Graduates Face Many Barriers in Job Hunting k*u6'IKi.4
It is graduation time again. Whether joining the social workforce or pursuing KYZ#.f@
advanced studies, about four million Chinese graduates will soon turn a new page in r7sA;Y\
their lives. Still, no matter what, campus life will remain deeply etched on the minds 8f<y~L_(`
of China's former students. What lies ahead for the country's graduates? H|0-Al.{
Statistics released by relevant departments of China show that in 2006, graduates q'/o=De
from all Chinese colleges and universities numbered 4.13 million, up 750,000 from D66NF;7q
2005 with a growth rate of roughly 22%. Hence, the employment tension further cRMyYd J o
intensifies. Meanwhile, various intangible barriers exist in social relations, regional C(9"59>{]y
restriction, permanent residency and university's reputation have made the graduates' ${E^OE
job-hunting process tougher. @ze2'56F
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Some analyze that against the backdrop of intensified employment tension for \>>P%EU,
university graduates, needy students from rural and urban areas usually find )7]y
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themselves in relatively inferior positions. m ?; ?I]`
Some graduates realize that in order to get a job, they have to sign some "unfair Ozhn`9L+1!
treaties" that promise not to take the postgraduate exam or leave the company within 2X[oge0@
several years, or they have to pay 5,000 Yuan for breaching the contract. Some ML MetRP
recruiters even declare openly that they only need students from famous universities, RJUIB
so graduates from other schools are not even entitled to apply. wx[m-\
Currently the contradiction in China's higher education has transferred from entering dC8}Ttc}
to leaving a university and from the difficulty in enrollment to employment after Be6+YM5Cl
graduation. It has become a common phenomenon that "graduates become jobless". :8j7}'
Should this problem not be tackled rightly, the employment issue would turn into a 6bc\
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new factor that causes social instability. !zm;C@}ln
College—A New Experience >MKj~Ud
Living at college, first of all, gives me a sense of responsibility, of being on my t1 U+7nM
own. My parents aren’t around to say, ―No, you’re not going out tonight‖ or ―Did you ^a`3)WBv8
finish your homework?‖ Everything I do has to be my decision, and that gives me the -Ci&h
responsibility of handling my own life. During the second week I was at college, I had "/RMIS
K[;
to go out and look for a bank where I could open an account. Before that I looked in ]jm:VF]4
the phone book since I had no clue about any banks around here or where they were $|@vmv0
located. I went to the bank and made decisions for myself—whether to have a \v6lcAL-
checking or savings account and whether or not to get a MASTER card. {l5fKVb\C
Friendly people: that’s another aspect I like about college. On my first day (and $2}#):`
even now) people were nice to me. I came to Marymount University here in Virginia L -:@Om!
from New York and – even though I’d been here before—I was a bit confused about 9&uf
where I was going. My mother and I drove in, not knowing the building we were oQ,<Yx%E3
supposed to go to, and the guard was especially nice: with a smile, he told us what ZZZ9C#hK^9
building we were looking for and where we could park our car. Some upperclassmen 1AN$s
saw me and asked, ―Are you a new student?‖ When they found out I was looking for d"miPR
my dormitory, one said, ―Oh, just follow us; that’s where we’re going.‖ Even now I PZJ9f8V
T]Ai{@i
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feel comfortable in the dorm because there are friendly people around to talk with. (DY[OIHI
Finally—to add to my likes of college—I love having Saturdays off. Also, I love
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to sleep in, something I couldn’t do in high school. S}
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How Can We Finance Our College Education? Ikf[K%NKn
Nowadays, tuition fees for college are much higher than ever before. How to DE/SIy?
finance our college education has become a matter of concern for many students, |k90aQO
especially those who are from the remote areas. p> >H$t
Actually, there are many ways to solve this problem. We can get the money from '!`\!=j-`
our parents. We can apply for a loan especially set up for college students. We can OVDuF&0
also acquire the money entirely by ourselves, keeping a part-time job in our spare CN:T$ f|)
time and doing a full-time job in summer and winter holidays. Or we can ask our bI|G
%
parents for most of the money and earn the rest in our spare time in college. QJ4$) Fr(
As far as I am concerned, I prefer the last way. I don't want to depend entirely on MkoK(m{7
my parents, which will be a burden to them. Nor do I want to work in my free time for jK]1X8
the tuition alone, because I would like to have enough time for my school work. If my :M6v<Kg{;
parents pay most of the tuition for me, I will work part time for the rest and this, I gh?[x.U
believe, can make my college life rich and colorful. Fy Ih\
Introduction of My College =X7kADRq
I'm a student at Maebashi Institute of Technology in Gunma. It is located rY45.,qWs
between Komagata and Shinmaebashi on the JR Ryomo Line. It's only 10 minutes ^g vTc+|
from JR Maebashi station on a bus or a taxi. O8$~dzf,2
Maebit was originally founded in 1952 as a junior college and it evolved into a oC>J{z
four-year college in 1997. Today there are some 700 students in both the junior M['O`^
college and the four-year undergraduate school. "4\
Our school offers two sets of programs, the day course and the evening course. b/:wpy+9Z
Students can choose whichever suits their conveniences best from those two courses. GT<oYrjU
Many lessons here are taught in small-sized classes. 8A3/@Z;0S
I'm in the Department of Information Engineering. My field of study is Robotics. FefroaJ:u
The first period begins at 9:30 a.m., which is rather late, and the last period of the day A|r3c?q
course ends at 4:55 p.m. The classes for the evening course begin at 5:45 p.m. and end ~ h3G}EH
at 8:50 p.m. 3 Vc}Q'&Y
Maebit's campus is not very large but it has a lot of flowerbeds and plants. On r9_ ON|
campus there are the library, the club building, sports fields, the student union hall, Cj8&wz}ez
the laboratory building, and many other facilities. Our department building lies in the w
!20
northwest corner of campus. This building was built about five years ago, and F*PhV|XU
`-pwP
3 #! R>`l(S
everything is still new in this building. e`qrafa
There are many clubs, but I'm not a member of any club. One of my friends is a "frZ%mv
member of the Tennis Club in which there are 5 members. They practice every gA(npsUHI
Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. They are hoping to make it into the best 8 in the imYfRi=$
coming intercollegiate tournament. /@ @F
nQ++
I like my college. I have already made some good friends and we're enjoying our J.1c,@
school life. ]H
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Coping with Stress in College FQ<x(&/NF
College life can be very stressful. Sometimes parents, faculty and others tend to k-|
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idealize their college experience and remember it as that idyllic time when they had >+dSPI
few worries or responsibilities. To students currently attending college, however, the N# }w1]
process is often stressful and frustrating. The competition for grades, the need to QAV6{QShj
perform, relationships, career choice, and many other aspects of the college XZ
|L D#
environment cause stress. }) -V,\
But before condemning stress outright, we need to understand that stress is only <\^o
harmful when it is excessive. Much of the stress that we all experience is helpful and CqnHh@]nu
stimulating. The challenges of life tend to be stressful and an attempt to avoid stress KY
completely would lead to a rather boring existence. The problem comes when you J -z.
experience too much stress. ,/+Mp
There are four primary sources of stress: the environment, (noise, pollution, 4@0aN
6Os
traffic, crowding, and the weather), physiology, (illness, injuries, hormonal *LB-V%{|'
fluctuations, and inadequate sleep or nutrition), students’ thoughts (negative self-talk, Wa^Wn +r
catastrophizing, and perfectionism), and social stressors (financial problems, work 5<(*
+mP`
demands, social events, and losing a loved one). Symptoms of stress appear in many :g|.x
forms. Some symptoms only impact the person who is directly experiencing stress, NRx 7S9W
while other symptoms may have an impact on our relationships with others. E"E(<a
Although some stress reactions are part of deeper and more serious emotional jv~#'=T'
problems, many are not, and can be handled with relatively simple counseling and aE 07#
stress-management techniques. Developing a balanced lifestyle, gaining perspective mx}5":}
by discussing problems with other students or tutors, specifying relaxation techniques, ;&j'`t
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and clarifying your values and cultivating a sense of life meaning can help you relieve }SSg>.48w
your stress in college. 7-B|B{]
Sports @JlT*:Dz
From the earliest times, people have held sports competitions. The athletic few uY~mi9E
compete on the field while the rest of us participate from the safety of our seats. t[!,puZc#
|2^mCL.r
4 ]#M"|iTR
Today sports are certainly as popular as ever, and because of radio and television, we \5}PF+)|
can now compete from a distance. rwDLBpk
In fact, for important competitions, the whole world becomes one big stadium. EN`JzLjP
It is hard to say why humans like organized games. The reasons that we enjoy HCOsVTl,
sports probably differ from person to person. Whether little kids are kicking a ball 5]*lH t
around a city playground, or million-dollar-a-year athletes are playing in a modern 15 {^waR6
stadium, the excitement of competition, motion, discipline, and beauty are in the air. Kc]cJ`P4.
Who doesn’t stop to watch a ball game in the street or a swimmer in a pool? What ? /!Fv/
parents are not proud to see their children carried off the field by thankful fans? For 3)VO{C
j!
the players, the joys of sportsmanship can include punishing self-discipline and the 49E|
f
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friendship of teammates. i-0
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Then there is special thrill that comes only to a lucky few. It is the thrill that E~q3o*
comes from hearing thousand voices shout your name. But personal victory is only Eo$l-Hl5=
one kind of victory. In every game someone must lose, but mankind wins every time EUw4$Jt^p
an athletic record is broken. It is this aspect of sports that brings people together. g s1
Even in defeat, no one says to an athlete, ―So what?‖ You say, ―Good try!‖ And 60~*$`
when your pride gets hurt and your muscles are sore, you say to yourself, ―That’s part
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of the game. I’ll win next time!‖ ^e "4@O"
How to Deal with School Pressure &S.p%Qe"
College can be a very demanding time for students. Professors, class projects, and TCzz]?G]la
extracurricular activities can all contribute to a stressed-out college student. While ;woK96"{t
you will undoubtedly experience stress as a college student, following these tips may =KR^0<2r
help keep college stress at a minimum before it becomes too hard to handle. ,?U(PEO\f
Prioritize your schoolwork. Identify what is most important. If you have a VKXi*F9
presentation to give this Monday, don’t write a one-page review that’s due in a couple 2
O(k@M5E?
of weeks; prepare for the presentation first. Likewise, if you have an assignment that dT1UYG}>j
requires a lot of work, put it at the top of your list. When you prioritize your work, q@1A2L\Om
you will be more efficient. By becoming more organized, you can reduce your stress m?Jnb\0
level drastically. B7A.~'=
Talk about your problems. Talking about your problems will help ease your tension QN;NuDHN
and anxiety. Seek a trusted friend or see if your school has a counseling 5Mxl({oI]
center. Talking to others will not only help you feel better, but it will also help you
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find more ways to deal with those problems that are causing your stress. :n<l0
Adopt a positive attitude. If you are always negative, stress will overwhelm you. By kdA]gpdw
looking at things in a positive light, you will not only reduce your stress, but you will 8oHIXnK
also feel better about yourself. Give yourself pep talks: ―I can do this. I will not stress iw(`7(*
over this.‖ '#K~hep
brE%/%!e
5 ,9:v2=C_
Take time to relax. To maintain peak performance and reduce your amount of stress, 4wS!g10 }
you should take time to relax. Performing some sort of physical activity for thirty D_f:D^
minutes three times a week will considerably lower your stress level. Throw a Frisbee |%Y =]@f
with your friends, watch your favorite TV show or enjoy your alone time. Taking the ^y&2N
time to relax will help reduce your stress level. ojWf]$^y}
The Need of Iron z1e+Ob&
How do we get more young people to increase their consumption of iron-rich |<YF.7r;
foods? Many nutritionists are advocating the fortification of a number of foods. This 8r.MODZG/
may help, but I contend that we should also intensify our efforts in nutrition education F0'o!A#|(
among our young people. I simply do not buy the argument that it is futile to try to kx0w?A8-
change eating habits. Once an intelligent person—and this includes Xp|$z ~
adolescents—understands the need for a healthy diet, I think he or she will act Wu?[1L:x
accordingly. As for specific actions: I suggest that blood hemoglobin(血红蛋 Fw#wVs)@:
白)should be checked as a routine part of a youngster’s yearly physical examination. 8/9YR(H3H
It should contain at least 11grames per 100 milliliters of blood for a girl and at least RoD9
12 grams for a boy. If it is any lower, the physician probably will prescribe an easily \ ]h$8JwV
absorbed iron supplement. xl,?Hh%#
Adolescents—and everyone else—should cut out highly processed foods and sMw"C~XL
drinks, which may be low in iron and other nutrients. Read the labels for iron content. 0?g&