Morgan's Little American Dream

噩耗传来，震惊，难以置信，失落，伤感，怀念。敬爱的陈铭俊教授最终还是离我们而去了。

不能忘记您在我那作业上留下的红色笔记，还有那惊人难忘的每天早上8点的早课；我还记得考实变函数前那晚躺在床上背证明的情景，也还记得教授考完代数最后跟我说的一句话“证明的时候要注意因果联系”，没想到这也成了教授跟我说最后的一句话。

作为老师的关门弟子，我并不是一个特别好的学生：我总是坐在课室的最后一排，上课点名回答问题的时候我也总是给教授骂，而我每次作业也总是难逃重做的厄运。但是，不论怎样，教授上课时交给我们的东西却是让我终生受益的。教授总是教我们怎样说话，教我们什么是逻辑，有兴致的时候还总是讲讲数学家的故事。严格也罢，苛刻也好，这一切此时都让我无比怀念，真不知教授以后，还有谁能在8点钟吧我们拖起来上课？还有谁让我们实变函数学十遍？还有谁能把我作业的错别字都一一改正?

教授的一言一行我都不会忘记, 希望教授一路走好....

大三即将结束,当许多人都基本上没有课程压力或者考试压力的时候,我却还要考实验班的试. 天天泡在自习室. 每次考试前才能体会得到一些课程有趣的地方,当然也有很多很恶心的地方. 感觉做了不少题目之后可以对一些东西来一个个人的概括,比如动态规划就是bellman原理, 比如非完美信息的博弈论就是贝叶斯均衡...唯独看代数的时候总是沉不下心,至今不知所云的状态,这年头年学pure maths都这么困难,更别说搞研究了. 还是应用数学或者应用经济学有趣一点,证明对我来说实在太艺术了.

P.S.看到牛人的满分的作业之后才意识到自己有多差,难怪自己才7分,唉~超过智力范围了.

纳什，那个曾经疯癫的经济学家。

第一次知道他应该和很多人一样，来自高中时候的一部《美丽心灵》。那个时候只是觉得天才和疯子其实没什么区别，发了疯般的创造出很多人发了疯的学也学不会的理论。那个时候还觉得经济学家跟数学家其实没什么区别，整日就在窗户写上证明在墙上写推导。

后来知道他，跟很多学过经济学的人一样，是从一个叫纳什均衡的地方得知。那个时候也很不解，为什么这样一个简单的定义能让这位处在智力巅峰的伟人奋斗一生。

直到上周五博弈论上聂海峰花了整整两节课妄图在黑板上给我们证明纳什均衡存在定理(1950)，结果非但无功而返而且估计也没有人能听的懂时，我才发现纳什究竟有多猛。

虽然是Marketing PhD, 不过也可以借鉴借鉴。 

Pursuing a Career as a Marketing Professor
Sources of Inspiration—Quotes from Marketing PhDs
• Challenge and Personal Freedom.
– After 10 years at a leading Marketing company, I decided to get my PhD in marketing because an academic career offers new challenges along with intellectual and personal freedom that I couldn’t get in my previous role.  The PhD is a credential that opens many doors and unlocks many opportunities that a Bachelor's degree or even an MBA cannot. 

Sources of Inspiration—Quotes from Marketing PhDs
• Personal Freedom and Lifestyle.
– You are your own boss in your own research world with very flexible hours.  The job provides great work-family balance, decent pay, and great opportunities to travel around the world.

Sources of Inspiration—Quotes from Marketing PhDs
• Freedom and Research.
– Academic research is different from doing marketing research as practitioner.   As a practitioner, you are working for the client.  As an academic, you can wake up one morning wondering about why firms try to implement more technology that lessens salesperson-customer interaction and you can decide to spend the next 24 months of your life researching that issue.

Sources of Inspiration—Quotes from Marketing PhDs
• Challenge and Research.
– I’m driven by challenge – researching and finding the unknown is the ultimate challenge in the field of marketing.
 

Sources of Inspiration—Quotes from Marketing PhDs
• Research.
– I decided to get a PhD because of the research.  I am intrigued by ideas of how and why things work or started.  I was even more fascinated by how, on a everyday basis, with how people are influenced to do things based on marketing.  I used to think it was is magic or something.  I had to find out what was going on.
 

Sources of Inspiration—Quotes from Marketing PhDs
• Making A Difference.
– I was inspired by the opportunity to make a difference in students’ lives.
– You get to spend a lot of time around young people, talking to them about the things you feel passionate about and hoping that you had something to do with the choices they make in terms of what to do with their lives.

Making A Difference
• Quotes from Students about their Marketing Professors:
– My marketing professor went above and beyond her call of duty by finding me an internship, writing a letter of recommendation, and speaking with potential employers as a reference.  She also helped me get my dream job in New York City.
– You always seemed interested and excited about the material you were presenting.  I feel like I have learned a lot and, as strange as it may sound, I enjoyed every minute of it.
– My professor was so effective that I’m now considering a career in retailing.
Making A Difference
• Marketing professors can also make a difference in the quality of education and in economic development.
• Their research makes what they teach relevant.
• This research also gets students to think beyond current practice.
• Thus, PhDs are very important to economic development.

PhD Programs
• Provide a depth of knowledge in the area.
• Train students for an academic career in research.
• Also train students to teach within the specialization.
• Require full-time commitment for 4-5 years.
• Pay monthly compensation through research and teaching assistantships, plus provide a tuition waiver.
Other Issues to Consider
• The business PhD is an endangered species.
• Studies estimate that some 500 spots for doctorate-holding faculty went vacant in 2003.
• The situation is likely to worsen—applicants are desperately needed!
Other Issues to Consider
• There are many well-paying positions!
• 2004-2005 AACSB Salary Survey Report:
– New doctorate new hires were paid $91,800 on average.
– The average salary for new doctorates at accredited schools was $93,200.

感悟中起飞找我约稿，于是纂文一篇纪念过去的激情岁月。 

 我的GRE岁月

男子汉不发奋则已，一发奋则几万单词尽入麾下. ——红宝书卷首语

序
还记得大二的时候看了岭南学子中一篇师兄的GRE经验总结后的心潮澎湃，还不知天高地厚般信誓旦旦的立志有朝一日要跟那位师兄一样优秀。而如今, GRE对于我而言已经仅仅是逝去的记忆, 一些很片段的很复杂的记忆。 但我还是决心把他写出来, 毕竟那些日子是难以忘怀的; 同时也希望我的故事或许也能为后来之人做个前车之鉴。

春
大二上学期的寒假，心血来潮的决心考G，开始了漫长的GTER之路。找Alex谈了谈自己的想法, 出乎意料的竟然一拍即合, 就这样注定要一起完成这个不可能完成的任务. 于是在2007年春天的某一天，我们给祖国贡献了GDP，给ETS贡献了利润，给老俞纳斯达克上市的股价提供了支持。那时我什么也没有, 有的只是信心. 一本红宝书捧在怀里, 心中开始了无限的遐想: 纽约的风雪, 还有加州的阳光.....
可能开始想象得太美好了,现实总是让人失望. 红宝书的词汇量之大让我大为震惊. 当时正在香港交换，为了G，不得不放弃了很多周末的娱乐活动, 在图书馆闭关。周末的图书馆门可罗雀, 巨大的自习室经常只有红宝书和我做伴, 整整一个月才背完了第一遍. 当时的感觉只有痛, 一点快乐也没有, 更让人沮丧的是第一遍背完后红宝书依然是满目疮痍举目无亲. 无奈之下, 又开始了第二遍, 第三遍..... 整个上半年，即使很努力的背但是速度依然极其缓慢。无意之间，和Alex在Q上聊天时，开始互相较劲看谁背得快，有时候Alex会冲动地一天背上三天的量，而我有时候也会不服气，捧着红宝战斗到凌晨三点......就这样，我带着春天成长的气息, 走过了整整一个学期。

夏
从香港回来之后,又是期末考试等等繁杂的事情。等到腾出时间的时候,才发现日历已经翻到了2007年的7月. 当时抱着见见世面的态度和Alex一起北上清华, 参加了北京新东方暑期班. 北京之行令人兴奋, 新东方一个个传奇式的老师让我们为了自己的激情和梦想而奋斗, 更让我感叹的是周围的清华同学是如此之牛, 可能平时在广州限制了自己的视野, 当时才发现世界其实很大. 新东方的课程很紧, 每天都在做题,背词,上课中度过. 刚开始做题的错误率很高, 阅读基本对不了几个，和Alex打趣说这样下去只能"阿拉斯加的风雪,还有夏威夷的阳光了".
新东方归来, 离AW考试仅仅有大约一个月时间, 很彷徨: 怎么可能在半小时之内写出五六百字的文章? 硬着头皮写提纲，研究范文，写提纲，研究范文，做模板，改模板，反反复复，来来去去. 渐渐的, 写完一篇Argument文章从2个小时到1个小时,从45分钟到最后的28-29分钟. 就这样每天一篇Issue一篇Argument, 不停的写, 不停的改, 每次写完一篇文章, 僵硬的双手从键盘上放下来时, 都很有宝刀入鞘的快感。
终于在9月中旬的某一天, 我踏入了AW的考场. 抽到的题目很熟悉, 于是写的没什么感觉,犹如平时模考一般. 考完出来头脑一片空白，留下的只有电脑里一堆堆的txt文本，记忆中Word那一条条鲜红刺眼的波浪线, 和打印出来一份份维基百科的资料。伴随这些，我走过了AW之路, 而热烈的夏天, 也正如火热的激情一般, 在GRE的陪伴中顺利地度过了。

秋
后AW时代已经到来。我开始习惯背单词背到脸色铁青腰酸背疼，习惯了呆在伍舜德看着太阳每天东升西落，习惯了在累了之后看看前面考研的哥们然后一起并肩作战。厚厚的单词，一遍又一遍；厚厚的习题集，也做了一遍又一遍。很多时候，早晨躺在床上不愿意离开温暖的被窝，很多时候，面对满眼的小红叉叉，很多时候，拖着疲惫的身体晚上从图书馆出来，都很想放弃。这时，跟Alex谈谈理想，想想自己最初的选择，又会充满了动力。最后一个月，为了更适应考场现实，我进行了10次的模考，按照规定时间用标准的答题卡做标准的真题。有时我发挥好一点，有时Alex发挥好一点，那时，好像已经把最后的结果置之度外，模考，总结，再模考，再总结……最后临上考场前，当我的红宝书背了20多遍，模考进行了10次，类反填空做了5遍时，我想到了一句话：尽人事，安天命。总是后知后觉的我已经做了我能做的，剩下的只能交给上帝去决定了。秋季是收获的秋季，而这个秋季我却在努力播种，等着冬季的到来。

后记
带着颤抖的手，把从遥远的彼岸寄来的信封打开。分数不算十分可观，AW发挥失常得甚至已经是能够接受的底线，但是也算对得起自己的努力了。如今看来，与其说GRE是一个考试，不如说是一种经历。曾经认为它难于上青天，如今也好像看待高考一般淡然对待。也曾经以为考完GT之后便可以一劳永逸一马平川，如今看来GRE只是实现美国梦的第一步，后面的道路依然很长。最后的祝福给所有为梦想奋斗过的GTER，有人可能成功，有人可能失败，但所有的GTER都应该为自己有一个梦想而自豪！在此，但愿明年此时，各位GTER们都能收到Dream School的offer。