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。你媽媽和我在成績上對你沒什么要求，只要你能順利畢業(yè)并在這四年里學到了些東西，我們就會很高興了。即便你畢業(yè)時沒有獲得優(yōu)異的成績，你的哥倫比亞學位也將帶你走得很遠。所以別給自己壓力。在你高中生活的最后幾個月，因為壓力比較小，大學申請也結束了，你過得很開心，但是在最近的幾個星期，你好像開始緊張起來。（你注意到你緊張時會咬指甲嗎？）千萬別擔心，最重要的是你在學習，你需要的唯一衡量是你的努力程度。成績只不過是虛榮的人用以吹噓和慵懶的人所恐懼的無聊數字而已，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.
最重要的是在大學里你要交一些朋友，快樂生活。大學的朋友往往是生命中最好的朋友，因為在大學里你和朋友能夠近距離交往。另外，在一塊兒成長，一起獨立，很自然地你們就會緊緊地系在一起，成為密友。你應該挑選一些真誠誠懇的朋友，跟他們親近，別在乎他們的愛好、成績、外表甚至性格。你在高中的最后兩年已經交到了一些真正的朋友，所以盡可以相信自己的直覺，再交一些新朋友吧。你是一個真誠的人，任何人都會喜歡跟你做朋友的，所以要自信、外向、主動一點，如果你喜歡某人，就告訴她，就算她拒絕了，你也沒有損失什么。以最大的善意去對人，不要有成見，要寬容。人無完人，只要他們很真誠，就信任他們，對他們友善。他們將給你相同的回報，這是我成功的秘密——我以誠待人，信任他人（除非他們做了失信于我的事）。有人告訴這樣有時我會被占便宜，他們是對的，但是我可以告訴你：以誠待人讓我得到的遠遠超過我失去的。在我做管理的18年里，我學到一件很重要的事——要想得到他人的信任和尊重，只有先去信任和尊重他人。無論是管理、工作、交友，這點都值得你參考。
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.
要和你高中時代的朋友保持聯(lián)系，但是不要用他們來取代大學的友誼，也不要把全部的時間都花在老朋友身上，因為那樣你就會失去交新朋友的機會了。
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.
你還要早點開始規(guī)劃你的暑假——你想做什么？你想呆在哪兒？你想學點什么？你在大學里學習是否會讓你有新的打算？我覺得你學習藝術設計的計劃很不錯，你應該想好你該去哪兒學習相應的課程。我們當然希望你回到北京，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!
不管是暑假計劃，功課規(guī)劃，抑或是選專業(yè)，管理時間，你都應該負責你的人生。過去不管是申請學校、設計課外活動或者選擇最初的課程，我都從旁幫助了你不少。以后，我仍然會一直站你身旁，但是現在是你自己掌舵的時候了。我常常記起我生命中那些令人振奮的時刻——在幼兒園決定跳級，決定轉到計算機科學專業(yè)，決定離開學術界選擇Apple，決定回中國，決定選擇Google，乃至最近選擇創(chuàng)辦我的新公司。有能力進行選擇意味著你會過上自己想要的生活。生命太短暫了，你不能過別人想要你過的生活。掌控自己的生命是很棒的感覺，試試吧，你會愛上它的！
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這封信，問她有什么想對你說的，她想了想，說“讓她好好照顧自己”，很簡單卻飽含著真切的關心——這一向是你深愛的媽媽的特點。這短短的一句話，是她想提醒你很多事情，比如要記得自己按時吃藥，好好睡覺，保持健康的飲食，適量運動，不舒服的時候要去看醫(yī)生等等。中國有句古語，說“身體發(fā)膚，受之父母，不敢毀傷，孝之始也”。這句話的意思用比較新的方法詮釋就是說：父母最愛的就是你，所以照顧好自己就是孝順最好的方法。當你成為母親的那天，你就會理解這些。在那天之前，聽媽媽的，你一定要好好照顧自己。
College is the four years where you have:
?the greatest amount of free time
大學是你自由時間最多的四年。
?the first chance to be independent
大學是你第一次學會獨立的四年。
?the most flexibility to change
大學是可塑性最強的四年。
?the lowest risk for making mistakes
大學是犯錯代價最低的四年。
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，珍惜你的大學時光吧，好好利用你的空閑時間，成為掌握自己命運的獨立思考者，發(fā)展自己的多元化才能，大膽地去嘗試，通過不斷的成功和挑戰(zhàn)來學習和成長，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.
當我在2005年面對人生最大的挑戰(zhàn)時，你給了我大大的擁抱，還跟我說了一句法語“bonne chance”。這句話代表“祝你勇敢，祝你好運！”現在，我也想跟你說同樣的話，bonne chance，我的天使和公主，希望哥倫比亞成為你一生中最快樂的四年，希望你成為你夢想成為的人！
Love,
愛你的，
Dad (& Mom)
爸爸（和媽媽）
相關閱讀
《小王子》經典溫情語錄重溫
Winnie the Pooh 小熊維尼的人生哲學
《絕望主婦》各集結束語精選
比爾·蓋茨：寫在年度公開信之前
（來源：新浪博客 作者：李開復 編輯：Julie）
