The Busy Back-to-School Season, and Envy of the Students

As the new school year approached, I went with the children to Tsinghua and Peking University; unfortunately, without a reservation we could not get through the campus gates. Twenty years ago I once lived in Zhongguanyuan, just east of Peking University; I often went to PKU to sit in on courses, and often went to Tsinghua's dorms to visit friends, downloading on the side some films unsuitable for children.

In those days Zhongguancun had many small vendors; the peddlers selling compact discs and all kinds of IT equipment all did a brisk business.

Back then one dollar traded for about 8.5 yuan, one pound for over 14 yuan, and one euro for over 10 yuan; foreign trade business was also easy to do.

Born into the right time, I too did a bit of foreign trade, and also some publishing-related business; I looked for students at PKU and Tsinghua to write software and professional books with me, made some money, bought a house in Beijing, and settled down. Only I always felt I had not read enough, and spent most of my time reading in the National Library, so I never struck it rich.

After settling down in peace and contentment, I began to throw myself wholeheartedly into the TCM career I love.

In the last ten years I have lived a secluded life, spending most of my time reading in my study and rarely going out. But whenever the back-to-school season arrives, I am still easily infected by the bustling scene at the school gates, and very much want to go to university once more, be a good student, and study hard for a few years. If possible, I would truly love to stay on campus all my life, read more, and then both practice medicine and teach.

I would very much like to go to a medical university once more to study modern medicine systematically and complete Western and Chinese medicine in full. The students in school may not quite understand the feeling of those of us who have worked in society for many years and long to return to the classroom; but I believe many experienced adults do understand. One only regrets the lack of books when one needs them; the longer one works, the more one knows of one's own shortcomings.

Education is a lifelong undertaking; one should live to old age and learn to old age. No one is so learned that they no longer need to learn. I still have many unknown fields and many blind spots in my profession; I would very much like to fulfill this wish for continuing education. People today live considerably longer than in the past; in my life I may still be able to study and work for another thirty or forty years. Since there is still so much time, if I am fortunate enough to get the chance of continuing education, setting aside a few years to study is worthwhile, and I am very willing.

In the past I always found many excuses for not pursuing continuing education, feeling that my life's responsibilities were not yet complete and my phased goals not yet achieved, so I could not yet 'returned to study after a hundred battles.' Now I think about it, these excuses are all nonsense; the real reason may be that I feared the life of 'boundless seas of learning, bitter as a boat,' and, having grown used to ease, was unwilling to endure that hardship again.

So let me, starting this year, begin preparing to receive a complete higher education once more! There are many goals in life, and they can perfectly well be accomplished while receiving an education.