Graduates Face Many Barriers in Job Hunting Ec/-f`8
It is graduation time again. Whether joining the social workforce or pursuing 0dKv%X#\
advanced studies, about four million Chinese graduates will soon turn a new page in ?xT ^9
their lives. Still, no matter what, campus life will remain deeply etched on the minds gK6_vS4K)
of China's former students. What lies ahead for the country's graduates? 6p}dl>T_y
Statistics released by relevant departments of China show that in 2006, graduates z~ f;5 xtI
from all Chinese colleges and universities numbered 4.13 million, up 750,000 from @((Y[<
2005 with a growth rate of roughly 22%. Hence, the employment tension further &$x1^
intensifies. Meanwhile, various intangible barriers exist in social relations, regional +vSp+X1E
restriction, permanent residency and university's reputation have made the graduates' ;+Mee^E>!
job-hunting process tougher. X%lk] &2
Some analyze that against the backdrop of intensified employment tension for PX$_."
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university graduates, needy students from rural and urban areas usually find H7}@56
themselves in relatively inferior positions. ]tnf<5x
Some graduates realize that in order to get a job, they have to sign some "unfair #$
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treaties" that promise not to take the postgraduate exam or leave the company within r/e} DYL&
several years, or they have to pay 5,000 Yuan for breaching the contract. Some ol #4AU`
recruiters even declare openly that they only need students from famous universities, RX cfd-us
so graduates from other schools are not even entitled to apply. X[;-SXq
Currently the contradiction in China's higher education has transferred from entering 6z3`*B
to leaving a university and from the difficulty in enrollment to employment after
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graduation. It has become a common phenomenon that "graduates become jobless". >713H!uj
Should this problem not be tackled rightly, the employment issue would turn into a ~ ~U,
new factor that causes social instability. DFvj
College—A New Experience f$I$A(0P
Living at college, first of all, gives me a sense of responsibility, of being on my -q")qNt.
own. My parents aren’t around to say, ―No, you’re not going out tonight‖ or ―Did you 0\tdxi
finish your homework?‖ Everything I do has to be my decision, and that gives me the &3~_9+
responsibility of handling my own life. During the second week I was at college, I had k>W}9^ cK
to go out and look for a bank where I could open an account. Before that I looked in #}8 x
the phone book since I had no clue about any banks around here or where they were [qHt
N.
located. I went to the bank and made decisions for myself—whether to have a e00s*LdC
checking or savings account and whether or not to get a MASTER card. DMpNmF>
Friendly people: that’s another aspect I like about college. On my first day (and rpn&.#KS
even now) people were nice to me. I came to Marymount University here in Virginia .J fV4!=o
from New York and – even though I’d been here before—I was a bit confused about skzTw66W.
where I was going. My mother and I drove in, not knowing the building we were g( -}M`
supposed to go to, and the guard was especially nice: with a smile, he told us what w7"&\8a
building we were looking for and where we could park our car. Some upperclassmen ov%.+5 P
saw me and asked, ―Are you a new student?‖ When they found out I was looking for OtD!@GQ6
my dormitory, one said, ―Oh, just follow us; that’s where we’re going.‖ Even now I E
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feel comfortable in the dorm because there are friendly people around to talk with. Ps=<@,dks
Finally—to add to my likes of college—I love having Saturdays off. Also, I love :j[a X7Sq2
to sleep in, something I couldn’t do in high school. kXY p.IVA
How Can We Finance Our College Education? W;y ,Xs
Nowadays, tuition fees for college are much higher than ever before. How to >X0c:p
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finance our college education has become a matter of concern for many students, b_%W*Q
especially those who are from the remote areas. 6Cvg-X@
Actually, there are many ways to solve this problem. We can get the money from DfX}^'#m+
our parents. We can apply for a loan especially set up for college students. We can `@#,5S$ E
also acquire the money entirely by ourselves, keeping a part-time job in our spare g)UYpi?p-}
time and doing a full-time job in summer and winter holidays. Or we can ask our d`ESe'j:
parents for most of the money and earn the rest in our spare time in college. 0\a;}
S'g#
As far as I am concerned, I prefer the last way. I don't want to depend entirely on @ 9q/jv`
my parents, which will be a burden to them. Nor do I want to work in my free time for 9!UFLZR
the tuition alone, because I would like to have enough time for my school work. If my r5(-c]E7
parents pay most of the tuition for me, I will work part time for the rest and this, I ;VIW/
believe, can make my college life rich and colorful. [/Ya4=C@
Introduction of My College {xS\CC(g
I'm a student at Maebashi Institute of Technology in Gunma. It is located hY^-kdQ>M
between Komagata and Shinmaebashi on the JR Ryomo Line. It's only 10 minutes /m+q!yi &
from JR Maebashi station on a bus or a taxi. 50
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Maebit was originally founded in 1952 as a junior college and it evolved into a XF=GmkO
four-year college in 1997. Today there are some 700 students in both the junior RBM(>lU:
college and the four-year undergraduate school. J^]Y`Q`
Our school offers two sets of programs, the day course and the evening course. hp6%zUR
Students can choose whichever suits their conveniences best from those two courses. 2O~I.(9(
Many lessons here are taught in small-sized classes. 8`j;v>2
I'm in the Department of Information Engineering. My field of study is Robotics. w+Cs=!
The first period begins at 9:30 a.m., which is rather late, and the last period of the day is,r:
course ends at 4:55 p.m. The classes for the evening course begin at 5:45 p.m. and end ob3Z
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at 8:50 p.m. {V{*rq<)
Maebit's campus is not very large but it has a lot of flowerbeds and plants. On B \z4o\am%
campus there are the library, the club building, sports fields, the student union hall, I];Hx'/<~
the laboratory building, and many other facilities. Our department building lies in the hc4W|Ofj
northwest corner of campus. This building was built about five years ago, and WF{rrU:
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everything is still new in this building. 8`/nk`;
There are many clubs, but I'm not a member of any club. One of my friends is a zFtRsa5+
member of the Tennis Club in which there are 5 members. They practice every @'yD(ZMAz
Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. They are hoping to make it into the best 8 in the utz!ElzA
coming intercollegiate tournament. oU.LYz_
I like my college. I have already made some good friends and we're enjoying our C$1}c[
school life. J}-,!3qxW
Coping with Stress in College *CH lg1
College life can be very stressful. Sometimes parents, faculty and others tend to >|[74#}7
idealize their college experience and remember it as that idyllic time when they had Z ?{;|Z5
few worries or responsibilities. To students currently attending college, however, the aiKZ$KLC
process is often stressful and frustrating. The competition for grades, the need to ci@U
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perform, relationships, career choice, and many other aspects of the college _"PTO&E
environment cause stress. L##lXUl
But before condemning stress outright, we need to understand that stress is only ]tVU$9D
harmful when it is excessive. Much of the stress that we all experience is helpful and H?P:;1A]c
stimulating. The challenges of life tend to be stressful and an attempt to avoid stress mGXjSWsd
completely would lead to a rather boring existence. The problem comes when you >
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experience too much stress. ~7W?W<
There are four primary sources of stress: the environment, (noise, pollution, "(hhb>V1Wl
traffic, crowding, and the weather), physiology, (illness, injuries, hormonal %s;#epP$
fluctuations, and inadequate sleep or nutrition), students’ thoughts (negative self-talk, ?dukK3u
catastrophizing, and perfectionism), and social stressors (financial problems, work S3[r
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demands, social events, and losing a loved one). Symptoms of stress appear in many XF{ g~M
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. (>x4X@b
Although some stress reactions are part of deeper and more serious emotional ey@]B5
problems, many are not, and can be handled with relatively simple counseling and $/aZ/O)F
stress-management techniques. Developing a balanced lifestyle, gaining perspective gL(ny/Ob9
by discussing problems with other students or tutors, specifying relaxation techniques, &k
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and clarifying your values and cultivating a sense of life meaning can help you relieve gv}Esps
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your stress in college. " r!O9X6
Sports k[]B
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From the earliest times, people have held sports competitions. The athletic few [a;U'v*
compete on the field while the rest of us participate from the safety of our seats. OAMsqeWYA
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Today sports are certainly as popular as ever, and because of radio and television, we )oJn@82C|
can now compete from a distance. MO+g*N
In fact, for important competitions, the whole world becomes one big stadium. _ cK"y2
It is hard to say why humans like organized games. The reasons that we enjoy 0b9;vlGq$
sports probably differ from person to person. Whether little kids are kicking a ball kh/n|2
around a city playground, or million-dollar-a-year athletes are playing in a modern 5:%xuJD
stadium, the excitement of competition, motion, discipline, and beauty are in the air. LfEeFF=#n
Who doesn’t stop to watch a ball game in the street or a swimmer in a pool? What &13qlc6
parents are not proud to see their children carried off the field by thankful fans? For <(dHh9$~
the players, the joys of sportsmanship can include punishing self-discipline and the )<bgZ, v
friendship of teammates. =m.Lw
Then there is special thrill that comes only to a lucky few. It is the thrill that Bb2;zOGdA
comes from hearing thousand voices shout your name. But personal victory is only yrOWC
one kind of victory. In every game someone must lose, but mankind wins every time Eg&xIyR