Raymond Carver once asked, “What do we talk about when we talk about love?”
Paul Valéry, in his reflections on literature and art, asked with uncertainty: “When we talk about poetry, what exactly are we talking about?”
Haruki Murakami also wrote a book inspired by his commitment to running: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
When writers and poets face concepts that are difficult to define, they often slow down and ask a more fundamental question: what are we really talking about?
As a member of YRI, I would also like to share my thoughts on this question:
When we talk about research, what are we really talking about?
Some people say YRI is a company that helps students strengthen their profiles for overseas applications. Others say YRI is a company focused on academic research education.
Both descriptions are right — but they are also incomplete.
It is akin to asking why someone runs. Some may say they run for health. That is true: running can improve health. But running is not only about health. It can carry a deeper meaning. Through the discipline of running, for example, a person may become better at resisting inertia and overcoming laziness.
YRI is similar. Our academic research products and services can help students receive stronger offers in the admissions process. But at a deeper level, research may establish a set of more fundamental values — values that even students, and perhaps even those of us working at YRI, may not fully recognize at first.
A Framework for Understanding the World
Some people follow a predictable path: write exams, enter school, graduate, find a job, get married, have children, send their children to school, attend parent-teacher meetings, retire, and eventually join the neighborhood dance group.
There is nothing wrong with such a life. One could look back and say with satisfaction:
“Life has been worthwhile, I'm at peace!”
But since we only live once, I still want to urge all young people not to be content with just a "stable" life.
For example, many of us are curious about why relations between major countries have changed so rapidly in recent years.
But if you do not think deeply, investigate, or question what the media presents, you may unknowingly step into a story box designed by others — one that feels coherent from the inside, while quietly shaping how people emotions and views.
