Student testimonial

日月更迭,飞跃重洋

2019年7月14日,从东半球到西半球,从西海岸到东海岸,抵达纽约,我们开启了和国内昼夜颠倒的Ithaca之行。

初次到校园的北区宿舍Townhouse,觉得风格古典,比国内宿舍好太多,(后来得知一学期6000多美金的时候,还是怀念国内的宿舍价格。)复式结构的两层建筑,围成矩形的楼群,以及室外是绿草茵茵的草坡和树,环境清静而惬意,是学习休息的好地方。宿舍中间围成的草坪还可以打沙滩排球,晚饭后大家一起蹦蹦跳跳呼喊着打排球的日子,这几天电视上看到中国女排的比赛就会回忆起来。虽说宿舍环境好,可是饮食却一言难尽,于是开启了在宿舍第一次做夹生饭的经历。有先见之明的室友买了锅碗瓢盆和从国内带来的烧水壶,在吃了两天“高贵”的学校食堂后,我们寝室F7打算自己动手,丰衣足食。无奈锅不行,米饭糊了加水变夹生再也煮不熟,番茄鸡蛋盐放多了没法下咽,不知道哪个舍友在我搅拌的时候说了一句“美国的盐不咸”导致我疯狂撒盐……

如果说每天从宿舍走去Warren Hall 上课需要爬一个小山坡很锻炼身体,那么坐在教室听英文授课就是既锻炼听力又锻炼耐力了。在Track 2的课程训练中,既有Microeconomics的拓展,又有Python的可视化基础入门,还有Finance的分析,整体来说涵盖的范围还是很广的,申请交流讲座也传递给大家很多信息,真的是inspire-connect-inherit. 在下午的讲座中,听得似懂非懂的我也能感觉到和周围同学的差距。

All (the light) you see is (from the) past

在CICER的课程学习之余,能去纽约州以及附近的景点和世界组织参观也算是一张一弛,劳逸结合。正所谓:读万卷书,行万里路。参观Niagara Falls,我第一次领略到了“飞流直下三千尺”的魄力,和“春来江水绿如蓝”的色调,在美-加边境线上穿着不同颜色的雨衣乘船游览也是独特的体验。在Corning的玻璃博物馆,我们看到了许多关于玻璃的展品和加工过程,也在玻璃折射出的光辉中看到了更深邃的内涵:手工吹制的玻璃球上故意造成的凹痕和不对称放大了人体和皮肤美丽和缺陷,正如皮肤会随着时间的流逝以伤痕的形式保存其经历的记忆,如果在熔融的玻璃球上切了切口,玻璃会愈合,可一旦冷却后,伤口就会重新出现。

我们也有幸参观了曾经在教科书中看到的IMF(International Monetary Fund),听了关于其组织架构以及工作职能的报告,对于国际化货币基金组织有了更深刻的体会。可谓:纸上得来终觉浅,绝知此事要躬行。如果说不到长城非好汉,那么美国的自由女神像也是必须打卡的一个景点---Liberty Enlightening the World. 之前只是在电影中看到当初前往美洲大陆的人坐船看到自由女神像后就知道到达美国了,而这个假期,我们也是坐船靠近并登上自由女神像,眺望远处的Manhattan,水天一线,孤帆远影,江天际流,甚是浩瀚。之后的行程中最开心的莫过于登上了心心念念的Empire State Building,仿佛见证了文佳佳和Frank的偶遇;也穿过了与想象中不同的Wall Street,仿佛见证着每一刻世界资本的流动。

总的来说,这次Cornell的CICER之行,既沉醉于Ithaca小镇的静谧和安然,又领略到了Washington D.C. 的繁华与喧嚣,也认识了很多同龄的小伙伴,我们、助教师兄师姐和老师们一起在异国度过了难忘的盛夏时光,这是一次值得留恋的青春记忆!

                                                ——梁世为 北京大学

This program provided by CICER is a great experience for me in this summer. Cornell is a beautiful campus with nine falls and downy sunshine. Different from mainland China, you can experience exactly the American lifestyle in a small county. Without the pressure and fast life speed in big cities, people would enjoy a lawn concert on Friday evening with families. We spent two intense weeks together with other students from different background in this beautiful campus, and had a great opportunity to get touch in with the world-class professor in marketing, finance, applied economics and etc.

Aside from these, the most exciting part for me is the academic seminars provided by professors about their on-going and cutting-edge researches. It really shows us how scholars think about the world and try to solve economic problems by research. For example, it’s my first time to know that promotion  in the job career as a signal would affect the later decision for admissions in other company, and how companies nowadays manipulate this to promote employees. Jumping out of the thinking limitation, we really get exposed to a new world full of scholar spirit. We are like different straight lines coming across each other with different directions, but I believe we are all more confident and determined to step forward with some great takeaway.

——Tiffany Li, New York University-Shanghai

康奈尔大学的校园特别美,有湖,有大片的草地,有小动物,还有许多好看的建筑。校园里的路很陡,常需要爬坡。晚上站在坡顶,可以看见伊萨卡小镇的点点灯火。灯火有些稀疏,却独享一份安逸——既不寂寞,又远离喧嚣。这阑珊的灯火,或许才是求知路上的莘莘学子们最好的伴侣吧!

——赵子凯 北京师范大学

马上就要离开美国了,由衷地感谢此次CICER提供的平台和机会让我在康奈尔度过了一个十分愉快并有收获的假期,可以说是种下了一颗藤校之梦,让我回国之后更有动力好好学习,提升自己!万分感谢!希望有缘还能再来伊萨卡!

——孙铭涛 中国人民大学

参加康奈尔大学CICER暑期项目的时光是充实而精彩的,我领略了最美校园的风景,感受到浓厚的校园艺术文化,体验到美国特色的经济专业课程,为我未来的留学梦的实现奠定了基础。

在课程安排上,CICER为经济专业的学生精心设定了专业相关的课程,在国内已学习过的相关课程基础上,了解美国教授的授课风格和自主的学习方式。例如,应用经济学课程以宏微观原理为起点,结合了老师的研究领域,扩展了广告学和环境经济学的前沿研究成果。课程内容激发了我的思考和兴趣,了解到经济理论的灵活性。在我看来,和专业背景相关的课程设置是合理的。一方面,基本内容是已接触学习过的,英语教学更易理解,吸收率大大提高;另一方面,拓展的相关前沿内容有助于未来研究的选题。

康奈尔的课余生活是精彩纷呈的。我听到了异域风情的音乐会,感受到小镇人民对音乐的热情与尊重。我游览了校内的峡谷、山水和日落,看到了校园内的小松鼠,享受了在清洁而旖旎的风光中学习的美妙时光。我探索了音乐钟楼、天文台、电影院和艺术馆,发现康奈尔的校园文化是紧紧贴合艺术的,科学与艺术原本并不是相背而行的分支,而是同根同源的思维火光,懂艺术的人更尊重哲学,懂哲学的人往往更能理解科学的价值。在露台上俯瞰康奈尔全景,红色的屋顶、绿色的草坪、远处的湖泊,不用驻足静思,便已成诗。

我最喜欢康奈尔雨后的风光,濛濛细雨不必打伞,无目的地漫步于校园,看锻炼的学生从身边匆匆跑过,看雨洗掉了夏天的燥热,多了份朦胧和清爽。若是雨大了,随意推门进入一座楼避雨,就又是新的风景,或许是庄严的教堂,或许是寂静的研究室,壁画和橱窗里是微缩的校园文化,总能读出社团的创意或学科的先进理念。记得有一次和美国学生的交流活动,我印象很好,锻炼了口语,能认识新的美国朋友,了解康奈尔当地学生的经历和想法,对美国学生的实际生活有所认识。相比高端的学术讲座,与我而言,面对面交流可能获益更多。奈何时间有些短,这样的交流活动希望可以坚持多多举办。

总体而言,这次经历充实难忘,语言、社交、学习能力各方面都面临了挑战,也着实有所增长。康奈尔之行定是我大学生活中浓墨重彩的一笔。感谢CICER老师们的用心!

——梁柏林 南开大学

I'm very happy and fortunate to spend my summer holiday in beautiful Ithaca with teachers from Cornell University and students all across China. My most exciting memory here is about getting close to frontier economic research. During the summer program, teachers combined up to date research with their courses; professors introduced their excellent work in seminars; graduate students displayed their working papers in social events. All these activities revealed to me a vivid and comprehensive picture on the "routines" of modern economists, helping me better understand economics. Based on this, I can better plan my future.

I also enjoyed other activities in the program, which provided me with an access to the landscape and lifestyle in the United States. I'm impressed by the grandeur of Nicaragua Fall and the abundant collection in National Gallery of Art. Meanwhile daily life in Cornell campus also left me countless details worthy of recollection and retelling, which all together constitute the most real answer to the question "What is the U.S?".

 Above all, I'm grateful to people in CICER for they really did a good job, creating the best summer program with both academic focus and cultural communication. They invited the most distinguished speakers and designed the most appropriate activities for the program. All these efforts were witnessed by all the participants in this program. And I'm sure we will frequently recalled and benefited from it in future.

——Qiaohairuo Lin, Wuhan University

几经波折,我现在终于回到杭州啦。回想起短短却收获满满的三周,还是想要正式的向CICER表达感谢! 之前听说过很多交流项目,在我印象里都是中介机构出来骗人的 ~这次的经历可以说是beyond expectation了~自己真是又幸运又有福气可以遇见老师同学们和这个项目~

每一项日程都能感受了安排的用心。本来最开始看到日程表,有疑虑的部分,后面都觉得真的是恰到好处~这21天我过得充实而愉快,既不会负担过重,也不会无所事事~

其次是李善军老师~之前完全没有想到,作为那么那么厉害那么顶尖的教授,会对一个普通的学生如此贴心~你会专门让人叫我找你去吃西安名吃,晚上给我们查吃饭的地方,给我们解说美国历史,关心我们有没有顺利抵达~

这次旅程对我启发很大,不管是未来还是为人~老师们是我的榜样~希望以后还有机会到美丽的康村来看所有像朋友家人一样的教授老师们~

——邓杰心 浙江大学

首先非常感谢你们为这次summer camp所付出的一切,我们都觉得这是一次满载而归的旅程,收获很多,现在回想起来都会忍不住微笑。再次感谢所有的老师和学长学姐。以下是我参加了这次summer camp的感想,文笔拙劣但真挚的感情却是难以溢表的:

到康奈尔,首先被这里迷人的风景所折服:盛放的鲜花、古老的建筑、日月不休的钟楼、壮阔的瀑布,这些美景都足以满足我对于一个百年老校的所有幻想。再后来,被这里浓厚的学术氛围和教学风格所折服,幽默风趣又极具启发意义的老师,不同于国内更加接受自由见解的课堂,非常优秀又平易近人的学长学姐,再加上在假期里还人满为患的图书馆。在康奈尔短暂的学习期间,学习不再成为一种压力,而是一种享受,我非常开心能够接近一种美国式的教育方式,走进美国大学的课堂,我想这已经极大的改变了我。除此之外,还有一群特别优秀的小伙伴,在彼此的相互交流中增进了友谊,在相互的学习中也得到了成长。虽然未来的路还是未知,但是这是我永远不会忘记、具有改变意义的一个暑假。

——刘庭汐 复旦大学

MY IMPRESSIONS ON THE 1ST CICER SUMMER CAMP

THE TRIP AND LOGISTICS

First of all, I thought the CICER Summer Camp was very well organized. From the accommodation on campus to the meal provided at each event and the transportation on each trip, everything was well prepared and very comfortable, which I would stress my gratitude on Dr. Jie Li, Dr. Qilu Yu and Mr. Will Tay for the nice consideration gave to everyone in the camp. Thank you.

THE COURSES AND PRESENTATIONS

In my opinion, the courses and presentations are the most impressive part of this journey. For the first time, I experienced what it is like to take an undergraduate level course in an Ivy League school and witnessed several research seminars held by prominent scholars. I found that the economic research here is very different from what I have learned in China. Take the course on advertisement by Prof. Jura Liaukonyte for instance. There is no course specifically on advertisement in my university. Everything I learned about the role of advertisement in economy is just a chapter included in the Industrial Organization and a lot of time was spent to understanding the theoretical model like the shift of curves under different market structure after the advertisement. However, in Cornell, I learned something new and very practical like how Google charged for their advertisers and how Real Time Bidding system works. All of these new ideas inspired me to discover more about the real market. The seminars we took are also very inspiring. The researches here are very innovative either on the way of collecting data or the econometrical method. Last but not least, what impressed me most is that Cornell is really an institution where any person can find instruction in any study. From my experience, Cornell could provide anyone a chance to meet with talents all over the world and to be guided by leading researchers in any subject. During my visit in Cornell, besides taking courses at the summer camp, I also paid a visit to Prof. David Just who is a renowned scholar in behavioral economics and focusing on child nutrition. I talked with him about my research in the health condition of left behind children in China and he gave me some really insightful suggestions on further study. I also chatted with his graduate student Jackie Stine from Florida and Jackie shared many details about the life in Cornell with me. I think I have gained a lot of inspiration and knowledge from these talks. It was a wonderful experience.

VISITING DC AND NEW YORK

The trip showed me life besides academics in United States. We went to many famous tourist sites like the Lincoln Memorial and the Statue of Liberty and learned more about the history of this country. We also visited the World Bank Group and greeted by Dr. Shun Chonabayashi and Dr. Fan Zhang who shared their experience on working in an international organization with us. Thanks to them for the warm welcome.

CONCLUSION

I would like to give a sincere “thank you” to the amazing team at the CICER. Thanks to Prof. Panle Jia Barwick and Prof. Shanjun Li for holding such a great summer camp and I am very grateful for having a chance to travel together with talents from different universities around China and meet people from different countries. This camp also gave me a chance to learn research and viewpoints on economic issues that happening on the other side of the globe, which expanded my horizon. I will always keep in mind this wonderful summer in Ithaca.

——Jiarui Qian, China Agricultural University

半个月,一场梦 —— 致2018 CICER Summer Program

一 .  课程与讲座心得

一直梦想体验顶级学术殿堂的真实课堂,所以在项目开始之前,我最期待的是课程部分。这次的课程有从未接触过的Marketing,略知一二的Finance,和与专业最契合也是了解最多的Economics,这三门课都让我收获颇深,我也深刻感受了顶级高校的雄厚师资。Marketing的Jura老师思路清晰,上课援引大量最新的案例和数据,改变了我对Marketing这门课的陈旧观念,当Big Data和非理性经济学与Marketing结合时,它可以如此的有趣;Finance这门课程虽然难度较高,内容较多,但David老师总是不厌其烦地在课间甚至课后的office hour为我们解答一些极其基础的知识点;Andrew老师教授的Economics从他的研究课题出发,从热门的打车软件到象牙保护,供给与需求不再是纸上的两条曲线,而是走向了生活之中;李善军教授虽然只给我们上了一节课,但系统地讲授了经济学在环境领域的应用,令人印象深刻的是他分享了一些有趣的微观数据的采集,以及运用这些数据作出的相应研究成果。无一例外的是,这四位老师都非常无私地分享自己的研究课题,不仅丰富了课堂,让知识变得更加立体,也无形启迪了学生,所谓“身教”胜于“言传”。

整个项目最惊喜的莫过于lecture的部分,一场场lecture下来,不仅让我“浅尝”了环境经济学,劳动经济学等最前沿的研究领域,更重要的是,它让我发现学术本身是那么有趣。李善军教授和贾潘乐教授的分享让我初次感受到论文中“政策建议”的价值所在,我们在生活中抱怨“拥堵”与“污染”的同时,有那么一批学者在背后默默做研究,他们的政策建议是真真切切可以提供给政府和机构来改变我们生存的世界的;Mike Walkman教授的研究历程让我震撼,他是信号经济学的奠基人,40年以来他不断为其添砖加瓦,推翻过去的自己也推翻其他学者的质疑,让这门学科变成了一座大厦;  Calum Turvey教授作为外国学者,对中国农村的研究却十分得深入,他的研究“让中国变得更美好”,我深深体会到了学术无国界之分;David Easley 教授的分享中,我提了一个相关问题,意外得到了教授的称赞,并说我所困惑的也是他们研究的一大难题,这种思想上的共鸣让学术小白我兴奋不已。让这个世界变得更好,各个经济学家、学者在真实地做出自己的贡献。

二 . 康奈尔小记

康奈尔实在是太美了,现在回忆起来,在康奈尔的两个星期,宛如仲夏夜之梦一般。每一栋教学楼都是设计师创意的结晶,或古老庄严,或现代简约,都能让人产生对知识的敬畏;钟楼绝对是康奈尔最大的“招牌”,每个初到校园的人,仿佛都要登楼“致敬”一番,从钟楼传来的钟声,让人无论在校园的何处,都能感受到来自康奈尔的归属感;康奈尔的校园就像一个宝藏盒,你可以探寻宏大的瀑布丛林湖泊,也可以发掘细微的晚霞彩虹鸟鸣。

永远也忘不了康奈尔的夕阳,几个人躺在钟楼下的小山坡上,看天空由金色变为粉色再逐渐变为全黑,看星起月升日落,看山下的城市点起盏盏灯光。“那是让人热泪盈眶的景色啊”,我们或畅谈人生理想,或用歌声代替沉默,我们忘记了自己只是康奈尔的过客,夕阳下我们都是康奈尔的一部分。

三 .  CICER,感谢!

对CICER的喜欢,其实是从机场见面的那一刻开始的。在与CICER会合前,我们安排了在纽约的两天自由行,初到美国,一切都是陌生的,那两天过得着实辛苦,而见到CICER领队的学长时,心中就有一个想法“到家了”。确实,CICER对我们细致入微的关怀如家人一般温暖。

李善军教授对学生总是充满关怀,亲切和善,细致入微;更重要的是,李善军教授虽然身在国外,却以自己的方式为中国做贡献,无论是康奈尔中国经济研究所,还是他的学术方向,无论是他为我们这些想申请海外大学的大学生创建的平台、提供的机会,还是他为海内外中国学者提供的学术帮助,都是令人敬畏的。

李捷老师像一个大家长,无论是日常起居,还是学习生活,她都提前为我们细致得规划好。她会担心大家初到校园的第一次聚餐不合大家口味而认真地向我们征求意见;她总是认真思考如何把这个项目办得更好,还会召集一些同学为她提意见,一起头脑风暴来精益求精。

Will老师以及时时帮助我们的学长学姐都是这个项目的灵魂人物,没有他们,就没有如此春风化雨般温暖的项目体验。

感谢CICER,是你让我对美利坚的所有幻想,由抽象变成可以回忆一生的具象。在康奈尔大学的这半个月,充实而美妙,多希望可以把这份美好延续到研究生阶段。最后,以Olin Library的古老打字机打出的文字告白在康奈尔的这半个月:Cornell University, thank you for the summer. Loving it!

——李庭燕 中央财经大学

For more testimonials, please email: china.institute@cornell.edu