Confessions of a former gaokao champion

A top student has eschewed his dream of studying journalism in favor of business school. But Bai Ping says he has never regretted pursuing his passion career.

Teenager Wu Chengjie, who achieved one of the highest scores in the national college entrance examination or gaokao, in eastern Jiangsu province, has caused a stir after confessing that he has decided to give up journalism, his passion, to study business, as advised by many journalists who interviewed him. For days, Wu's revelations have become a hot topic among media practitioners who have speculated on what their colleagues may have said about the occupation to trigger his change of heart. Could it be the long hours? Low pay? Or the constant humiliation of having to "act like someone's grandchild", as an anchorwoman lamented on a television news show?

But most seemed to agree: A gaokao champion deserves better than a job in the news business. From a cost-benefit perspective, it will take many years for a journalism graduate to recover their parents' investment in his or her four years of tuition, room and board, besides the tens of thousands of yuan that have been spent grooming a top scorer.

The world is vastly different than it was decades ago when I took gaokao. Back then, the exam was much more competitive with a national enrollment rate of about 5 percent. For a shot at a place at a good university, the odds could be less than one in 10,000.

Yet I emerged as the top scorer in my city, which opened doors to all the top Chinese universities. Looking back, I think I triumphed mainly because of my self-discipline and ability to concentrate and to understand and command large amounts of information in various subjects within a limited time.

But eventually I picked a top journalism school, because nothing excited me more than writing. Growing up in a family that moved around the country, I loved to travel and see new places and meet new people. I wanted to pursue my own dream and investment returns from a college degree never crossed my mind.

Sometimes I have wondered what path my life would have taken had I studied another subject at college. But I have never regretted my choice. I have met many successful business people and bankers and I am keenly aware that I lack some key, quirky personality traits that they have.

But a career as a journalist has turned out to be a perfect fit. I enjoyed always being one of the best reporters everywhere I worked. The first time I worked as a copy-editor many years ago, my editor praised my natural talent for spotting mistakes and getting to the gist of the matter when writing a headline for a long story.

While I respect other people' choice of a college education, I've been amazed to see almost 40 percent of gaokao champions in China had gone to business school since the national college exam resumed in 1977. The growing tendency defies findings from past studies that these stars tend to be more likely to meet their presumed academic and professional potential when they major in non-business areas.

One such study that tracked thousands of these gaokao champions found that those with business majors are destined to be highly-paid company employees, but none of them have become entrepreneurs or leaders of a world-class company. In comparison, those who have chosen less popular subjects including journalism, law and medicine are happier and more likely to excel in their areas.

Researchers say many gaokao champions were set up to fail from the beginning, because they choose a college based on generous financial incentives, or select a major that promises lucrative job prospects, instead of based on their personal interests and passion, which may lead to lower satisfaction and chances for success in later life.

Perhaps Wu the champion from Jiangsu will love the business school at a prestigious university. Perhaps not. I wish him luck.

Contact the writer at dr.baiping@gmail.com