Lessons from Harvard

When Yilin Feng returned this year from Harvard I was very excited.  First of all, she had a chance to attend a lecture from Mankiw whose textbook we use in AP Economics.  More importantly she is just a tremendous young lady who demonstrates many of the character traits we are trying to instill in our students.

Last year, in the third quarter she struggled with economics.  Now mind you, struggle for Yilin is getting a B in the class.  At the time that I gave her a B, I did not realize she was tied for number one in our school.  Four years of hardwork on the line and a B for her final grade could push her out of the number one spot.  Never once did Yilin ever ask me what she could do to get an A.  Never once did she ask for extra credit, put pressure on me or even hint to me that she needed an A in the class to be number one.  To me it really demonstrates the type of character this young lady possesses.

I am sure she wanted to be number one in the class but not so much that she was going to ask for favors to get it.  While I never asked her about it, my thoughts are that she was just going to continue to do her best and the grade would take care of itself.

When I called Harvard admissions office to find out why a couple of our other students were not accepted, the lady in admissions raved about Yilin.  We know she is going to do great here (they were right she had a 4.0).  When I told Yilin about these comments she thanked me, and said, "I thought I was the last person they picked.  It is nice to know they really liked me"  Humility is definitely one of Yilin's strengths and it shows from those remarks.

This year when she visited I asked her did her parents pressure her to get to an Ivy League School.  She told me that the only pressure was to do her best.  If Maryland was the best her parents would have been happy.  The best way to end this blog is her comments about Harvard,"Many people think that Harvard students think they are Gods gift to the world, the truth is most of us think Harvard is Gods gift to us"

As a teacher I am so lucky to cross paths with some many great young people.