Beijing, 2025
明天就要离开学校，站在一段旅程的尽头，回看匆忙的七年时光，不免有诸多感慨。仅以此记录，与诸君共勉。
我永远无法忘记三年前的本科毕业典礼。那是个异常炎热的早晨，我们穿着长袖衬衫和学士服长袍，挤坐在操场。
毕业生代表登台演讲。她竟然用慷慨激昂的排比句，把专业课知识点编排成诗：“啊！我们在大一的微积分里感受xx公式的和谐！啊！我们在大二的物理课领略xx理论的魅力！啊！我们在系馆的教室里熬夜通宵刷题！”
我错愕不已，无论如何也想不通，在毕业这个悲喜交加的节点，六月的烈日当空，她为何要给大家上一堂期末复习课。如果有一场比赛，比拼“把苦难谱写成歌”，她一定荣膺最佳写手。
我以为，清华教会我最重要的一节课，是找到天赋所在。这个概念很俗套，也有很多别名，比如“找到属于自己的赛道/热爱”。我理解，每个人都有自己独一无二的天赋领域，在这个领域里，你很容易进入心流，理解、掌控和输出的能力都与生俱来；你花费少量的时间，在获得意义的同时，就能完成别人煎熬和挣扎后勉强产出的工作。
三年过后的今天，我理解了当年的毕业生代表。她比我们都提前找到了自己的天赋，而很巧，她的天赋点在最标准、正确、合规、高效、主流的路径上。
我羡慕并祝福她。在清华七年，我很幸运，也已经大概认识了自己。也祝福所有人，早日找到自己的天赋。
Tomorrow I’ll leave this school. Standing at the end of this journey, looking back at seven rushed years, I can’t help but feel many things. I’m writing this down—for myself, and for all of you.
I’ll never forget my undergraduate graduation ceremony three years ago. It was an unbearably hot morning. We sat crammed together on the field, wearing long-sleeved shirts and academic robes.
The student speaker took the stage. With sweeping, impassioned rhetoric, she wove course material into poetry: “Ah! In freshman calculus, we felt the harmony of [such-and-such] formula! Ah! In sophomore physics, we grasped the wonder of [such-and-such] theory! Ah! In the department building, we pulled all-nighters grinding through problem sets!”
I was stunned. At this bittersweet moment of graduation, under the blazing June sun, why on earth would she give us a final exam review? If there were a contest for “turning suffering into song,” she’d win first place.
I used to think the most important thing Tsinghua taught me was finding my gift. It’s a cliché idea with many names—“finding your lane,” “finding your passion.” What I mean is: everyone has a unique domain where things just click. In that space, you slip into flow easily. Understanding, mastery, creation—they all come naturally. You spend little time and find meaning while producing work that others struggle and strain to barely finish.
Three years later, I finally understand that graduation speaker. She’d found her gift earlier than the rest of us. And by chance, her gift aligned perfectly with the most standard, correct, proper, efficient, mainstream path.
I admire her. I wish her well. In my seven years at Tsinghua, I’ve been lucky—I’ve more or less come to know myself. I wish the same for everyone: may you find your gift soon.
Translation by Claude