In college, talking with a group of graduating high school students about how to prepare for further study inspired me. This prestigious school, a new high school, hopes that graduates can enter excellent universities and also hope that they can study abroad. Speaking of it, many things may be taken for granted for us, but they may not be realized by students. Share it with readers in Hong Kong.

The first topic is: after college!

High school students, their teachers and their parents should not only pay attention to the college entrance examination, but also think about the life they will face in the future. In other words, we should fully realize that society has changed! There are several aspects that I have mentioned in this column and discussed with many people on different occasions; But once together, even I was a little surprised.

Education and professional relationship have changed.

First, apply what you have learned. "Counterpart employment" is no longer the norm. In Hong Kong, in addition to medicine, even if it is like law and engineering, there are a large number of graduates who are not engaged in law or engineering; Not to mention liberal arts, science and social sciences.

Second, use time to study. Echoing what they have learned, many industries (such as accounting and creativity) don't care about what graduates have learned, but expect them to learn on demand and in time.

Third, beyond academic qualifications. In fact, graduates with the same academic qualifications who graduated from the same university in real time and engaged in the same industry can be treated differently. It shows that society no longer cares about formal education, but instead pays attention to the qualities of "people" such as morality, basic ability, flexibility and learning ability.

Fourth, change jobs and change careers. In modern society, job-hopping is common, and so is unemployment. People's professional identity becomes blurred, and people's loyalty to institutions is often forced to be unsustainable.

Fifth, the organization is small. The scale of institutions is getting smaller and smaller, and there are fewer and fewer large institutions. Therefore, the team becomes smaller, the interaction between people becomes closer, and interpersonal friction becomes the norm; Front-line personnel should provide overall solutions and customized products); Serve customers; Every frontline person is like a small leader; Wait, there is no room for playing by the rules and living comfortably.

Sixth, individual entrepreneurship. Correspondingly, more and more freelancers. They are either self-employed and employed by multiple customers at the same time, or they provide services entirely in the form of short-term contracts. I don't belong to any organization anyway, but I work full-time.

Seven, the learning gap. Since it is a "learning society", there is a learning gap between people. In other words, without persistent willingness, perseverance, spirit and ability to learn, it will be difficult to survive in modern society, and perhaps you will join the ranks of "involuntary early retirement" that is common all over the world.

What I said above is not employment first. On the contrary, it just shows that it is unrealistic to aim at the "workplace" to get a degree. Formal education is no longer a cunning way to escape the reality of life and bypass the personality test. Now it's time to return to the basics, and students should focus on improving their comprehensive quality.

The mode of university study has changed.

So there is a second topic: the university is changing!

Universities are also changing, trying to catch up with social changes and face social challenges.

1. Universities, especially excellent universities, are no longer simply places to "study hard". The source of knowledge is no longer limited to teachers and textbooks. Teachers in universities are trying to find the most flexible and efficient ways to make students study most effectively, but the key is that students should enter the state of active learning.

Second, university study is no longer limited to formal courses. The more excellent a university is, the more it strives to provide students with colorful learning opportunities after school and abroad: dormitory life, foreign exchange, rural reflection, transnational poverty alleviation, social services, policy initiatives, internships, and consistent sports, literature, religion, publishing, etc. Students are faced with exciting and difficult choices.

The third topic: university admission.

College admission often exceeds the score of college entrance examination, and there are other extensive factors to consider. The discussion caused by HKU's enrollment in the mainland focused on the failure of some provinces to win the first prize; People ask: won't you be admitted if you get high marks? The admission to Harvard was decided by professional admissions staff after years of detailed investigation in middle schools all over the country and three months of closed-door meetings and discussions among students one by one. Among them, the high SAT score is not a problem, not a topic. Oxford admission, train tickets for students to stay in school for a few days, interactive observation, threshold points for conditions, temporary admission; Therefore, the threshold for students worthy of admission will be low; If there is nothing to learn outside the school, the threshold score will be high. Explain that for a serious university, a high score is a necessary condition for admission, but it is not a guarantee.

So there is a fourth topic: how do high school students prepare?

If high school students want to be admitted to excellent universities in the world, the first thing is to get good grades! There is no doubt about it; There is no room for negotiation except in very special circumstances. What high school students need is good grades and other aspects. Don't think this is a zero-sum game. A strong student is strong in having both.

The requirements of universities for high school students have changed.

The second is that English is better. There is no doubt about it. Mainland and Hong Kong students have a tendency to regard the results of English exams or tests as their English proficiency. This gives students a lot of wrong estimates and makes them miss the expectation of really improving their English. The key to learning English is to use English; In China, the starting point is reading.

The third is to broaden your horizons. To enter an excellent university, you must have an excellent vision; This is the key to stand out. Whether it is an interview or a thesis that American universities need, the key lies in their vision. Regular courses alone will not broaden your horizons; It will not be effective to spend thousands of RMB on the "Intensive Interview Class of HKU" in the Mainland. I boldly put forward three suggestions to my high school classmates, which may make readers laugh: first, we should understand the major problems in the world (such as climate, poverty and medical care), and watch more CCTV9, Discovery in English and National Geography; In English; Second, choose the topics you are most interested in, including some topics of interest in regular courses, and dabble in English wikis online to broaden your knowledge and deepen it gradually; The third is to read some English novels (non-intellectual stories) and gradually increase the weight.

It's a bit like a prescription, but it doesn't seem difficult to implement and it doesn't cost a penny. Why can't Hong Kong students do it? Besides, Hong Kong students have another advantage: the general education courses that will appear in schools only pave the way for these preparations.