Let me share some thoughts from personal experience on this topic.
1 — The most worrying scenario is a child with shaky values and mediocre academic performance, whose parents happen to be financially well-off and rashly send them abroad anyway.
Children like this, with unstable values, are easily led astray by bad company they happen to meet while studying abroad. And when the family has money, it becomes all too easy for the child to be indifferent to their parents’ sacrifices — and just go wild overseas.
If that child then starts hanging around nightclubs, drinking heavily, or getting into drugs, they’re almost certainly done for.
I tell parents of overseas students again and again: on Friday and Saturday nights, around 9 or 10 PM, do surprise video calls now and then to see what your child is actually up to. The moment you catch them with glazed eyes, hanging around shady people — arrange for them to come home immediately. Do not forget this.
2 — Master Chi’s principle is what I call “cut the head and tail.”
That is, the top 10% and the bottom 15% by academic performance are actually the ones best suited for studying abroad.
For the top 10%: find a way to aim for a school in the QS world top 100. Choose a strong major — especially STEM — to get a real grip on cutting-edge technology, then intern for a few years before coming back to find opportunities.
For the bottom 15%: be pragmatic. Prioritize vocational and technical programs in Japan, Singapore, Australia, Canada, or Germany.
For example, I strongly recommend that young men consider specializing in auto mechanics, industrial maintenance, or plumbing and electrical work. Young women can look at nursing, CNC operation, or baking and culinary arts.
A truly well-trained skilled trades professional can earn a decent, respectable wage anywhere in the world — and their livelihood is rock solid.
3 — Have your child aim for a few years of experience working at a foreign company, or in an overseas posting.
The era ahead is one of China expanding outward. A huge number of companies will need people with overseas experience who understand different cultures and customs across the world.
Try not to have your child rush home the moment they graduate, without having built up that crucial foundational experience. Otherwise they’ll end up fitting in nowhere — neither here nor there.
4 — During holidays, don’t let homesickness be the reason they come home. Encourage them to travel to different places instead.
If they’re studying in North America, encourage them to spend time in Singapore, Japan and Korea, Europe — anywhere that broadens their perspective.
Many things in this world can only truly be felt and absorbed into one’s life experience through personal encounter.
5 — Encourage them to work part-time within reasonable limits. Don’t listen to people who say “overseas students can’t earn much, working is pointless.”
For an adult, even earning just one yuan with their own hands changes their understanding of life entirely.
Before going abroad, ideally use a winter or summer break to work odd jobs at some property management company. They’ll pick up a wealth of practical life skills that will serve them for a lifetime.
To this day I cannot understand why there are adults who don’t know even the most basic things — like how to unclog a drain or fix cabinet hardware. These are things anyone can fully master in just three or four hours with a bit of effort, or at least understand the basic principles clearly.
The above is offered for your reference.