Author Yuxi Yue
I struggled for a long time about choosing a school, and finally decided to go with the long-term perspective to adapt to the overall trend. Many times, making choices is more about backward reasoning from the results. When I heard Shou talk about the three best possible outcomes for many people in high finance, it struck a chord. The first is reaching the position of MD/partner, the second is joining a company where you have worked on projects, climbing to a senior level, and eventually achieving capital gains, then retiring to run a family office. The third is starting your own business, whether it's a physical entity, a buyer, or a primary seller. One insightful point he made is that from the first day of your career, you should observe and train yourself based on the abilities needed for the ultimate outcome.
However, after thinking for a long time, I suddenly realized that none of these three possibilities, or at least not entirely, is the ultimate goal I desire. I may prefer a mixed path. For example, in the early stages, I would like to have an overall picture of the industry, dive deep into an industry of interest in the mid-term, and in the mid-to-late stages, start my own business to fulfill some social responsibility and expectations. On this basis, I feel that previously considered paths like going to Duke, getting into a top BB, and then entering PE would give a sense of aimlessness. Many times, I can clearly feel that the game rules and internal logistics in North America and China are very different, and I prefer to be closely connected with China. I also want to find the best balance between politics and finance, so I am making the current choice.
I've seen someone say they hope to be a scholar before the age of twenty, a knight from twenty to forty, and a hermit at fifty or sixty, which seems to fit the feeling of ancient service and withdrawal. However, compared to having clear milestones, I would prefer to be more consistent, smoother, detached but engaged, emphatic but not sympathetic.
It feels quite magical that I wouldn't think this way or make such choices without missing any of these steps in the past two years or in between. Thinking of a sentence that can summarize my current feelings well:
"At the end of all journeys, it seems as if it's all destined, but in the present of all journeys, it's actually all about human agency."
I hope everyone can stay calm, see the distance, and also keep moving forward. Best wishes.
纠结了很久关于 选校，最后决定还是以长期视角来顺应大势。
很多时刻做选择更多是从结果倒推，看到shou总之前讲对于很多做high finance的人，可能最好的三种终局一是做到MD/partner，二是加入一家自己做过项目的企业，做高层，最后capital gain，然后差不多了退休做个family Office，三是自己创业，不管是实体/买方/一级卖方。我觉得他说的很有道理的一点是你在你职业生涯的第一天就要以终局需要的能力去观察和锻炼你自己。
但我想了好久，我忽然发现这三种可能都不是或者不完全是我想要的终局，我更prefer的可能是一种mixed型的路径，like我会想要在早期对产业都一个overall picture，在中期可以深入感兴趣的industry，在中后期可以做自己的start-up来实现一些social responsibility和expectations. 在此基础上我会觉得之前觉得比较好的路径比如go for duke, get into a top bb, then enter pe 会令人有种漫无目的的感觉。很多时候会很清晰地感觉到北美和国内的游戏规则和internal logistics 很不一样，而我更希望跟中国紧密相连，也可以在poli和fin中找到一个最好的平衡点，所以会做出当下的选择。
之前看到有人说希望自己前二十岁可以做个书生，二十到四十岁做个侠客，五六十岁做个隐士，还挺符合古代出仕和出世的感觉的。但相比起有一个明显的节点，我会更希望做得更consistent, 更smooth，疏离但又入世，emphatic but not sympathetic.
感觉蛮神奇的，在前两年或者这中间缺少任何一个环节我都不会这样想或者这样选，想到一句话能很好地概括我现在的感受：
所有旅途的最后，看起来都仿佛天命所归；但所有旅途的当下，其实都是事在人为。
希望大家都能沉得住气，看得见远方，也能低头前行，祝好。