At 22, I simply wanted to be the best scientist in the world. With a biology major, I believed that the brain science was the most challenging and mysterious field in biology. Knowing that Columbia University’s Center for Neurobiology and Behavior was the very top research institute in Neurobiology worldwide, I applied to Columbia for a Ph.D. program.
At that time, there was no email. My family was so poor that we did not have a telephone. The only way for me to communicate with Columbia was via snail mail, which took on average fifteen days between Columbia and my home. One day, I received a letter from Columbia, telling me that I was selected, among many prospective Ph.D. students, to be interviewed in Shanghai by Dr. Philip Feigelson, the Associate Dean of Columbia’s Graduate School. It was supposed to be good news, except that, when I received the letter, it had already passed the date when the Dean was supposed to interview me. Out of desperation, I called the Shanghai hotel, Fudan University’s Guest House, where the dean was supposed to stay.
“He has already left,” the person at the other end of the telephone told me.
“Where did he go?” Out of desperation, I asked.
“He has decided to extend his trip to take a personal tour in China.” The person told me a few Chinese cities where Dr. Feigelson would go, which included Wuhan, the city where I was.
On the day when Dr. Feigelson arrived in Wuhan, it rained so hard that the flooding caused the bus system to temporally stop running. I found a pay phone to call Dr. Feigelson at his hotel. He was apparently surprised by the call since “ordinary” Chinese students would not call out of the blue like this—They are educated to be demure and obey the rules.
“Dr. Fai’garson,” my English was so poor, I could not pronounce his name right, “May I come to see you?” Probably partly because of curiosity, partly because of the pouring rain, which prevented him from going anywhere, Dr. Feigelson agreed to see me.
Riding on my old bike, I was on a muddy road to interview with the Associate Dean of Columbia University. I did not own a suit so I wore my sweater and jeans. I biked for almost two and half hours until I reached the hotel.
Dr. Feigelson was apparently surprised when I, completely soaked, appeared at his door. Using broken English, I tried to tell him how I could be useful to the research at Columbia—I had studied Columbia’s great research in neurobiology and tried to fit in. Our meeting, originally planned for half an hour, lasted for over one and a half hours. Looking back, I feel Dr. Feigelson knew I did not realize what I was bullshitting about but he was impressed by my drive and eagerness.
He said when I was leaving, “Please be patient. When I get back to New York, I will work on your application right away, but the paperwork will take some time.”
Approximately one week later, I received a telegraph, the only means to reach me quickly, from Dr. Feigelson, saying that “you have been accepted by Columbia University as a Ph.D. student we have arranged a full fellowship for you.”
When I tell this story to my friends, they often think that biking in the rain and so on sounds pretty brave and adventurous. But if you had been in a corner of China in 2000, your would understand my desperation. I was more lucky than brave. When a person has nothing to lose, he often appears courageous and focused. More importantly, he would try to achieve what other people do not think possible. I want to share a favorite quotation with you: “He did not know that it could not be done, so he went ahead and did it.” Life is a daring adventure, or nothing. In some ways, being naïve or desperate is a blessing.
I am forever grateful to Dr. Feigelson, who unfortunately passed away in 2001.
When a person owns some money, such as us in Silicon valley, we tend to try to maximizing the money by investing them. So, our time is occupied by many stuff outside of work and life.
Only when I lost all the money in the stock market, I realize that I still have myself and my time. Nobody can steal my time except myself. Actually, now, I can start to enjoy myself much more than before.
Hope to read more story from you.