學業or事業：看線上教育如何刺激創業
Today, there’s not much we can’t access online. But one area has fallen short in terms of the breadth and depth of online access: high quality education. Thankfully, that may be about to change thanks to the initiatives of 2U, a company that aims to revolutionize higher education by developing the world’s best online educational experiences in partnership with leading universities.
當今的網路資源可謂四通八達、無所不包。然而在一個領域中，網路資源的深度和廣度都還有所欠缺——高質量教育資源。幸運的是，隨著2U一類公司的出現，這種局面將會得以改善。U2公司致力於通過與優秀院校建立夥伴關係、發展最佳的線上教育課程，從而開啟高等教育產業的變革過程。
This global, online educational initiative really hits home for me. I built my business while still in school. If this program were available to me during college, it would have allowed me to work full-time and receive college credit from international universities.
這種國際性的線上教育創新嘗試在我看來是非常有益的。我是在求學期間開始創業的。如果我在校期間有這種教育專案，我就可以一邊做全職工作，一邊在國際名牌大學聽課賺學分了。
Fortunately, I didn’t have to make the choice between my education and my business, but Andrew Hermalyn did. He’s a member of 2U’s founding team, now the Executive Vice President of 2U’s Semester Online, a one-of-a-kind program offering rigorous for-credit undergraduate courses through prestigious college and universities.
幸運的是，那時我並不需要在學業和職業之間進行選擇，但安德魯·赫姆林就曾經面對這樣兩難的選擇。他是2U創立團隊中的一個成員，是該公司的常務副總裁。如今他負責的是Semester Online這個專案，這是一個非常特別的專案，為使用者提供名牌院校開設的本科生課程，課程管理採取嚴格的學費制度。
I recently spoke with one of Andrew’s long-time connections, Paul Critchlow, the Vice Chairman of Public Markets at Bank of America. He shared some insight about how Andrew got his start with 2U:
最近我和安德魯的一位長期聯絡人，美國銀行公共市場副總裁保爾·克里奇勞有一番談話。他提供的資訊有助於我們瞭解安德魯創立2U的詳細過程：
During his time at Lehigh University, Andrew parlayed those professional relationships into a summer internship with the founding team of a tech startup called 2tor, Inc. (now 2U, Inc.). He was placed in charge of building the company’s formal internship program. As the summer drew to a close, the CEO invited him to join the company full-time.
在安德魯就讀於利哈伊大學的時候，他利用自己在職場上的人脈資訊獲得了一個暑期實習機會，他在這裡開始和一個名為2tor（即後來的2U）創立團隊合作。他負責的任務是創立該公司的正式實習專案，暑假結束的時候，該公司的執行長邀請他來公司做全職工作。
This ignited a dilemma. Andrew had to decide whether to drop out of college or head back to college. He chose his education and returned to Lehigh, but stayed close to 2U.
這一工作邀請使安德魯面對一個兩難的選擇——他不得不在輟學和返回學業之間做出選擇。他當時的決定是回到利哈伊大學，但他仍與2U公司保持著密切聯絡。
Today, Andrew’s work with 2U has culminated in a new program called Semester Online, which empowers students to choose between their education and their career. Semester Online, formed as a consortium of top colleges, offers high-quality classes for real college credit.
如今，安德魯創立的新專案Semester Online標誌著他在2U公司工作的卓越業績。當學生們面臨教育和事業的選擇時，這個專案能夠為他們提供強大助力。該專案構建了一個頂級高校的聯盟，為學生提供可獲學分的高質量課程。
2U’s Semester Online just took its educational network international with the addition of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and the University of Melbourne, Australia. That means students in the U.S. can now access outstanding international educational opportunities — and college credit — from the comfort of their home or a local coffee shop.
愛爾蘭的都柏林三一學院和澳大利亞的墨爾本大學剛剛加盟2U公司Semester Online專案的國際教育網路平臺。這意味著美國的學生可以一邊輕鬆的坐在家裡或是當地的咖啡館裡，一邊享受從知名國際院校接受教育的機會。
2U is truly leading a movement in transforming how we access education, and as Andrew’s story indicates, it has big implications for entrepreneurs. I’m excited to see the continued impact of its efforts.
2U公司堪稱教育變革的領導者。並且，正如安德魯的創業故事向我們啟示的，企業家們可以從中找到巨大的以應用空間。我十分期待2U公司的新舉措及其產生的新效應。
