Dear Visa Officer:

My application for F1 visa was rejected on June 13, 2003. The visa officer was not convinced that I would come back to China upon the completion of my proposed degree program. However, I believe that he misunderstood some important part of my answers. To some extent, I was myself to blame because I failed to provide him with a complete context. Therefore, I deem it necessary to write this letter to clarify some important points.

Let us first recall the Questions and Answers (Q&A) that happened on that very day.

Q: Why not pursue graduate educations in China?

A: Because there is no sufficient exchanges of ideas between professors and students in China. Professors just assign the tasks to the students. The only job for the students to do is to complete their assignments. But as a graduate student, one must have a full picture of what one is supposed to do before one really undertakes it, including the instructions from your advisor.

Clarifications
I was perhaps making a sweeping generalization, but I was speaking from my own personal experience in undertaking my graduation project for my undergraduate program. My advisor merely assigned me a topic without discussing with me the details of the project. There was little meaningful communication and exchange and interactivity. I felt so helpless and desperate when I came across difficulties. He was really a “boss” and I was like an “employer” and even though I finished the project as required, I did not feel that I learned something meaningful from my advisor. I cannot blame my advisor very much because this should primarily be attributed to the conventional Chinese education system. Under such a system, students are supposed to accept and to obey unquestioningly whatever that your instructors tell you. Classroom activities are almost exclusively teacher-centered instead of students-oriented. Whereas under the American educational system, they are largely students-centered. To have truly meaningful teacher-student interactivity is the ultimate motive of my pursuing a graduate education in the United States. I believe that meaningful teaching-student interactivity is what is good and fascinating about American educational system, among many other things.

The Conclusion of the Visa Officer: “Since you are not satisfied with the Chinese education, then I do not believe that you will come back to China.”

Clarifications

But it is a misunderstanding and it is not a logical conclusion. Not being satisfied with Chinese education (or more specifically, not satisfied with certain practices of Chinese instructors in handling teacher-student relationship) is the motivation for my seeking more efficient educations in the U.S. It cannot be the reason for me not to come back to China. For many reasons, I have the least idea of staying in the United States and not returning to China.

Firstly, I will have very few opportunities to make achievements in my field of study and research if I stay in the U.S. The dynamic Programming that I will specialize in is highly developed and mature in American industry. No significant improvements can be expected. In contrast, for Chinese industry, Dynamic Programming is just beginning to develop. Many areas wait for exploration. It is evident that I can succeed in contributing to the development of Dynamic Programming more easily in China as a developing country rather than in the United States as the most developed country. That is, my career development is possible only in China.

Secondly, I will have to compensate x x x x New Materials Co., Ltd for violating the employment contract that I have signed with it. The company has reserved a research position for me. I have the legal obligation to come back to China. If I violate the contract, I will face serious consequences, both legally and financially.

Thirdly, I have previous excellent records to prove that I am not the person who will refuse to come back to my own country. From August 2002 to June 2003, I was doing my graduate program at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) of Singapore. For lack of research funds and for the disparity between my advisor’s research interest (Image Processing) and mine (Dynamic Programming), he was not very supportive of my program and I decided to discontinue my program. I could have stayed in Singapore, a much more developed country than China, where I could find a relatively well-paid job. But I came back to China. Similarly, I will also come back to China when I finish my program in the U.S.

My only intention to go to study in the U.S. is to receive a first-rate education in my area of specialization and it is only the University of Cincinnati can make to aspiration of mine possible. Through this program I hope to become a well-trained and productive researcher capable of contributing to the development of China’s Dynamic programming research. But first of all I have to receive academic trainings from the University of Cincinnati. If I cannot obtain my student visa for my future study, my academic pursuit will end in nothing. It will be a great loss for my personal career development. Therefore I sincerely hope that you reconsider my visa application. Your reasonable and fair reassessment will be duly appreciated.

Yours sincerely

x x x

嘉文博译郑重声明：