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> Yet I had to do it every day. At the end-of-year exam, I scored second from the bottom of the class—the same place where I began in first grade. But this time
by usaar333 9y ago
> Yet I had to do it every day. At the end-of-year exam, I scored second from the bottom of the class—the same place where I began in first grade. But this time it was much harder to accept, after the glory I had enjoyed just one year earlier and the huge amount of effort I had put into studying this year. Finally, I threw in the towel, and asked my parents to send me abroad. Anywhere else on this earth would surely be better.
Given his academic performance in his high school, it's unlikely he got a scholarship to a leading UK private high school (Hurtwood House checking his Linkedin). Parents who can afford to send their kid to an overseas high school that charges $40k/year are not modest by Developed country standards, much less Chinese, and even less so Hebeinese.
- egor598 9y agoHe doesn't say his parents were poor or blue-collar workers, he compares himself to a child of aristocrat. Context is everything. > He was a child of aristocrats; I am the child of modest workers. When a one-digit millionaire compares himself to a billionaire like Bill Gates, using "modest" to describe one's wealth would be appropriate in this context.
- garmaine 9y agoChild of “modest workers” in a communist country can have different meaning. Maybe they’re party elites? We don’t know. Something just doesn’t add up though.
- omginternets 9y agoHe's using the word "modest" to mean "not particularly prestigious" as opposed to "poor".
- 1wd 9y agoIn another article he writes: "In China, where I was born, there are a lot of people who work much harder but could not enjoy similar results. The difference is that I was lucky enough to have had the chance to move abroad at a young age, thanks my parents. In other words, as Warren Buffett said, a large part of life is the lottery at birth." http://www.economist.com/whichmba/mba-diary-standing-oration http://www.economist.com/whichmba/mba-diary-standing-oration
- kevin_thibedeau 9y agoWonder if Hurtwood House knew the truth that he was second from the bottom or do they just take in anybody with money.
- michaelmrose 9y agoWhy would they turn someone away with a pile of money?