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Li Feifei, a Chinese- American, immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 16 and became a tenured professor at Stanford at the age of 33

author:Remember the story of that year
Li Feifei, a Chinese- American, immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 16 and became a tenured professor at Stanford at the age of 33

On April 22, 2021, the American Academy of Humanities and Sciences released its latest list of academicians. Nine of the people on the list are all Chinese, including Li Feifei, known as the "AI goddess.".

In her case, there are also enviable titles such as tenured associate professor at Stanford University, academician of the National Academy of Engineering, and academician of the National Academy of Medicine.

When it comes to Li Feifei's road to success, we must start from their family immigrating to the United States and realizing the American dream.

Born in Beijing in 1976, Li Feifei followed his parents and lived and went to school in Sichuan.

Originally, she was just a student at a middle school in Chengdu, and perhaps like most Chinese: she was likely to go to a university in China, find a stable job, and live a life that was immediately visible.

Li Feifei, a Chinese- American, immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 16 and became a tenured professor at Stanford at the age of 33

▲ Li Feifei and his parents

However, the trajectory of Li Feifei's fate began to change when she was 16 years old.

It was the 1980s and 1990s, and China opened its doors and began to embrace the world.

Advanced technology and knowledge, open ideas and culture, and trendy concepts of life in developed countries such as Europe and the United States have gradually entered the lives of Chinese people.

For intellectuals, seeing all kinds of new things and being exposed to advanced knowledge and culture that they had not yet learned about is like discovering a new continent, which makes them excited and surprised.

Although the material conditions were not abundant in those days, food and clothing were still the main problems that the Chinese people needed to solve.

But the power of dreams still drives many Kochi elements to go abroad for further study and improve themselves.

There are some people who do not only want to meet their own expectations, but also want to provide a better living environment for their families and better educational conditions for their children.

Therefore, these people with dreams began to leave their familiar places and go abroad to find poetry and distant places, thus setting off a wave of going abroad.

As the top intellectuals in China, Li Feifei's parents also had the American dream, looking forward to going abroad to increase their insights and broaden their horizons.

At the same time, they also wanted to give their daughter a better learning environment, and the two decided to take their daughter to see the outside world.

Li Feifei immigrated to the United States with his parents.

Of course, the road to realizing your dreams is not destined to be simple.

After Li Feifei's family arrived in the United States, it was not so smooth.

For immigrants, in the United States, there are always opportunities and challenges.

Because they did not prepare for immigration in advance, Li Feifei's parents ran into walls everywhere after they arrived in the United States.

Completely ignorant of English, basic communication is not possible. Li Feifei's parents, at first, could only become unemployed vagrants in the United States.

But Li Feifei's family all have the spirit of hard-working and hard-working in Chinese bones.

Li Feifei, a Chinese- American, immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 16 and became a tenured professor at Stanford at the age of 33

In the face of various life challenges, they did not give up their American dream, but persevered.

In order to survive, Li Feifei's father gave up his dignity as an engineer to work repairing cameras, and his mother found a job as a supermarket cashier.

Li Feifei, who has always been sensible, did not evade himself or complain about his parents, but worked hard to adapt to the learning and living environment in the United States.

When his peers were enjoying their adolescence, Li Feifei, a young man, worked odd jobs including cashiers, cleaners, waiters, etc. in order to save up for living expenses.

In addition to being able to endure hardships, she, like most Chinese abroad, is also very competitive in her studies.

Li Feifei did quite well in school that year, and one of her high school math teachers, Bob Sabella, admired her very much and gave her great help.

There were no advanced calculus classes at The Parsipony High School where she was studying, and Sabella also taught Li Feifei a temporary course during her lunch break.

Huangtian did not live up to the painstaking people, after paying more efforts than ordinary people, in the test commonly known as the American college entrance examination, that is, the SAT, Li Feifei got 1250 points, of which the good score of mathematics was full of good results, ranking sixth in the grade.

Li Feifei, a Chinese- American, immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 16 and became a tenured professor at Stanford at the age of 33

In the end, she also received offers from MIT, Princeton University, Rutgers University and other famous universities.

Li Feifei chose The Ivy League university Princeton University and received a full scholarship.

It should be known that the Parsippany, where their family immigrated, is a predominantly white town, and even the few local students who can be admitted to prestigious schools are few.

Li Feifei, an immigrant girl from China, was able to be admitted to Princeton University on a full scholarship, which shocked the entire town and became a hot topic of discussion among local people for a while.

Li Feifei, a Chinese- American, immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 16 and became a tenured professor at Stanford at the age of 33

▲ Li Feifei reported in his early years

This also means that the American dream of Li Feifei's family is gradually being realized.

After graduating from university, with the aura of a famous school, Li Feifei was favored by many large companies.

But she made the shocking decision to abandon her high-paying offer and turn around and go to Tibet to study Tibetan medicine.

The reason why Li Feifei decided to go to Tibet was to explore the mysteries of Eastern and Western philosophy and science, and she never forgot that she came from China.

In her opinion, Chinese medicine and Tibetan medicine are the best entry points to understand Chinese culture.

However, the cost of research and living costs required to study Tibetan medicine in Tibet is not a small amount.

Her family was not wealthy, and she didn't want to burden her parents with extra burdens, so she had to work hard to get a scholarship.

This time, Li Feifei still came up with very good results as always, and stood out among more than 1200 competitors.

Became the only student in that class to receive the annual Martin Dale 1953 Scholarship from Princeton University.

Li Feifei, a Chinese- American, immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 16 and became a tenured professor at Stanford at the age of 33

▲ Li Feifei in Tibet

Perhaps it is because of this immigration experience that she has a clearer plan for her future.

Becoming a pioneer in the field of science is Li Feifei's goal, and after returning from Tibet, she completed her master's and doctoral degrees at Caltech.

You know, it's very difficult to get a ph.D. at home and abroad, especially in the United States.

The graduation pass rate of doctoral degrees in the United States is very low, and American doctorates are currently the most difficult degrees in the world to obtain.

In particular, it is more difficult for science and engineering students to obtain a doctorate than to ascend to the sky, and the elimination rate is between 20% and 30%.

Moreover, Li Feifei is also pursuing a master's degree at the California Institute of Technology, a prestigious university that has produced 31 Nobel Prize winners, which shows how good he is.

What makes her widely known to the American academic community is that she was only 33 years old, and she was promoted to a tenured associate professor at Stanford University, the world's third-ranked school in QS, and served as the director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Li Feifei, a Chinese- American, immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 16 and became a tenured professor at Stanford at the age of 33

In addition, Li Feifei's outstanding performance in the field of computing has also attracted the attention of Google, after all, female leaders in the field of computing are rare.

In order to better study the field of computer AI, she did not hesitate to join the talent-rich Google and serve as the chief scientist of Google AI.

During his tenure at Google, Li Feifei actively promoted the development of Google in China with a Chinese heart, and established the Google AI China Center in Beijing.

Li Feifei, a Chinese- American, immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 16 and became a tenured professor at Stanford at the age of 33

On the road of pursuing his dreams, Li Feifei did not stop for a moment.

The sea is wide with fish leaping, and the sky is high for birds to fly.

Li Feifei has today's achievements, which can be said to be inseparable from the support of his parents.

After seeing the outside world and understanding the wider world.

Let her not be easily defeated by any difficulty in life, and she is not tempted by the short-term interests in front of her.

It is said that choice is more important than effort.

Maybe that's the choice outweighs the effort.

Li Feifei, a Chinese- American, immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 16 and became a tenured professor at Stanford at the age of 33

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