Graduates Face Many Barriers in Job Hunting !x@3U^${
It is graduation time again. Whether joining the social workforce or pursuing $[1J[eY*
advanced studies, about four million Chinese graduates will soon turn a new page in I #8TY/XP
their lives. Still, no matter what, campus life will remain deeply etched on the minds %m5&Y01
of China's former students. What lies ahead for the country's graduates? $F
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Statistics released by relevant departments of China show that in 2006, graduates G%#M17
from all Chinese colleges and universities numbered 4.13 million, up 750,000 from &RL
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2005 with a growth rate of roughly 22%. Hence, the employment tension further 6
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intensifies. Meanwhile, various intangible barriers exist in social relations, regional qvN`46c
restriction, permanent residency and university's reputation have made the graduates' Hph$Z1{
job-hunting process tougher. P3op1/Np
Some analyze that against the backdrop of intensified employment tension for IQNvhl.{
university graduates, needy students from rural and urban areas usually find r'E|6_0
themselves in relatively inferior positions. dZIruZ)x
Some graduates realize that in order to get a job, they have to sign some "unfair 2Cgq&\wS
treaties" that promise not to take the postgraduate exam or leave the company within og)f?4
several years, or they have to pay 5,000 Yuan for breaching the contract. Some CjT]!D)s
recruiters even declare openly that they only need students from famous universities, RJa1pYK
so graduates from other schools are not even entitled to apply. r
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Currently the contradiction in China's higher education has transferred from entering 8d|#W
to leaving a university and from the difficulty in enrollment to employment after W%_Cda5,
graduation. It has become a common phenomenon that "graduates become jobless". y??^[ sB
Should this problem not be tackled rightly, the employment issue would turn into a ]7:*A7/!.
new factor that causes social instability. :9Mqwgk,;3
College—A New Experience !'f.g|a
Living at college, first of all, gives me a sense of responsibility, of being on my W)
p?cK`
own. My parents aren’t around to say, ―No, you’re not going out tonight‖ or ―Did you sHn-#SGm
finish your homework?‖ Everything I do has to be my decision, and that gives me the ;{:bq`56f
responsibility of handling my own life. During the second week I was at college, I had V \Sl->:
to go out and look for a bank where I could open an account. Before that I looked in E*G{V j
the phone book since I had no clue about any banks around here or where they were gv}J"anD
located. I went to the bank and made decisions for myself—whether to have a D\-D~G]x
checking or savings account and whether or not to get a MASTER card. +5xk6RP
Friendly people: that’s another aspect I like about college. On my first day (and n1r'Y;G
even now) people were nice to me. I came to Marymount University here in Virginia ka?EXF:
from New York and – even though I’d been here before—I was a bit confused about
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where I was going. My mother and I drove in, not knowing the building we were V PaW-o
supposed to go to, and the guard was especially nice: with a smile, he told us what ;JV(!8[
building we were looking for and where we could park our car. Some upperclassmen '8V>:dy>
saw me and asked, ―Are you a new student?‖ When they found out I was looking for linvK.Lf
my dormitory, one said, ―Oh, just follow us; that’s where we’re going.‖ Even now I bW?cb5C
Q1^kU0M }
2 cVuT|b^
feel comfortable in the dorm because there are friendly people around to talk with. :>3/*"vx?G
Finally—to add to my likes of college—I love having Saturdays off. Also, I love r31)Ed$
to sleep in, something I couldn’t do in high school. 7 DW_G
How Can We Finance Our College Education? :`<ME/"YE
Nowadays, tuition fees for college are much higher than ever before. How to \SyG#.$
finance our college education has become a matter of concern for many students, (K`@OwD
especially those who are from the remote areas. X6G2$|
Actually, there are many ways to solve this problem. We can get the money from D0VbD" y
our parents. We can apply for a loan especially set up for college students. We can [Nv)37|W
also acquire the money entirely by ourselves, keeping a part-time job in our spare SK t&BnW
time and doing a full-time job in summer and winter holidays. Or we can ask our E:ti]$$
parents for most of the money and earn the rest in our spare time in college. |?<^4U8
As far as I am concerned, I prefer the last way. I don't want to depend entirely on y1_z(L;I
my parents, which will be a burden to them. Nor do I want to work in my free time for ~fY\;
the tuition alone, because I would like to have enough time for my school work. If my -n~%v0D8c
parents pay most of the tuition for me, I will work part time for the rest and this, I 7QM1E(cMg
believe, can make my college life rich and colorful. 5\.w\
Introduction of My College ,ePl>m:Z
I'm a student at Maebashi Institute of Technology in Gunma. It is located 6YF<GF{
between Komagata and Shinmaebashi on the JR Ryomo Line. It's only 10 minutes ,KFF[z
from JR Maebashi station on a bus or a taxi. e_3($pj
Maebit was originally founded in 1952 as a junior college and it evolved into a l
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four-year college in 1997. Today there are some 700 students in both the junior bT c^huP
college and the four-year undergraduate school. $VnPs!a
Our school offers two sets of programs, the day course and the evening course. >?|c>HGX
Students can choose whichever suits their conveniences best from those two courses. "] [u
Many lessons here are taught in small-sized classes. 4;V;8a\A
I'm in the Department of Information Engineering. My field of study is Robotics. qx";G
The first period begins at 9:30 a.m., which is rather late, and the last period of the day w On*QO[
course ends at 4:55 p.m. The classes for the evening course begin at 5:45 p.m. and end h)h%y
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at 8:50 p.m. k\Z@B!VAq
Maebit's campus is not very large but it has a lot of flowerbeds and plants. On =i:,")W7=
campus there are the library, the club building, sports fields, the student union hall, Q3rLCg,;
the laboratory building, and many other facilities. Our department building lies in the c_Jcy
northwest corner of campus. This building was built about five years ago, and i#:M2&twE
9T%b#~?3P
3 H?wf%0
everything is still new in this building. :uB(PeAv*
There are many clubs, but I'm not a member of any club. One of my friends is a iH>IV0
<
member of the Tennis Club in which there are 5 members. They practice every f6`W(OiE
Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. They are hoping to make it into the best 8 in the #Q$e%VJ(c1
coming intercollegiate tournament. !112u#V
I like my college. I have already made some good friends and we're enjoying our C@!bd+'
school life. V<Co!2S
Coping with Stress in College 21z@-&Oq
College life can be very stressful. Sometimes parents, faculty and others tend to
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idealize their college experience and remember it as that idyllic time when they had N14Q4v-*x
few worries or responsibilities. To students currently attending college, however, the hq?F81
process is often stressful and frustrating. The competition for grades, the need to 3u/ GrsF
perform, relationships, career choice, and many other aspects of the college @`XbM7D 5
environment cause stress. h(p cGE
But before condemning stress outright, we need to understand that stress is only p<c1$O*
harmful when it is excessive. Much of the stress that we all experience is helpful and &Xh=bM'/%m
stimulating. The challenges of life tend to be stressful and an attempt to avoid stress uoTc c|Kc
completely would lead to a rather boring existence. The problem comes when you \0.!al0
experience too much stress. h>ZU67-
There are four primary sources of stress: the environment, (noise, pollution, \?[ m%$A
traffic, crowding, and the weather), physiology, (illness, injuries, hormonal &n]]OPo
fluctuations, and inadequate sleep or nutrition), students’ thoughts (negative self-talk, <vd}oiB@
catastrophizing, and perfectionism), and social stressors (financial problems, work )!=fy']
demands, social events, and losing a loved one). Symptoms of stress appear in many ]0=THq\H
forms. Some symptoms only impact the person who is directly experiencing stress,
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while other symptoms may have an impact on our relationships with others. &Z%'xAOGR
Although some stress reactions are part of deeper and more serious emotional 0u
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problems, many are not, and can be handled with relatively simple counseling and y\R-=Am".
stress-management techniques. Developing a balanced lifestyle, gaining perspective vHN/~k#
by discussing problems with other students or tutors, specifying relaxation techniques, MbeK{8~E%l
and clarifying your values and cultivating a sense of life meaning can help you relieve #>2cfZ`6'J
your stress in college. \`W8#fob
Sports s8SCEpz
From the earliest times, people have held sports competitions. The athletic few 83F]d+n
compete on the field while the rest of us participate from the safety of our seats. ?ZYj5[op,H
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4 f!G%$?]
Today sports are certainly as popular as ever, and because of radio and television, we p1s|JI
can now compete from a distance. ^_/gM[H.
In fact, for important competitions, the whole world becomes one big stadium. eBqF@'DQ
It is hard to say why humans like organized games. The reasons that we enjoy aT8A+=K6
sports probably differ from person to person. Whether little kids are kicking a ball D0yH2[j+
around a city playground, or million-dollar-a-year athletes are playing in a modern S"/gZfxer
stadium, the excitement of competition, motion, discipline, and beauty are in the air. 7e
/Kh)5G
Who doesn’t stop to watch a ball game in the street or a swimmer in a pool? What }]. |7h
parents are not proud to see their children carried off the field by thankful fans? For a>S-50
the players, the joys of sportsmanship can include punishing self-discipline and the ~>$z1o&}.
friendship of teammates. 'grb@+w(
Then there is special thrill that comes only to a lucky few. It is the thrill that
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comes from hearing thousand voices shout your name. But personal victory is only ?uXY 6J"
one kind of victory. In every game someone must lose, but mankind wins every time p7[&H