Why Robin...
"Over the past couple months I’ve sometimes had doubts about the wisdom of tackling a book in less than two months, but I did make one decision that was sheer brilliance—asking Robin Feifei to co-author the book.

"I first met this Junior in International Business and Economics in 2005 during an extravaganza she helped arrange on Zhangzhou campus, but I had already heard about her from just about every foreigner on campus. Robin seemed to know everyone and be involved in everything, yet she still managed to be first in her department for her first two years and land numerous scholarships (“Study is always my top priority no matter how many activities I’m involved in,” she said).

"Robin not only speaks English like a foreigner but has impeccable Mandarin, and has won many competitions in both languages. She is president of XMU’s Putonghua (Mandarin) Association, and was producer and broadcaster for the university program “English Café” for two years, and since moving to the main campus she’s been the anchorperson for the university’s TV news center. Robin has written articles for Xiamen Daily’s English “Common Talk,” represented XMU in the “Model United Nations” in Beijing, and on Feb. 2006, was selected to appear on CCTV10’s “Outlook”.

" She’s hosted numerous conferences, banquets, and competitions, and worked with various foreign governments (the Philippine government gave her a letter of commendation and this weekend she’s helping the Australians!).

"Robin has made such brilliant accomplishments in spite of her rather humble background (or perhaps because of it?) Both parents had minimal education; her father works a crane and her unemployed mother cares for her bedridden grandmother, who raised her until she was 16. But Robin’s grandfather gave Robin some advice that she obviously took to heart: “Learn more and do more as long as you live.” I asked Robin about her goals in life and she said that, short-term, her goal was to give her parents their first plane ride, and to show them how to check in. I would not be surprised if someday Robin bought her parents a plane!
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"This book would have been impossible without the help of a very talented and self-motivated Chinese-speaking co-author, and no one, whether student or teacher, could have done a better job than Robin. In spite of her killer schedule, she did research, interviewed people, wrote articles and chapters, translated from English to Chinese and back again; in short, she contributed much more than her share to making this book possible.

"Thank you, Robin! I hope you’re next two years are as amazing as the first two, and I look forward to working with you on our next project."

为什么选择Robin （费菲）？

作者：潘维廉

在成书这段时间里，我有时会怀疑用少于两个月的时间来完成一本书这个决定的明智与否；但是，我所做的决定中，的确有一个是完全明智的——让Robin费菲来做此书的合著者。

第一次与这个国际经济与贸易专业大三的学生见面，是在2005年她参加的漳州校区的一个晚会上，但是之前我就几乎从所有的厦大外教那里都听说过她。她似乎认识所有的人，参与了一切的活动，却仍然成功地在大一大二连续两年排名全系第一！并获得过好多奖学金！（她曾经说：“甭管多少社会活动，我觉得学习永远是第一位的！”）
Robin(费菲)不但英语说得就像个老外，而且还说着一口极其标准的普通话，并在很多的英语、普通话比赛中获过奖。她是“厦门大学普通话协会”的会长；还在大学头两年里是厦门大学广播电台英语节目的制作人和播音；到本部后还在校新闻中心播音；她为厦门日报双语周刊写文章；代表厦大去北京参加“模拟联合国”；在2006年的2月，还被选去拍摄播出了中央电视台10套“希望英语”节目。她担任过各种论坛、宴会和比赛的主持人，还曾经为不同的外国政府做过工作。（她曾收到过菲律宾政府的表扬信，这个周末又在帮助澳大利亚外宾呢！）

尽管Robin取得了如此成绩，她的家庭背景却并无显赫之处——或者这个家庭背景正是她成功的原因？她的父母都只受过低等教育，她的父亲是一名开吊车的工人，母亲失业很多年，在家照顾Robin卧病在床的外婆——一位一直抚养她到16岁的老人。幸运的是，Robin的外公给了她一些建议，而她则将其铭记于心：“只要活着，就要多学习、多做事。”我问Robin她的目标是什么，她说，因为父母都没有坐过飞机，短期的目标就是带他们去做一次飞机，并教会他们登机的程序。其实，如果有一天，Robin给她的父母买了一架飞机，我都不会奇怪的！
如果没有这位有才能、主观能动性强、积极肯干又讲中文的合著者的话，这本书的存在是不可能的。而且，没有人，不论是老师还是学生，会比她做合著者做得更好。虽然Robin有一张“玩儿命式”紧张的时间表，她仍然完成了大量的研究、采访、撰写文章和章节、汉英英汉互译等等工作。总而言之，她做了这么多、甚至多于她应该做的工作量，如此才让这本书有了存在的可能啊！
感谢你，Robin费菲！我希望你在大学接下来的两年里，能像前两年做得那样精彩，而且，我等着与你的下一个合作项目。