5道哈佛大學(xué)思考題，教你學(xué)會生活
假如你可以當(dāng)一天的大學(xué)學(xué)院院長。你會做出哪一項可操作的改變，從而提升校園生活的體驗?
I have asked students this question for years. The answers can be eye-opening. A few years ago, the responses began to move away from “tweak the history course” or “change the ways labs are structured.” A different commentary, about learning to live wisely, has emerged.
我問學(xué)生這個問題已經(jīng)有很多年了。答案真讓人大開眼界。從幾年前開始，學(xué)生們的回答漸漸不再是“調(diào)整歷史課程”或“改變實驗室的結(jié)構(gòu)”。一種截然不同的態(tài)度出現(xiàn)了，關(guān)注的是如何學(xué)會明智地生活。
What does it mean to live a good life? What about a productive life? How about a happy life? How might I think about these ideas if the answers conflict with one another? And how do I use my time here at college to build on the answers to these tough questions?
怎樣才算是好的生活?怎樣才算是有成效的生活?怎樣才算是幸福的生活呢?如果這些答案彼此沖突，我將如何看待這些觀念?如何利用我的大學(xué)時光為這些棘手的問題逐漸找到答案?
A number of campuses have recently started to offer an opportunity for students to grapple with these questions. On my campus, Harvard, a small group of faculty members and deans created a noncredit seminar called “Reflecting on Your Life.” The format is simple: three 90-minute discussion sessions for groups of 12 first-year students, led by faculty members, advisers or deans. Well over 100 students participate each year.
最近，一些學(xué)校開始為學(xué)生提供機(jī)會來解決這些問題。在我的學(xué)校哈佛大學(xué)里，一小群教師和院長創(chuàng)建了一個不計入學(xué)分的研討會，名為“反思你的生活”(Reflecting on Your Life)。它的形式很簡單：以12名一年級學(xué)生為一組，由教師、顧問或院長帶領(lǐng)，進(jìn)行三次90分鐘的討論會。每年有超過100名學(xué)生參加。
Here are five exercises that students find particularly engaging. Each is designed to help freshmen identify their goals and reflect systematically about various aspects of their personal lives, and to connect what they discover to what they actually do at college.
下面有五個練習(xí)，是學(xué)生們覺得特別有吸引力的。每個練習(xí)都旨在幫助新生識別自己的目標(biāo)，系統(tǒng)地反映他們個人生活中的各個方面，并將他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)與他們在大學(xué)里實際所做的事情聯(lián)系起來。
1. For the first exercise, we ask students to make a list of how they want to spend their time at college. What matters to you? This might be going to class, studying, spending time with close friends, perhaps volunteering in the off-campus community or reading books not on any course’s required reading list. Then students make a list of how they actually spent their time, on average, each day over the past week and match the two lists.
1. 第一個練習(xí)，我們要求學(xué)生列一份清單，說明他們希望自己的大學(xué)時光是如何度過的。什么事情對于你來說很重要?可能是上課、學(xué)習(xí)、花時間與親密的朋友相處，也許是在校外社區(qū)做義工，或是閱讀課外書。然后我們要求學(xué)生列出他們在過去一周內(nèi)平均每天實際是如何使用時間的，并對兩份清單進(jìn)行比較。
Finally, we pose the question: How well do your commitments actually match your goals?
最后，我們提出了這個問題：你實際上所花費的時間與你的目標(biāo)是否相符?
A few students find a strong overlap between the lists. The majority don’t. They are stunned and dismayed to discover they are spending much of their precious time on activities they don’t value highly. The challenge is how to align your time commitments to reflect your personal convictions.
有些學(xué)生發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的兩份清單之間有很大的重疊。但大多數(shù)人并非如此。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己花費了大量的寶貴時間，用來做他們其實認(rèn)為并不重要的活動，并且為此感到震驚和不安。這里的挑戰(zhàn)是如何調(diào)整自己對時間的使用，使之符合你的個人信念。
2. Deciding on a major can be amazingly difficult. One student in our group was having a hard time choosing between government and science. How was she spending her spare time? She described being active in the Institute of Politics, running the Model U.N. and writing regularly for The Political Review. The discussion leader noted that she hadn’t mentioned the word “lab” in her summary. “Labs?” replied the student, looking incredulous. “Why would I mention labs when talking about my spare time?” Half an hour after the session, the group leader got an email thanking him for posing the question.
2. 決定一項主修課程的困難程度可能令人驚訝。我們小組里的一個學(xué)生很難在政府課程和科學(xué)課程之間做出選擇。她是怎么度過業(yè)余時間的?她描述了自己在政治學(xué)院的活躍表現(xiàn)，擔(dān)任模擬聯(lián)合國的負(fù)責(zé)人，定期在《政治評論》(The Political Review)上發(fā)表文章。討論主持人指出，她在自己的總結(jié)里沒有提到“實驗室”這個詞。“實驗室?”這個學(xué)生顯得一臉難以置信的樣子。“談?wù)摌I(yè)余時間的時候為什么要提到實驗室?”會后半小時，這位主持人收到她的電子郵件，感謝他提出這個問題。
3. I call this the Broad vs. Deep Exercise. If you could become extraordinarily good at one thing versus being pretty good at many things, which approach would you choose? We invite students to think about how to organize their college life to follow their chosen path in a purposeful way.
3. 這一項練習(xí)被我稱為“廣度對深度”。你是希望極度擅長某一件事，還是比較擅長很多件事?我們請學(xué)生思考如何組織自己的大學(xué)生活，從而堅定地走上自己選擇的道路。
4. In the Core Values Exercise, students are presented with a sheet of paper with about 25 words on it. The words include “dignity,” “love,” “fame,” “family,” “excellence,” “wealth” and “wisdom.” They are told to circle the five words that best describe their core values. Now, we ask, how might you deal with a situation where your core values come into conflict with one another? Students find this question particularly difficult. One student brought up his own personal dilemma: He wants to be a surgeon, and he also wants to have a large family. So his core values included the words “useful” and “family.” He said he worries a lot whether he could be a successful surgeon while also being a devoted father. Students couldn’t stop talking about this example, as many saw themselves facing a similar challenge.
4. 在核心價值練習(xí)中，我們給學(xué)生們看一張紙，上面大概寫了25個詞，包括“尊嚴(yán)”、“愛”、“聲名”、“家庭”、“優(yōu)秀”、“財富”和“智慧”。我們讓他們?nèi)Τ鲎钅苊枋鏊麄兒诵膬r值的五個詞。然后，我們問，如果你的核心價值相互沖突，你可能會如何應(yīng)對?學(xué)生們覺得這個問題特別難回答。一個學(xué)生提出了自己的難題：他想當(dāng)外科醫(yī)生，但也想有個大家庭。所以他的核心價值包括“有用”和“家庭”。他說，他很懷疑自己能否同時做一名成功的外科醫(yī)生和一名專注的父親。這個例子學(xué)生們討論了很長時間，因為很多人覺得自己面臨類似的挑戰(zhàn)。
5. This exercise presents the parable of a happy fisherman living a simple life on a small island. The fellow goes fishing for a few hours every day. He catches a few fish, sells them to his friends, and enjoys spending the rest of the day with his wife and children, and napping. He couldn’t imagine changing a thing in his relaxed and easy life.
5. 這項練習(xí)給出了一個寓言故事：一名快樂的漁夫在一個小島上過著簡單的生活。他每天花幾個小時捕一點魚，賣給朋友們，剩下的時間跟妻兒共享天倫之樂或者小睡。他一點都不想改變自己放松自在的生活。
Let’s tweak the parable: A recent M.B.A. visits this island and quickly sees how this fisherman could become rich. He could catch more fish, start up a business, market the fish, open a cannery, maybe even issue an I.P.O. Ultimately he would become truly successful. He could donate some of his fish to hungry children worldwide and might even save lives. 我們把這個寓言稍微改一下：一名剛畢業(yè)的工商管理碩士探訪了這個小島，很快就看出這名漁夫能如何致富。他可以捕更多魚，開個公司，推銷魚，開個罐頭廠，甚至可以上市。最終他會變得非常成功。他可以把魚捐給世界各地饑餓的孩子，甚至可以挽救生命。
“And then what?” asks the fisherman.
“然后呢?”漁夫問道。
“Then you could spend lots of time with your family,” replies the visitor. “Yet you would have made a difference in the world. You would have used your talents, and fed some poor children, instead of just lying around all day.”
“然后你可以花很多時間陪伴家人，”這名游客回答說。“但是，你可以給這個世界帶來不同。你可以發(fā)揮自己的才華，喂飽一些貧窮的孩子，而不是整天無所事事。”
We ask students to apply this parable to their own lives. Is it more important to you to have little, be less traditionally successful, yet be relaxed and happy and spend time with family? Or is it more important to you to work hard, perhaps start a business, maybe even make the world a better place along the way?
我們讓學(xué)生們把這個寓言運用到自己生活中。對你來說，什么更重要?是擁有很少的財富，從傳統(tǒng)意義上講不是很成功，但是輕松愉快，有時間陪家人?還是努力工作，也許開個公司，甚至可能在這個過程中讓世界變得更美好?
Typically, this simple parable leads to substantial disagreement. These discussions encourage first-year undergraduates to think about what really matters to them, and what each of us feels we might owe, or not owe, to the broader community — ideas that our students can capitalize on throughout their time at college.
通常，這個簡單的寓言故事會引發(fā)非常不同的意見。這些討論鼓勵本科一年級學(xué)生思考對他們來說什么是真正重要的東西，我們每個人感覺自己對更大的社區(qū)可能虧欠或不虧欠的東西——這些想法可以讓學(xué)生們在整個大學(xué)期間受益。
At the end of our sessions, I say to my group: “Tell me one thing you have changed your mind about this year,” and many responses reflect a remarkable level of introspection. Three years later, when we check in with participants, nearly all report that the discussions had been valuable, a step toward turning college into the transformational experience it is meant to be.
課程結(jié)束后，我對我的小組說：“跟我說一個你今年改變主意的事例”，很多回答反映出深層次的反思。三年后，我們回訪這些參與者時，幾乎所有人都報告稱，那些討論很有價值，有助于讓大學(xué)成為一段轉(zhuǎn)折性的經(jīng)歷——大學(xué)本來就該是這樣。
