大学生活

Hey everyone! Welcome to a new episode of Simply Natural Chinese! I'm Tian Tian!

Hey everyone, I'm A-Jie.

A-Jie, look at my dark circles today. Are they super obvious?

Yeah they're pretty bad. What's going on? Haven't been sleeping well?

Finals are coming up, and I've been studying until one or two in the morning every night. My brain feels like it's about to explode.

Haha, finals season. Those words alone bring back all my college memories.

You only graduated two years ago! You make it sound like it was ages ago.

Two years isn't that long, but once you start working, looking back at college really does feel like a past life.

So let's talk about college life today. I can complain about it, and you can get all nostalgic.

Sounds good. I think whether you're still in college or already graduated, this topic should really hit home.

Let's start from freshman year then. What's your strongest memory from first year?

Military training, no question about it.

Right! Military training is basically the first challenge of college. You haven't even started classes yet and they've already worn you out.

How long was your military training?

Two weeks. Every morning we assembled at six, and it didn't end until six in the evening.

Ours was two weeks too. It was early September, the sun was brutal, and standing on the field felt like being roasted alive.

Standing at attention was the worst. Half an hour without moving, no talking, and you couldn't even swat a mosquito that bit you.

I remember a classmate suddenly fainted while standing at attention. Scared the heck out of everyone.

Same with us. The drill instructor said people faint every year, so we had to make sure we ate a full breakfast.

Was your drill instructor strict?

Super strict! If your moves weren't up to standard, you'd get pulled out in front of everyone as an example. So embarrassing you could die.

Our drill instructor was actually pretty cool. He seemed fierce on the surface, but during breaks he'd tell us jokes.

Did your instructor also say that classic line — "You're the worst group I've ever trained"?

Haha, do they all get trained to say that nationwide? Our instructor said the exact same thing!

After training ended, I looked at my photos. Before training I was all fair-skinned, and after I was a full two shades darker.

I had it even worse. When I put my before and after photos side by side, my mom barely recognized me.

But military training had one good thing going for it — you got to know your classmates.

Yeah, because suffering under the sun together actually made everyone bond quickly.

Some of my best friends are people I met during training, and we're still close now.

Shared suffering really is the best catalyst for friendship.

Speaking of making friends, we have to talk about roommates.

Roommates are definitely the people closest to you in college. After all, they're the first face you see when you open your eyes every morning.

How many people did you share a room with in college?

Four people, bunk beds. You?

Same, four people. I sleep on the top bunk. At first I was afraid of falling off, but I got used to it.

The biggest problem with the top bunk isn't falling off — it's having to climb down when you need the bathroom at three in the morning. Absolute torture.

So true! Especially in winter when you really don't want to move. You've finally gotten all warm and cozy under the covers, and then you have to climb back down.

How did your roommates get along?

Our dorm vibe is pretty good. The four of us have different personalities, but we get along well.

You're pretty lucky then. I've heard tons of roommate drama stories.

What about your dorm?

Don't even get me started. I had a roommate who played games with headphones on every night, but he had no idea how loud he was talking.

That kind of person is the worst. They think they're being quiet, but the whole dorm can hear them.

Every night at like one or two in the morning, he'd suddenly yell "Come save me! I'm gonna die!" and I'd get scared awake every time.

Hahaha, didn't you guys talk to him about it?

Countless times. He'd apologize every time and say he'd be more careful, but the next day it was the same thing all over again.

So what did you do?

I ended up buying a pair of noise-canceling earplugs. Peace and quiet from then on.

That's basically saving yourself. Our dorm doesn't have the gaming problem, but we've got a different challenge.

What?

I have a roommate who's a total neat freak. She mops the floor and wipes down the desks every day. If anyone leaves something out of place, she can't help but tidy up for you.

Isn't that great? Like having a free cleaning lady.

At first I thought so too, but after a while it gets stressful, because you start feeling guilty that you're not clean enough.

I get that. That's how it is living together — everyone has different standards.

Yeah, but we eventually talked it out, everyone compromised a bit, and it wasn't so awkward anymore.

That's the first lesson college teaches you — how to get along with different kinds of people.

More useful than anything in a textbook. Speaking of textbooks, A-Jie, what class did you dread the most in college?

Advanced math, or gaoshu for short. The nightmare of my entire four years.

Gaoshu really is terrifying. My major doesn't have advanced math, but we have statistics, which is headache-inducing enough.

Every time in math class, the professor filled the blackboard with formulas, and I filled my notebook with question marks.

Have you ever failed a class?

Don't even bring it up. First semester freshman year, I got 58 in math. Two points short of passing.

58? That's brutal. So close to passing.

Yeah, it actually feels worse than getting a 30 or 40, because you just keep thinking — if only I'd gotten one more question right.

Did you take the make-up exam?

Yeah, I studied like crazy for a whole week and finally passed.

You made up a whole semester's worth of material in one week?

Not all of it. I just crammed the key points most likely to show up on the test, plus make-up exams are usually a bit easier.

That's what they call linshi bao fo jiao — cramming at the last minute, like hugging Buddha's feet right before a disaster.

Exactly. The professors all say don't cram at the last minute, but if you look at the library the week before exams, it's packed with people doing exactly that.

Same here. During the semester I keep thinking there's still plenty of time, and then two weeks before the exam I suddenly panic.

Have you ever skipped class?

Occasionally... but it's not on purpose. Sometimes I really just can't get out of bed.

Eight AM classes are the ultimate test of willpower.

Totally! Especially in winter. After the alarm goes off, it's an intense battle between me and my bed.

Who usually wins?

Most of the time, the bed wins.

Haha, same. When I was in college, the attendance for the first morning class was always the lowest.

The scariest thing is when you're in the middle of skipping class and suddenly get a text from a classmate saying "the professor is taking attendance today."

In that moment, your heart just sinks.

And it gets crazier — some professors do random attendance checks. You never know when they'll do it.

We had a professor who was even tougher. He didn't call names — instead he'd flash a QR code in the middle of class and give you 30 seconds to scan it.

Thirty seconds? Even if you were sitting right there, bad Wi-Fi could mean you don't scan it in time.

So everyone in his class kept their phones in their hands the whole time, ready to scan at any moment.

Speaking of choosing classes, have you ever picked one that turned out to be a total trap?

Oh yeah. Sophomore year I picked a class called "Film Appreciation." Sounded super chill — just watching movies, right?

And?

Turns out after every movie you had to write a 3,000-word review, plus a 5,000-word paper for the final.

Oh my god, that's not appreciating movies — that's being tortured by them.

After that I learned my lesson. Always do your research before picking a class.

We all have a trick for choosing classes now — ask the juniors and seniors first.

Right, their reviews are way more reliable than the course descriptions.

A-Jie, did you join any clubs in college?

Yeah. You know how at the start of freshman year there's the bai tuan da zhan — the big club fair?

Yeah! All the clubs set up booths to recruit, and the field gets as lively as a festival.

I signed up for three clubs in one go — a photography club, a debate team, and a book club.

Three? Aren't you an introvert? Why'd you sign up for so many?

I wasn't that introverted in freshman year. Plus every club had upperclassmen at the entrance pulling you in, and I felt bad saying no.

Haha, that's the scariest part of the club fair — you can't walk past without getting stopped.

The only one I stuck with was the book club.

Why?

Because the book club didn't require socializing. Everyone just read their own books and occasionally discussed a little. Perfect for me.

That is so on-brand for an introvert.

The photography club had way too many activities — outdoor shoots every weekend wore me out. And the debate team? Don't even get me started. The training was almost as intense as military training.

But debate must have really helped with your communication skills, right?