Education Does Count
比尔·盖茨 / Bill Gates
Hundreds of students send me e-mail each year asking for advice about education. They want to know what to study, or whether it’s OK to drop out of college since that’s what I did.
A smaller number of parents send messages, often poignant, seeking guidance for their son or daughter. “How can we steer our child toward success?” they ask.
My basic advice is simple and heartfelt. “Get the best education you can. Take advantage of high school and college. Learn how to learn.”
It’s true that I dropped out of college to start Microsoft, but I was at Harvard for three years before dropping out — and I’d love to have the time to go back. As I’ve said before, nobody should drop out of college unless they believe they face the opportunity of a lifetime. And even then they should reconsider.
Kathy Cridland, a sixth grade teacher in Ohio, wrote to say, “Several of my students claim that you never finished high school. Since you are a success, my students perceive that as a reason not to care much about getting a good education.”
I finished high school!
The computer industry has lots of people who didn’t finish college, but I' m not aware of any success stories that began with somebody dropping out of high school. I actually don't know any high school dropouts, let alone any successful ones.
In my company’s early years, we had a bright part-time programmer who threatened to drop out of high school to work full-time. We told him no.
Quite a few of our people didn’t finish college, but we discourage dropping out. Having a diploma certainly helps somebody who is looking to us for a job.
College isn’t the only place where information exists. You can learn in a library. But somebody handing you a book doesn’t automatically foster learning. You want to learn with other people, ask questions, try out ideas and have a way to test your ability. It usually takes more than just a book.
Education should be broad, although it’s fine to have deep interests, too.
In high school there were periods when I was highly focused on writing software, but for most of my high school years I had wide-ranging academic interests. My parents encouraged this, and I’m grateful that they did.
Although I attended a lot of different kinds of classes in college, I signed up for only one computer class the whole time. I read about all kinds of things.
One parent wrote me that her 15-year-old son “lost himself in the hole of the computer”. He got an A in web site design, but other grades were sinking, she said. This boy is making a mistake. High school and college offer you the best chance to learn broadly — math, history, various sciences — and to do projects with other kids that teach you first-hand about group dynamics. It’s fine to take a deep interest in computers, dance, language or any other disciplines, but not if it jeopardizes breadth.
In college it’s appropriate to think about specialization. Getting real expertise in an area of interest can lead to success — unless the specialty ends up being a dead end or you’re not good at it. Graduate school is one way to get specialized knowledge, although extended college education isn’t always a good investment from a purely economic standpoint.
Choosing a specialty isn’t something that high school students should worry about. They should worry about getting a strong academic start.
There’s not a perfect correlation between attitudes in high school and success in later life, of course.
But it’s a real mistake not to take the opportunity to learn a huge range of subjects, to learn to work with people in high school, and to get the grades that will help you get into a good college.
每年给我发邮件的学生都有数百位，他们请求我就教育问题提出一些建议。他们想知道学什么，或者是否可以像我一样放弃大学学业。
也有一些家长给我发来令我头疼的邮件，要寻求指导孩子的方法。他们问：“我们怎样才能指导孩子走向成功呢？”
我真诚而简单地给出了我的主要建议：“接受你能得到的最好教育。利用高中和大学的优势，学会如何学习。”
的确，我辍学创办了微软公司。但是在退学前，我已在哈佛大学上了三年学，而且我希望有机会还能重回哈佛。正如我之前所说的一样，没有人应该放弃大学学业，除非他们相信正面临着影响一生的机遇。但即使如此，他们仍然需要慎重考虑。
俄亥俄州一位六年级的教师凯茜?克里德兰德给我写信说：“我的一些学生声称，你连高中都没有读完。因为你的成功，他们便觉得这是不用必须接受良好教育的借口。”
我的确完成了高中学业！
计算机产业中的很多人都没有完成大学学业。但我没发现哪个成功的故事，是从某人高中退学开始的。事实上，我没见过高中辍学的人，更别说这样的成功之士了。
在我的公司创办之初，有位聪明的兼职程序师，他曾为了能全职工作而扬言要从高中辍学。我们告诉他不要那样做。
我们当中有相当一部分人没有完成大学学业，但我们并不鼓励辍学。到我们这里找工作的人，持有一张学历证明确实对他有帮助。
大学不是获取信息的唯一地方，你可以去图书馆。但别人可以给你一本书，却无法帮你学习。你要希望同他人一起学习，问问题，提炼自己的想法，有检验自己能力的方式。这样你学到的会比一本书上讲到的多。
尽管对某一方面拥有深厚的兴趣也很不错，但是教育应当是广泛的。
高中时，我热衷编写软件。但高中大部分时间，我对很多学科都很感兴趣。我的父母也鼓励我，我很感激他们那么做。
大学期间，尽管我参加学习了很多不同的课程，但我只报了一门电脑课，还广泛阅读了各种书籍。
一位母亲写信告诉我说，她15岁的儿子“在电脑的黑洞中迷失了自我”。他的网站设计课得了A，但其他的成绩却直线下降。这个男孩犯了一个错误。高中和大学将会给你提供广泛学习的最好机会——数学，历史，各门科学——还能和其他孩子一起制作方案，这将直接教会你团队合作。对计算机、舞蹈、语言或其他学科有深厚兴趣固然很好，但若危及到全面的学习就不可取了。
在大学就可以考虑专业的方向了。在某一兴趣上获得真正的专业知识会引导你走向成功，除非这个专业的前景是死路，或是你不能把它做好。读研究生是获得专业知识的途径之一，尽管从纯粹的经济学立场看，延长学院教育时间并非总是明智的投资。
选择专业不是高中生应该担心的问题。他们应该做的就是打好坚实的学习基础。
当然，高中时的态度和之后人生中的成功关系不大。
但是如果在高中期间不抓住机会学习广泛的知识，不学会如何与他人合作，不能获得能让你进入好大学的分数，那就真是大错特错了。
记忆填空
1. It’s that I dropped out of to start Microsoft, but I was at Harvard for three years dropping out — and I’d love to have the time to go . As I’ve said before, nobody should drop out of college unless they believe they the opportunity of a lifetime.
2. The industry has lots of people didn’t finish college, but I’m not aware of any success that began with somebody dropping out of high school. I actually don't know any high school dropouts, let alone any successful .
3. There’s not a correlation between attitudes in high school and in later life, of course.
佳句翻译
1. 他们想知道学什么，或者是否可以像我一样放弃大学学业。
2. 接受你能得到的最好教育。利用高中和大学的优势，学会如何学习。
3. 选择专业不是高中生应该担心的问题。他们应该做的就是打好坚实的学习基础。
短语应用
1. or whether it’s OK to drop out of college since that’s what I did.
drop out of：退学，失学；从……当中退出
2. It’s fine to take a deep interest in computers.
take a deep interest in：对……有浓厚的兴趣