Educational Insights

In this newsletter we feature an interview with Dr. Wei-Jing Zhu, who founded Teen Ventures to guide youths toward innovative opportunities and to develop their entrepreneurial passion.  A graduate of Harvard College and a Ph.D in theoretical condensed matter physics from Cornell University, Dr. Zhu had conducted research in statistical machine translation at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center before moving on to the investment industry.  He started his 6th grade in the US, and was awarded the First Place prize in the Westinghouse (now Intel) Science Talent Search in 1986.

CAST: Dr. Zhu, we’d like to share with our readers your views and ideas on educating children, because you have been conducting an innovative summer program for Chinese American high school students (see FAQ on Teen-Ventures.com), and frequently give seminars to parents at the HuaXia Chinese School in Westchester, on the topics of motivating and inspiring kids to learn through exploration and creativity.

First of all, when all the parents are finding ways to distinguish their children, what is the single most important idea that you wish to offer our readers?

WJZ: Imagine adding to your child's college application or job resume something like the following:
    * founder and partner of Company XYZ, LLC, with 500% ROI in 2 years
    * donated 75% of business earnings to school, and other non-profit organizations
comparing to someone else who have the usual set of activities, which basically certifies hard working and obedience, your child will stand out as the innovator who takes initiatives, makes impact, delivers results, and gives back to the community generously.  Prospective employers looking for talent and admission officers who look out for future endowment donors will drool over such a candidate.

CAST: Why do you focus on this area, particularly when most Chinese parents want their kids to excel in the usual stuff:  academics and AP classes, SAT, sports, music, school leadership, community activities, etc?

WJZ: I am most interested in innovation and strategy.  Most parents pursue the usual list of activities because these are the traditional credentials that their kids can use to get into a good college, which hopefully leads to a stable job in the reputable professions, which parents believe are the best guarantee to success and happiness.  However, how will your kids distinguish themselves in college application when every other Chinese American teenager is excelling in the same set of activities?  Furthermore, many successful professionals of our generation, whether in technical research or middle management, feel trapped despite their stable jobs and well-established professional reputations.  Do we want our kids to traverse the same path?  (Especially when they will unlikely to have the same relative advantage in technical training as our generation had?) 

Ultimately, happiness and success depends on one's ability for personal expression, and the freedom to do what one is passionate about.  Entrepreneurship and the chance to be one's own boss will have a much better chance to achieve these goals for our next generation, than the traditional path offers.

CAST: The idea sounds great, but I can already imagine two obstacles of attempting this in any family: 1. teens tend not to learn from the parents, and 2. good ideas and execution are hard to come by.  How do you propose to tackle these problems?

WJZ: I propose a community project that combines the resources of three groups of people: 
1. the teenagers who have the time, energy, and passion to learn and get things done
2. the parents who provide full-time support (much like their role to make sure the kids practice their piano), an encouraging environment for exploration, and financial support
3. the professionals and businessmen in the Chinese community, who may be too busy to start their own little ventures, but can spare a few minutes each week as mentors for the teens, to share their wisdom and advice (with roles similar to an adviser for science projects)

CAST: You initiated Teen Ventures precisely to facilitate the fruition of this proposal.  Can you briefly describe how it differs from an early form of business program?

WJZ:  Think of the Intel Science Talent Search, but now broaden it from the realm of science to all areas that make social impact: instead of just conducting science projects, teenagers are mentored to test their ideas and start their own company or non-profit organization. This requires no less innovation or creativity, and more importantly challenges them to be the community and economic leaders of tomorrow.  Teen Ventures enable kids through training and mentoring, and encourage them to get a taste of entrepreneurship without much to lose, while possibly gaining much more freedom and opportunities for their future, both in college, job search, and future career. 

CAST: With a full time job and devotion to your family and your kids' education, how do you have time to carry all this out, especially when you are also involved in Chinese school and community activities, and particularly active in the local Asian American church?

WJZ: Incidentally, my personal faith journey is critical in guiding what I do, as it has helped to clarify my purpose in life, affirm my visions, and identify my calling and direction.  I am able to integrate every aspect of my life with focus.  For example, after my rational attempt to disprove Christianity has ironically led me to encounter and accepted Jesus in college, I have been learning much about loving people.  This led to my overflowing devotion to my family, which comes before anything else.  For instance, the ways that I care for and the novel educational tools and toys that I use to teach my kids had prompted many friends to remark about how much attention I give them.  Furthermore, this sense of caring and sharing extends to the entire community.  My involvement and contribution to the Chinese school and the local church are all about doing what I want to do, for people who I truly care about.  When everything I do are done with a sense of joy and passion as well as a sense of pleasure, there is a tremendous amount of energy and creativity that comes naturally.

As necessity is the mother of invention, the clear need for getting all this done compels me to be innovative in using the scraps of time in my schedule that others would overlook, and be more productive with cutting-edge technology that enhances my communication and organizational tasks.  These are precisely the qualities that the participants of Teen Ventures need to develop, so that they can become just as productive, and carve time for their adventures out of their overbooked schedules.  In a sense, I intentionally set myself up as an illustration that it is possible to get other things done while being fully booked.  On the flip side, seeking to be more productive has sparked a lot of business ideas that the teens can pursue, particularly in light of the many personal improvement products becoming successful business models in recent times.

CAST:  What are some unexpected or unintended benefits of this effort?

WJZ: An immediate benefit for such a collaboration is that when the venture succeeds, everyone wins.  In addition to financial benefits to all three parties directly involved, the Chinese community as a whole will win indirectly, particularly via improved morale and the courage for future innovations.

With all the opportunities in China, our teens can consider ventures along this direction, and regard their heritage with a new perspective, perhaps visiting China with personal focus.  As what every parent hopes, our children would arrived at their own motivation for learning the Chinese language and understanding the culture.  This result still exists if they choose to pursue the many opportunities in the arena of improving Sino-China relationships, or the products and services that caters Chinese language and culture to the current high demands in the US.

An unexpected side benefit is in the Parent-Teen relationship.  During a time when teenagers most likely have little to communicate to their parents, and the school coach or student peer groups have much more influence over their lives, the Teen Ventures partnership offers a medium for the parents and teens to collaborate, and force the two parties to learn to communicate on a respectful and professional manner.  This is exactly what is needed to pave a way for the two parties to get along for the rest of their lives.

Finally, more of our next generation needs to be trained in the areas of economic and social leadership, (the modern form of warfare), in order to compete successfully in the global arena.  Only then would we as a community become stronger, and have the incentive to involve politically and deepen our root in the US.  Discrimination against us (such as glass ceilings for management and leadership positions, see 80-20 Initiative) would then become economically inefficient and costly for whoever holds it. 

CAST: How did this effort come about?

WJZ: For several years I pondered what legacy I myself want to leave to my kids, and what our generation can do for the next generation to provide an ideal environment for them to grow and excel in.  Contrast to previous generations of Chinese immigrants, who have given us the Chinatowns and local communities through their toil and back-breaking hard work, the current generation of Chinese is composed of some of the best students from China who pursued graduate schools and become successful professionals. We should appreciate this rare gathering of talents, ideas, new-found wealth, and social positions. Our next generation may not have such relative advantage to build their lives.

Aware of the general consensus among my Chinese colleagues and friends, on the topics of career hopes and disappointments, and the environment that they wish would exist, I realize that the Teen Ventures community project would address exactly these needs, while allowing me to express many aspects of my professional interest and experience, as well as my passion for innovative teaching.

CAST:  Do you have any general thoughts on teaching kids Chinese culture and heritage?

WJZ: When parents want their kids to retain Chinese culture and language, they need to overcome the obvious issues of applicability and relevance. In this regard, we have to ask ourselves what is it that makes us Chinese, and what part of the culture do we ourselves find interesting, that we would want to pursue despite our own busy-ness for survival.  When kids say things are boring, they are inviting us to show them what is interesting and relevant to their lives. This calls for exploration and trying out of all the interesting things that life has to offer.  In addition to offering them the fun aspects of Chinese culture, we can also offer them the deeper cultural heritage and philosophical thoughts of our forefathers, since even kids need daily inspirations to draw hope for the day, and can use the ageless wisdom to confront their struggles.

For the older kids who wants to make social impact, they need to realize that the Chinese culture has much to contribute to the current and forth-coming global dialog. The recent economic success of China certainly makes it hard to ignore the Chinese voice. But while the West has been so fixated on its own form of understanding, and often resort to force when conflicts arise, the ancient Chinese culture has much to offer the world toward global peace. In particular, as China has learned to embrace multiple philosophies and religions over the ages, there is much wisdom to be found that can address the modern day conflict between nations of different beliefs and world-view.

CAST: Lastly, when people are interested in the Teen Ventures program, who should contact you, and how?

WJZ: Anyone interested in being a student, a mentor, or a parent who wants to prepare in advance, can use "Contact Us" on Teen-Ventures.com.  Furthermore, if you believe in this idea, and want to contribute in some way, but not sure how, you should contact me just as well, because, like any Open Source projects, there is always a role for anyone to play in this effort.  I'd like to thank you for your interest and support.

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