還讓我明白，當(dāng)你由衷地期待別人做得最好的時(shí)候，別人也會(huì)向你表現(xiàn)出他們最好的一面。人們不想要沒有緣由的溺愛，也不需要那些并不屬于他們的獎(jiǎng)賞。

Just like Albert, many of us have the potential to accomplish great things, and will willingly struggle against obstacles time and time again.

就像艾伯特那樣，我們當(dāng)中的很多人都具備成功的潛質(zhì)，也愿意一次次地接受困難的挑戰(zhàn)。

We struggle because we believe the journey is worth it.

我們拼搏努力，因?yàn)槲覀兿嘈牛覀兊乃懈冻龆际侵档玫摹?strong class="label bg2" style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%" jQuery1280031641640="98">

We struggle because we want to improve ourselves.

我們拼搏努力，因?yàn)槲覀兛释嵘覀冏约骸?strong class="label bg2" style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%" jQuery1280031641640="99">

We struggle because we know we have what it takes.

我們拼搏努力，因?yàn)槲覀冎?，我們已?jīng)具備了成功所需的必要條件。