You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 356 Cheer Up
Director Wang sat on a chair in the hotel room, looking at the notes spread out in front of him with a serious expression, holding the pen in his hand but unable to put it down.

He had been sitting there for nearly an hour, with only a few words on his notebook and large blank spaces left.

Time passed minute by minute, and Director Wang was like a later online writer who was accustomed to procrastinating on updating, as if he would never start writing until the last minute.

But unlike online writers who have no idea what to write, Director Wang’s mind is very confused, with many ideas colliding fiercely, making it difficult for him to start writing and he doesn’t know how to write.

This is an inspection and research report. This time, Director Wang's responsibilities are not only to take the college students to travel around and participate in summer camps, but also to write a report and record what he saw along the way.

I have been following the students to various activities these days and have seen the entire process. The performance of the American students, in particular, was completely overwhelming.

This applies not only to Chinese students, but also to students from other European countries.

Director Wang was also shocked. He had read some reports, materials and articles related to education in the United States. He used to scoff at those who advocated the effectiveness of quality-oriented education.

Now, after experiencing the contrast with reality, his ideas began to waver.

Although they are all college students, the American college student representatives are very special.

The legendary quality-oriented education is so terrible?
So should China’s education system learn from the United States and start to promote quality-oriented education?

The trend of quality-oriented education started in the 2005s, and by it had been at least ten years old.

From the first use of the concept of "quality-oriented education" in a central document in 1994 to the proposal in 1996 to "reform the talent training model and shift from 'examination-oriented education' to comprehensive quality-oriented education."

We have been calling for educational innovation and reform for many years, but there is still no conclusion on how to reform.

After so many years of calling for "quality-oriented education" reforms, many places are still sticking to the test-oriented education approach. People are just following the slogans for show, but in reality they still force students to study themselves to death.

Director Wang thought that he should do more research to find out what was going on in the United States so that he could have a reference.

However, Director Wang cannot do this by himself. His responsibility is to lead the students to complete the "International Summer Camp" smoothly and then bring them back safely, without missing a single one.

What's more, he had no connections or funds to do this, and he didn't even have money to take a taxi.

However, he soon thought of Qin Shaoyan, the sponsor. He could talk to him and see if he could help find a car to take him around, or help find some information.

Director Wang immediately put down his pen, stood up, went to Qin Shaoyan's room and knocked on the door.

Once again, the staff came to open the door. The sofa in the room was full of people. The table in front of them was filled with laptops and various papers and pens, and the whiteboard next to it was filled with various incomprehensible terms.

What are “vertical layout, conversion, strategy, ecology, layout, innovation, pain points, and traffic”? I recognize each word separately, but I don’t understand them when they are put together.

As soon as Director Wang saw this, he knew that Mr. Qin was in a meeting again, so he apologized immediately: "I'm sorry, I didn't know Mr. Qin was busy. I'll come over later."

"It's okay, it's okay. Director Wang, please sit down. I'll be done quickly." Qin Shaoyan greeted warmly, turned around and said a few words to the others, then sent everyone away.

After everyone else left, Secretary Xiao Chen brought two cups of coffee to the two of them and then left.

"Director Wang, what do you want to talk to me about?" Qin Shaoyan asked with a smile.

"It's not a big deal." Director Wang hesitated. "I plan to write an investigation report on American education, but I have limited information. I also want to visit American schools in person, but I'm unfamiliar with the place and it's not very convenient to travel. So I shamelessly came to Mr. Qin for help."

"This is a good thing." Qin Shaoyan said generously, "I will send a car to Director Wang, and find you a local student to be your translator and guide. Go out and see more. If you need anything, just tell me."

"Thank you so much, President Qin." Director Wang excitedly grabbed Qin Shaoyan's hand and shook it, "Thank you, President Qin, for your support for my work."

"I am just making a small contribution to China's education cause. It is not worth mentioning." Qin Shaoyan said seriously, "I hope Director Wang's report can be completed smoothly."

Director Wang nodded solemnly, then asked, "Boss Qin, I heard that you come to the United States often and have a good relationship with Facebook in the United States."

"Yeah." Qin Shaoyan was a little surprised, "What's wrong?"

"Facebook was founded in American universities, so they should have a deep understanding of American universities," Director Wang asked solemnly, "Boss Qin, what do you think of American college students?"

Qin Shaoyan frowned. "This topic is very broad. Besides, I don't interact with American college students much, so I can't say I know much about them."

"Then what do you think of quality education in the United States?" Director Wang changed the question.

"Hmm?" Qin Shaoyan frowned even more tightly. "You want to ask about the quality education in the United States. To be honest, I don't know much about the United States, and I'm not an expert in education, but I do know something about quality education."

"But there are some things I can't say."

"Why?" Director Wang was a little puzzled. "Boss Qin, just say it casually. Don't worry, I won't spread it or write it in the report."

Qin Shaoyan smiled and said, "The United States does not have any so-called quality education. It only has elite education for the upper class and happy education for the lower class."

“The education and educational resources that children from different classes receive are completely different.”

The American education model is a tool used to solidify social classes.

Elite education is to cultivate the ruling class, while happy education is to cultivate "obedient citizens".

The two types of education begin to differ from the preschool stage.

Rich families live in high-end communities, pay more property taxes, and enjoy better educational conditions, while poor families do the opposite.

High-quality preschool and primary and secondary education means a greater chance of going to a good university. Graduates from prestigious universities become social elites, and their children continue this cycle.

Most children from poor families go into society and do low-end jobs after graduating from high school. Only the outstanding ones have the opportunity to go to college, and most of them go to community colleges with relatively cheap tuition.

The quality of education at community colleges is far inferior to that of Ivy League universities.

Happy education has resulted in many students remaining functionally illiterate after finishing high school. They cannot read, write or calculate. It is the same as whether they have learned or not.

"Some people in China have been talking about education reform, saying that students are burdened too much and advocating for reducing the burden." Qin Shaoyan smiled, "Director Wang, you definitely can't imagine what high-end private schools in the United States are like."

"What kind?" Director Wang asked curiously.

"It's no different from schools in China. They both make students study to death," Qin Shaoyan said. "Students in private schools have strict discipline and rules requirements and training at school. It's common for children who don't follow the rules to be warned or suspended. Even inappropriate dress will result in severe punishment."

"Children in private schools have a heavy academic burden. The academic pressure on students is not low. It is even greater than in China. It is normal for students to do their homework until 12 o'clock in the morning. It is common for them to sleep four or five hours a day when they are busy." Director Wang was shocked. Schools in China don't do this. This is even harsher than what they do in China.

If Director Wang knew that American students even took drugs to pass the exams, he would go crazy.

"Of course, the educational resources of these private schools are top-notch, especially the teachers are the best." Qin Shaoyan continued, "In addition to being able to afford the expensive fees, these schools also depend on your parents' education, occupation, family background, and the way parents and children get along, etc. You can't just be rich and go."

After talking with Qin Shaoyan, Director Wang discovered that these private schools in the United States that specialize in educating elites are completely different from the American schools he had seen in the information.

Director Wang said with emotion: "Students trained in this elite model are indeed very strong. It seems that our Chinese students deserve to lose."

The educational resources are better than those in China, and the schools are more competitive than those in China. How can they not be excellent? How can domestic students compare with the elites there?

"Well, why did the domestic students lose?" Qin Shaoyan was a little confused.

Director Wang and Qin Shaoyan talked about what they saw in social activities, focusing on the outstanding performance of American students.

Qin Shaoyan laughed after hearing this, "Director Wang, you misunderstood."

"Well, what's the misunderstanding?" Director Wang was very surprised.

"Not all students who are educated by elites are elites." Qin Shaoyan said with a smile, "The group of students you see are different. Our students don't need to belittle themselves."

"Different? How is it different?"

"Because these students are from political families, their life plans have long been set, and they are trained according to the standards of politicians." Qin Shaoyan explained, "They have learned skills such as public speaking, showmanship, and performance since they were young. This is what they are good at."

"The specializations are different, so there's no point in comparing them like this."

"If you don't believe me, ask them to do advanced math with our students on the street. They will definitely not be able to do it."

"You can trick people into preparing for speeches, but if you don't know advanced math, you just don't know it."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Director Wang suddenly realized and slapped his thigh and said, "I thought American college students were all-powerful supermen."

Qin Shaoyan smiled and said nothing. There are indeed many all-round talents, but they are only one in a million. How could it be such a coincidence that they all gathered in this summer camp?

"I have a presumptuous request." Director Wang asked tentatively, "The students are a little discouraged today. Can President Qin say a few words to the students to encourage them and cheer them up?"

Qin Shaoyan was stunned and quickly declined, "I'm really not being modest. I'm just a poor student who graduated from an ordinary university. How can I talk to these outstanding students from key universities? It's inappropriate. You should find someone else."

"How about that, Director Wang, you should come. You are a top student, a leader of a ministry, and an educator. You should be the one to give the speech."

"Well, to be honest with you, Boss Qin, I've already said this." Director Wang sighed, "It's just that the effect is not very obvious."

You can't even handle it, yet you expect me to be able to do it. You really think too highly of me.

If you ask me to teach students a little bit of social experience and how to prevent being cheated, I do have some knowledge about that, but I really don't know how to motivate people, so I don't have that skill.

"Boss Qin, don't be so modest." Director Wang complimented, "Boss Qin built a campus network from scratch, which is enough to show that Boss Qin has outstanding qualities. He is already very outstanding. Please at least say a few words."

Seeing that he couldn't refuse, Qin Shaoyan had to agree, thinking in his mind how he could make a few tricks to get away with it.

The next journey was to fly back to the East Coast from the West Coast of the United States, but not to New York, but to Washington.

Before going to the United Nations headquarters, another stop is to visit the White House.

The White House, the presidential palace of the United States and the highest government agency, is full of mystery.

When they heard that they were going to visit the White House, students from other countries, including American students, were excited.

Because these American students are different from students from other countries, they have separate arrangements, and the brokers have assured them that they will be able to meet with the President of the United States and take a photo with him.

Qin Shaoyan was skeptical about this, but Davis guaranteed that they had received the money and would definitely be able to get it done.

Unlike students from other countries who were excited, Chinese students were generally not in high spirits. They kept muttering to themselves along the way, occasionally looking at the notebooks in their hands, as if they were reciting something.

Qin Shaoyan took a few curious glances and discovered that what they were holding were materials about the United Nations Debate Competition. These students were reviewing intensely in advance.

In their view, debates and speeches at the United Nations headquarters are much more important than visiting the White House.

Moreover, the debate competition at the United Nations headquarters will not only involve university student representatives from various countries, but also a group of famous experts and scholars who will be invited, and will even be broadcast live on television.

Such an important occasion made the Chinese students particularly nervous, and they were all worried about the debate competition in a few days.

If something goes wrong, we will make a fool of ourselves in front of the whole world.

Compared with the relaxed feeling of college students in other countries, Chinese students seem very tense.

This caused them to stutter from time to time when reciting the material, which put them under great mental pressure. Some female students were so nervous that they couldn't speak and almost broke down and cried.

The entire bus was filled with a tense and depressing atmosphere. Qin Shaoyan looked at the situation and felt that these students had been hit too hard recently and it was time to relax and cheer them up.

So after visiting the White House, Qin Shaoyan decisively asked the bus to turn around and go to another place.

The students were surprised to see the car not returning to the hotel as planned, and then they saw them turning into a wooded park.

After getting off the bus, they saw the familiar building, the Lincoln Memorial.

The students were curious about why they were brought to this place. Were they going to visit the Lincoln Memorial today?

Qin Shaoyan didn't say anything, and led everyone through the path between the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool and walked towards the south.

Then the students saw 19 life-size statues of soldiers scattered across the grass.

"Where is this?" Director Wang looked around with some confusion.

"This is a memorial to the Korean War dead built by the United States," said Qin Shaoyan.

(End of this chapter)