大學真相早知道

By Srose52 譯 / Tanya Zhang

在邁入大學校門之前，想必你已經聽過關于大學生活的許多傳聞。新生會增肥15磅？大學里會遇到未來的伴侶？進大學就得確定未來的職業方向？懷揣著對大學的憧憬和一點點緊張，聆聽一下過來人要對你說的話吧。盡管在通常的情況下，人們寧愿在自己經歷一切之后再領會，但有些事情還是早知道為好。要知道，大學的精彩一旦錯過，就再難尋覓！

You know that popular phrase， “If I only knew then what I know now？” Sigh. Why is it so true？ After two and a half years as a college student， Ive finally learned the truths to those college myths. Ive also realized a lot about what it means to learn more about yourself during those four years of experience—the good， the bad， and the ugly.

Lets face it： college entails a lot of new ordeals1） and exciting encounters. Yes， you drink （only if you want to！）； you study and work your little butt off； you go to “college” parties， meet a lot of interesting （and sometimes questionable） people， and honestly， you screw up sometimes. The ride is always fun， but there are always those little bits and pieces I wish I had more knowledge of beforehand. So， here I am， sharing the wisdom of a junior in college … but lets be real， I still have a lot to learn myself.

Parents， friends， college graduates， and peers always try to scare you with the “freshman fifteen” factor. They seem to believe that all you will do during your first year of an unfamiliar lifestyle is eat microwaveable pizzas， drink beer five days a week， and sit on your futon2） Saturday and Sunday afternoons watching reruns of Greys Anatomy and cheesy3） eighties movies.

Of course， you will have days like these. But， in reality， the freshman fifteen is so easily avoided. For one， most schools have a gym. You do not have to go every day or on a regular schedule， but its there for you when you feel a little lethargic4） and want to get yourself moving. Even the most exercise-phobic college students will check out the gym when its at their disposal5）. Second， your cafeteria will hopefully offer a variety of food choices besides pizza and grilled cheese. Youll get sick of greasy6） food， believe me. And， for those of you who dont already know， drinking alcohol is an appealing part of college.

For those of you who decide not to drink—thats a great personal choice. I chose to drink as a freshman， and I learned to control myself. It can be considered one of those things that once you get a taste， you go a little crazy. But， like I said， youll learn when the right time to drink is and how much to drink is right for you. It most likely will not be your life at college.

One of the most ANNOYING college myths is that supposedly everybody meets their future spouse at their college of choice. Considering the fact that I am still single， Im starting to believe it just isnt true. For some， it will happen. Im sure the fact that I attend a small， private college with a 60：40 girl-to-guy ratio doesnt give me any advantage. For the most part though， at least when it comes to guys， they will not be dating material. When the male population spreads their wings past their small high school， chances are they are going to want to get to know more than one female bird at college， where there are more options. Every one knows that girls are more sensitive and more prone to relationships. There will be interests and romances and nights where you feel like youve met the one to walk with you hand in hand down the quad7）. Its always possible， but dont be defeated if the next week they tell you theyre talking to the girl in your sociology class. They will eventually grow up. Just be patient until they get bored of being single. Youll start to see that more often around your junior and senior year. I can almost guarantee it. But， if you are in a happy， healthy relationship at college as of8） now， I not only commend9） you， but am also a tad jealous of you！

Now， when I say slack off， I dont mean leave your research paper until the day before its due or totally neglect to study for your test thats in a few days. What I mean is that youll learn to live by the motto that “Everything that has to get done will get done.” I pride myself on being an A-student， but it took me a year or so to learn that I dont always have to stay in the library until all hours of the night just to get some reading done. Ive missed out on some fun nights or group dinners with friends because I was paranoid11） about getting work done by a certain time. As a freshman and sophomore， I thought that if I didnt get something done by the time I had set， it wouldnt be my “best” work. If you havent already， you will learn that pushing things to the side once in a while will not threaten your GPA12） or your ability to score high marks. If you have faith in your academic capabilities and trust your work ethic， all of your hard work will pay off in a positive way.

So this “myth” may be true， at least in my case. The greatest part of meeting friends at college is that it gives you a new perspective of where people come from. Before college， you tend to think everybody will be like the people you went to high school with for four years. You have very little idea of the different opinions， trends， routines， and even language that arise from different states. I was the same exact way—every one was a New Yorker！ Every one hung out in Wendys parking lots！ Every one came from the suburbs where there were traffic lights at every street and a convenience store on every corner！ Every one has been to New York City！ Thats not the case at all. Instead， your horizons expand. You learn about what they did for fun in high school and you visit their hometowns and enjoy the experience of something totally new. Even if you commute to college， you end up learning about people who you may have passed by on the street but knew nothing about. You end up bonding over college itself， which is something you could never do with friends at home or from your high school. That in itself makes it special. High school wasnt always peaches and cream13） for me， so college gave me new opportunities for meeting people. And let me tell you， the memories I have made will be stories to tell my kids one day！ Okay， not every memory will be shared with my kids， but you get the point.

If you have no idea what you want to do with your life as far as your career goes， dont feel the pressure to decide right away. You can take any class you want your first few semesters of college—psychology， drama， music， anthropology， womens studies， Chinese， and art， among many others. The point is to make mistakes， and to figure out what youre not interested in to get you one step closer to figuring out what your true passion is. I chose a major based on what I already knew I excelled in， but what if I could have been the new Freud after taking more psychology classes？ I may never know！ Dont be afraid if youre entering the last half of college and youre still unsure if you made the right choice. I know that for myself. I want to pursue graduate school and do something different with the English and Mass Communication degrees I will be receiving. Also， pursuing a graduate degree these days is highly looked upon. And， depending on what college or university you go to， you may even get to create your own major. You might be overwhelmed with how many options you have when it comes to your choice of study， so take the time to weave through them all. But， remember， all work and no play is never fun … or healthy！

你知道那句俗話嗎？“要是我早知道我現在知道的這些就好了。”唉，這話怎么就那么在理呢？進入大學兩年半后，我終于了解了那些關于大學傳聞的真相。我也深深意識到在大學的四年中怎樣才算更好地認識自己——好的一面、壞的一面以及丑陋的一面。

面對現實吧：大學會給你帶來許多新的磨難和令人興奮的際遇。沒錯，你會喝酒（只是在你想喝的情況下！）；你會學習，忙得不可開交；你會參加所謂的大學聚會，遇見很多有趣（有時是不靠譜）的人；老實說，你有時也會把事情搞砸。這個過程總是很有趣，但也總會有些七零八碎的東西是我希望自己事先多了解一些的。因此，在這里，我要分享一下我作為大三學生的智慧……當然，坦白說，我自己還有很多東西要學呢。

“新生肥胖”是完全可以避免的。

父母、朋友、畢業生和同輩們總是試圖嚇唬你，說“大一新生都會增重15磅”。他們似乎確信在你大學的第一年，面對不熟悉的生活方式，你所做的只能是吃微波爐加熱的比薩，一周有五天喝啤酒，周六和周日下午坐在床墊上看重播的《實習醫生格蕾》和俗套的上世紀80年代電影。

當然，這樣的日子是會有的。但事實上，新生肥胖很容易就能避免。首先，大多數學校都有健身房。你沒有必要每天或定期去健身，但當你感覺無精打采或是想要動起來時，它就在那里。當健身房可供使用時，即便是最憎惡鍛煉的學生也會光顧的。其次，食堂應該會提供豐富多樣的食物供你選擇，而不僅僅是比薩和烤奶酪三明治。相信我，你會厭倦那些油膩食物的。另外，你們有些人還不知道，喝酒也是大學生活吸引人的地方之一。

有些人決定不喝酒——這是一個很棒的個人選擇。我在大一時選擇了喝酒，并學會了控制自己。喝酒可以說是“一發而不可收”的一類事情，但正如我所說，你會了解到對自己來說何時喝酒以及喝多少最適合。喝酒不可能是你大學生活的全部。

你未必會在大學里找到未來的伴侶。

最惱人的大學傳說之一就是認定每人都會在自己所選的大學里遇到未來的伴侶。考慮到我現在依然單身這一事實，我開始相信這個說法是不對的。某些人可能會遇到，但我就讀的這所小型私立學校男女比例為2：3，我確定這不會給我帶來任何優勢。不過大部分時候，至少就男生來說，他們都不是約會的料兒。當男生們從自己的小中學里展翅飛出，進入大學，很有可能他們想認識的女生不止一位，因為大學里有更多的選擇。人人都知道女孩子更敏感，也更傾向于戀愛關系。你會對某人產生興趣，開始浪漫戀情，共度美好夜晚，覺得自己找到了那個可以和你手牽手在校園里散步的人。這種情況總是可能的，但如果下周他們告訴你他們正在和你社會學課上的女孩聊天，你也不要覺得受到了打擊。他們總會長大的。你要做的只是耐心等待，等他們厭倦單身的日子。我幾乎可以保證，等到了大三、大四時，你會越來越多地看到這種情況。但是，如果你現在正處在一段快樂又健康的校園戀情中，我不僅會贊揚你，而且還有些嫉妒你呢！

偶爾懈怠一下也無妨。

我現在說“懈怠”并不是要你把論文拖到截止日期的前一天，或是到臨考前幾天還完全忽略學習。我的意思是你會領會到“船到橋頭自然直”這句格言。我是個優等生，也對此感到自豪，但我卻花了一年左右的時間才意識到，我不必僅僅為了完成一些閱讀任務而總是整晚地待在圖書館。我錯過了與朋友在一起的一些狂歡夜和聚餐，因為我太執著于在某個時間之前完成任務了。大一、大二時，我曾認為如果我不能按照自己事先設定的時限完成某件事情，那么它就不會是我“最好的”成果。如果你還沒有這種感受，那你將會了解到，偶爾把事情暫時放到一邊并不會威脅到你的平均績點，也不會威脅到你取得高分的能力。如果你對自己的學術能力和學習態度有信心，你所有的辛勤勞動都會得到好的回報。

你會在大學里找到終生好友。

這個“傳說”也許是對的，至少對我來說是這樣。在大學交朋友最棒的地方在于它帶給你一種新的視角來看待人們來自何處。上大學前，你傾向于認為每個人都會像你中學四年的同窗一樣。對于各個州的不同觀念、潮流、常規生活甚至語言，你都知之甚少。曾經的我就完全是這樣——以為大家都是紐約人！大家都去溫迪餐廳的停車場閑逛！大家都來自郊區，那里每條街道都有紅綠燈，每個街角都有便利商店！大家都去過紐約市！可事實完全不是這樣。與之前相反，你的視野變得開闊。你了解到他們在中學時如何娛樂，你拜訪他們的家鄉，享受全新的體驗。即使你是走讀生，最終你也會認識一些人，這些人你原本可能對他們一無所知，只是在街頭擦肩而過。到頭來你的交際圈不僅僅局限于大學，而這是不可能與你家鄉或中學的朋友來建立的。這一點本身就很特別。對我來說，中學生活并不總是陽光燦爛的，而大學為我結識朋友提供了新的機遇。實話告訴你吧，我現在留下的回憶將來某天可以講給子女們聽！好吧，不是每段回憶都會與他們分享，但我的意思你懂的。

你不必在踏入校門的那一刻就決定未來的事業或專業。

如果在事業方面你還沒有打定主意將來想干什么，不要有立刻決定的壓力。在大學的前幾個學期，你可以選擇自己想上的任何課程——心理學、戲劇、音樂、人類學、女性研究、中文、藝術以及其他各種各樣的課程。重點在于犯錯誤，在于弄清楚你對哪些東西不感興趣，這樣一來，距離找到你自己真正的熱情所在就更近一步了。我當初選擇專業是基于我已經知道的自己擅長的領域，但如果當初多上幾堂心理學課，我也許本來可以成為下一個弗洛伊德，那時又會發生什么呢？我也許永遠沒法知道答案了！如果你已進入大學的后半段卻仍然不確定自己的選擇是否正確，不要害怕。我對此有切身體會。我想讀研究生，想做些與我那將拿到的英語與大眾傳媒學位不一樣的事情。而且，現如今讀研究生很被人看好。此外，根據你所就讀的學院或大學的不同，你甚至可以創造你自己的專業。談到將來選擇研究什么，你也許會被眾多選擇淹沒，因此花點時間將它們都梳理一下吧。但是謹記：只工作不玩耍絕對毫無樂趣，也無益于健康！