VOA标准英语2016--硅谷学校使用非常规方法培养企业家

Silicon¹ Valley School Uses Unconventional Methods to Train Entrepreneurs 硅谷学校使用非常规方法培养企业家

SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA — 

Many future entrepreneurs first attend university and business school. In Silicon Valley, though, a place that celebrates innovation, there is a school aimed solely² at current and future entrepreneurs that uses unconventional methods of teaching.

Most of the students did not expect jumping into a chilly³ pool with a billionaire investor⁴ would be their first step at Draper University. But the unexpected is the norm at Draper, and Aima Ohiwerei from Nigeria is experiencing it first-hand.

“It’s not like your regular school. Kind of like pushes you to try and imagine more than you can actually think you can imagine,” said Ohiwerei.

WATCH: Video of young entrepreneurs in action

One drill is to try crossing the street blindfolded⁵ with only the help of verbal instructions.

Thinking about doing something beyond the conventional is what Draper University tries to teach, says the school’s founder⁶ and venture capitalist Tim Draper.

“People need to be able to step out, apart from the crowd, and try extraordinary things and now that we’re all interconnected, and all communicating with each other throughout the entire world, it’s even more important for people to be able to step out and do something a little different,” he said.

Draper says for entrepreneurs to move outside their comfort zones takes a certain mindset and emotional tenacity⁷.

“I’m trying to get into people’s heads that starting a business is very difficult. You will be up against a lot of pressures and we want you to, after going through this program, we want you to be able to be immune to the pressures that are going to be coming against you,” he said.

That’s exactly what Ohiwerei hopes to learn in this seven-week course. “Just push through all the negative thoughts and all the negative comments towards your startup, toward you, just push through that’s what I want to learn.”

“I would like to know how to be fearless, just go full speed without stopping,” said David Lopez, a student from Peru.

Hundreds of students from more than 70 countries have attended this entrepreneurship course. Students between 18 and 28 years old learn to be emotionally prepared for entrepreneurship by listening to Silicon Valley startup founders⁸ who have succeeded and those who have failed. They also experience some unusual training, like a volleyball game they play where the rules keep changing.

“Different things start to happen and their brains start to open up and they start thinking anything is possible,” said Draper.

Consistent with the uniqueness of the school, the graduates become superheroes. They get a cape⁹ and mask as they are sent out as entrepreneurs to change the world with their unique ideas.

Life after graduation

While there are many schools and programs in Silicon Valley that teach students how to start their own business, Draper University has a particularly unusual teaching method.

Its founder, venture capitalist, Tim Draper says the program’s goal is to mentally prepare people for the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. Two graduates tell their story of life before and after the program, in this second of two reports from VOA's Elizabeth Lee.

It’s not a coincidence that Christine Ntim lives and works just 10 minutes from the airport in New York.

“Vietnam, Japan, China… I’ve only been to four countries on the African continent,” she said.

Thinking creatively

Ntim grew up in Haiti and loves to travel. Her travels led to her form Vendedy, an online directory of street markets.

“I come from a generation of street vendors¹¹, so my great grandmother, my grandmother, my mom were all street vendors in Haiti," she said. "I didn’t realize this was a way of life for people. That’s how things just got started.”

What helped Ntim’s company to reach the next level was an entrepreneurship program at Draper.

“I grew up as a street vendor¹⁰, so I grew up knowing how to sell anything," she said. "So if I am feeling uncomfortable, I knew this was a different experience. I had to sell rubbers – it’s a better way to say – it or condoms. That was awkward.”

In the classroom and out in the field, the school’s founder Draper says he pushes students to think creatively to overcome challenges. His aim is to nurture¹² entrepreneurs, calling them super heroes.

“You need to be resilient, tough, determined¹³, you have to be able to overcome great barriers to be very successful,” he said.

International student body

Students from more than 70 countries have attended Draper University. Graduates have created about 350 companies.

Pakistani native Asra Nadeem felt immediately at home at Draper, where she is the Graduate Program director. "All my life, being a woman from Pakistan, one of the things I’ve heard the most that I have to be less loud. My mother’s never been happy with how loud I am."

In contrast, Nadeem says her assertiveness¹⁴ is celebrated¹⁵ here. Her crazy ideas are embraced. "I wanted to build vertical¹⁶ cities or I wanted to talk about mining asteroids¹⁷."

When the students graduated with super hero masks and capes¹⁸, Nadeem says she wore hers with pride.

“All your life you’re feeling like an outsider and that’s kind of where the super hero theme comes in. Super heroes are also these anomalies, these people who always feel like outsiders and all of a sudden you have all these people who are great in some aspect or the other who think about all these revolutionary things and they’re together,” she said.

When Nadeem graduated, Draper offered her a job because of her assertiveness. She now helps in fostering more super-hero entrepreneurs by leading them through unconventional tasks.

1 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

2 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

3 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

4 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

5 blindfolded   

v.（尤指用布）挡住（某人）的视线( blindfold的过去式 )；蒙住（某人）的眼睛；使不理解；蒙骗

参考例句：

• The hostages were tied up and blindfolded. 人质被捆绑起来并蒙上了眼睛。
• They were each blindfolded with big red handkerchiefs. 他们每个人的眼睛都被一块红色大手巾蒙住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

7 tenacity   

n.坚韧

参考例句：

• Tenacity is the bridge to success.坚韧是通向成功的桥。
• The athletes displayed great tenacity throughout the contest.运动员在比赛中表现出坚韧的斗志。

8 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

9 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

10 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

11 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

12 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 assertiveness   

n.过分自信

参考例句：

• Her assertiveness was starting to be seen as arrogance. 她的自信已开始被认为是自负了。
• Role playing is an important element in assertiveness training. 在果敢自信训练班上，角色扮演是个重要内容。

15 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

16 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

17 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

18 capes   

碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬

参考例句：

• It was cool and they were putting on their capes. 夜里阴冷，他们都穿上了披风。
• The pastor smiled to give son's two Capes five cents money. 牧师微笑着给了儿子二角五分钱。