In 1966 the National College Entrance Examination was officially canceled because of so-called "the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" (1966 - 1976). Its resumption in 1977 was a significant event in the country. The next year, in 1978, the first graduate school in China, the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences (GSCAS) was established, which was really another piece of breaking news. In the early years of GSCAS Professor T. D. Lee, Nobel laureate, gave his lectures there. He commented on the poor school facilities of this exceptional institution of higher education, remarking that they resembled those at National Southwestern Associated University, which was formed during World War II. His words encouraged students, who felt that, like him, they could endure poor facilities and still succeed as scientists. All the authors of this book are alumni of the class of 1978, i.e., the first class, of GSCAS. In their essays, as proof of their commitment, they will tell the reasons why they chose GSCAS, their lives on campus, and their great stories of success afterwards.