第1410期:Having the time of your life at uni

University - the best days of my life! I made lots of friends in my student dorm, went to great parties, joined the debating society… and, well, I did some work too 大学——我生命中最美好的时光！我在学生宿舍结交了很多朋友，参加了盛大的聚会，加入了辩论社……而且，我也做了一些工作

but I must confess my lecturers were very patient with my tardiness.但我必须承认，我的讲师对我的迟到很有耐心。

It's easy to look back at our university days through rose-tinted spectacles but the truth is that when we first arrived on campus, most of us were out of our comfort zone.带着玫瑰色的眼镜回顾我们的大学时光很容易，但事实是，当我们第一次来到校园时，我们大多数人都离开了我们的舒适区。

In fact, a survey of students at Imperial College London has revealed that 3 out of 4 students experience high levels of stress, or a mental health condition, during their time at college. 事实上，对伦敦帝国理工学院学生的一项调查显示，四分之三的学生在大学期间经历过高度压力或心理健康状况。

The survey, completed by over a thousand students, also found that 70% of those that experience stress do so at least once a week, and 9% of students feel stressed constantly.这项由 1000 多名学生完成的调查还发现，70% 的有压力的人每周至少这样做一次，9% 的学生经常感到压力。

Kirsty, a student at Exeter University, didn't enjoy her first days in college. Kirsty 是埃克塞特大学的一名学生，她上大学的第一天并不开心。

She says: "When I first got to university I don't think I'd realized that I'd forgotten how to make friends. 她说：“当我第一次上大学时，我想我还没有意识到我忘记了如何交朋友。

I'd been with the same school friends for seven years, and so I was trying to balance social success with academic success whilst learning how to look after myself at quite a young age." 我和同一个学校的朋友在一起七年了，所以我试图在社会成功和学业成功之间取得平衡，同时在很小的时候就学会了如何照顾自己。”

Dr Ruth Caleb of the counselling service at Brunel University in London has some tips that should make life easier for students before they set off for university. 伦敦布鲁内尔大学咨询服务中心的 Ruth Caleb 博士提出了一些建议，可以让学生在上大学前的生活更轻松。

She says: "Certain things that I think it would be very helpful for students to have put in place are an ability to do the practical things of life – to do the washing, to do the cleaning and so on – being able to cook. 她说：“我认为对学生来说非常有帮助的某些东西是做实际生活中的事情的能力——洗衣服，做清洁等等——能够做饭。

Budgeting is extremely important in university life." And Caleb adds: "You should learn how to spend time on your own comfortably."预算在大学生活中非常重要。”Caleb 补充道：“你应该学会如何舒适地度过自己的时间。”

I graduated and learnt how to take care of myself the hard way.我毕业并学会了如何以艰难的方式照顾自己。

 I hope that new students these days remember to acquire some life skills before they make the big jump.我希望这些天的新学生在大跃进之前记得掌握一些生活技能。

词汇表

student dorm    学生宿舍
debating society    辩论社团
lecturer    讲师
tardiness    拖拉，延迟
through rose-tinted spectacles    透过玫瑰色的眼镜看某物（只看到事物美好的一面）
campus    （大专院校的）校园
out of one's comfort zone    走出舒适区
college    大学
to balance    使保持凭衡
academic success     学术成就
to look after oneself     照顾自己
counselling service   咨询、辅导服务
budgeting    预算
to graduate    毕业
life skills   生活技能