MIT的老师最近有些“反常”。有的老师把作业的截止日期向后调整了，有的老师直接cancel掉部分课程，还有的老师告诉学生：考试你参不参加都行！

What's going on? 原因令人唏嘘。在过去几个周里，这所美国顶尖大学连续有两名大一学生选择了自杀。Matthew Nehring，2015年2月28日在校内自杀。Christina E. Tournant，2015年3月5日在家中自杀。自杀原因被认为是学生压力过大导致。
   MIT学生的学习压力到底有多大？
  现在在MIT读大二的学生 Maggie Delano表示，她上高中时从来没有一门课成绩低于90分，但在来到MIT的第一学期，她的物理只考了27分。为了赶上进度，现在她每周都会有几天要熬夜通宵学习。进入名牌大学后学习成绩导致的心理落差并不少见。压力如影随形，似乎已经快要超过学生的承受范围。就在两起自杀事件发生以后，MIT的校长Cynthia Barnhart要求全校的教授给学生减负。教授中响应的人不少。MIT电气工程系的教授George Verghese 主动cancel掉了自己的一节课，并将课后作业改为选做，取而代之的是，他邀请同学们一起去学校附近的哈佛艺术博物馆（Harvard Art Museums）参观。这位教授在给全班同学的邮件（见下）中写到：“这节课上不上无所谓，但是我们周围有这么好的博物馆，不去太可惜。我以前上学的时候，最喜欢的就是逛博物馆，博物馆令我感到放松。”

Email from Prof. George Verghese

It’s easy for me to talk in class about ideas and equations … . I’ve been teaching some version of thesubject since before most of you were born! (But perhaps surprisingly to you, I learn new things eachtime I teach the subject, sometimes as a result of student questions or comments, other times as a resultof questions I never previously thought to ask myself.)It’s harder to talk in class about life in general, though I’ve lived more years than anyone else in class(students or staff). Your life experiences may be richer, more textured, more complex, more intense, …So I don’t presume to talk too much in class about life. I’ve also found that while some students enjoyhearing about the history and people of the subjects we study, others are more impatient, and would likethe professor to focus on the concepts and equations they can expect to be tested on. And it’s especially hard to talk in class — — or anywhere, for that matter — — about loss and death, thoughI’ve experienced some measure of both in my life … . It’s especially hard when in the past nine dayswe’ve lost two of the youngest members of our community in tragic circumstances. …These heartbreaking losses are impossible to fathom. We are unlikely to ever have the answers we mightwant, not having walked in their shoes.
That doesn’t stop our questions, and our wondering what mighthave made a difference — — and what might still make a difference to others in despair.But at a time like this it is also important to — — and perhaps impossible not to — — reflect on life, and onwhat matters to us, individually and together.To give all of us some breathing room for such reflection, we have … decided to not have you turn in thecurrent problem set. … I’ve also, with the support of the rest of the staff, decided tocancel Wednesday’s lecture. … with our … book now out of our hands and on its eventual way to you, Ifeel less like we have to drag you through everything worth knowing in the book, and am content insteadto have us on the staff serve as guides to your own learning and synthesis of the material. That’s reallyhow it should be anyway.Instead of lecture, I invite you to join some of us who plan to visit the Harvard Art Museums at that time,http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/

Museums are what inspired me when I was at the lowest point of my doctoral studies. I hadaccompanied my thesis advisor on his sabbatical in Leuven, near Brussels in Belgium, but had no idea atthe time where I would find a thesis topic. Every weekend, two or three of us students would drive to adifferent city (Brussels is so central for this), and take in a museum or two, along with the other sightsand coffee shops. The museums displayed artifacts that spoke of people living their everyday lives incommunities that thrived centuries earlier, in much harder times — — people exercising and expressingtheir creativity and life force, with no particular thought of posterity.One realization that slowly grew on me during these museum visits was that I had to find and nurtureand express my own talents. I was always going to be surrounded by people who did most (if not all!)things better than me (this is even more true now that I am at MIT).

I needed to be where I couldsupport and encourage and celebrate their excellence while not belittling or discounting or suppressingwhat I was good at. These museum visits ended up being inspiring and calming at the same time. (Andwhen my thesis came together a year later, it turned out that most of what I needed in order to solve theproblems I was tackling I had actually learned while I was in Belgium!)… The museum visit is just one thought, and makes sense for me personally. Please use the lecture hourto focus on something that gives you inspiration. And if you don’t make it to the Harvard Art Museums onWednesday, please treat yourself to this at some other point during the term.Take care.

物理系的教授Peter Fisher也化身“暖男”，他在给学生的邮件中写道：“ “The pace of life at MIT is fast and challenges can mount, amplifying feelings of despair”，Peter建议同学们向心理健康中心寻求帮助，“ There is no shame in this — in fact, it is a sign of courage and strength.”

Dear Students,

I am writing to you in response to our recent losses. Now is a good time for us to all stop for a moment and remind ourselves who we are, where we are and what we are doing.

We have all come to MIT because we are seeking some deeper understanding of ourselves and our world. This quest is not an easy one and, very frequently, challenging in ways we do not expect. Sometimes our response to challenges makes us feel we have failed or are unworthy. In the normal course of life, these unwarranted feelings usually diminish.

Sometimes, however, they don’t go away. The pace of life at MIT is fast and challenges can mount, amplifying feelings of despair. When this happens, tragedy may result.

I want you all to know that there is no shame in feeling overwhelmed or despairing at the challenge life throws at us — these feelings are a problem, but a surmountable one, and many, many people, most people, have been there before. Even though you may feel there is no way out, this is not the truth: feeling trapped is a result of being depressed or troubled, and there is always help even when things seem bleakest.

The most important thing you can do when you have fallen in despair is thus to spend more time around people. It does not matter who, but of course it is best if it is someone who knows and cares about you. Don’t isolate yourself, which you may feel like doing. If you cannot find someone, contact me.

Getting help from Mental Health will also make a big difference. There is no shame in this — in fact, it is a sign of courage and strength. I have had help, weekly for 35 years. I came to this, as many did, from a desperate state, but making my way through these various crises has made me who I am.

I hope this helps and I know all of you can make your way through MIT. If I can help in any way, please let me know.

Best Wishes,
Peter Fisher
Department Head, Physics

  在过去10年里，MIT学生的自杀率为万分之一，在最近5年更是升高到万分之1.2，高于美国全国平均数字将近两倍。作为比较，中国大学的平均自杀率为万分之0.1~0.2。不仅仅是MIT，常青藤大学和其他顶尖大学的学生自杀现象近些年也时常见诸报端。就在最近几个月，斯坦福，哥伦比亚和耶鲁都发生了学生自杀事件，其中包括一名华裔女学生。去年宾夕法尼亚大学在两名学生接连自杀以后，启动了一个“压力和心理健康”的研究项目。该项目的最终报告在上个月出炉，报告认为，“破坏性完美主义（destructive perfectionism）”是导致学生压力的最主要原因。

   名校的学生不仅是在跟身边的同学竞争，他们更是在跟自己竞争。他们给自己制定了高标准，然后努力学习，想要超越自我。如果你要选择名校的offer，不妨先思考一下自己是否有能力应对名校带来的压力和挑战，不要过于自信或自卑，有自知之明的人才能做出最聪明的选择。