By Cathy Lai
Have you met future you or past you in person? Have you met your counterpart in another department? I’m talking about two systems for freshmen to get socialized when entering the university: upper- and under-classmates and “study buddies.” When you first enter a new school you aren’t even sure where anything is and everyone else is as shy as you are. At this desperate moment, someone who looks like an experienced elder student can come to rescue you. The next year it’s your turn to do something in return—to take care of a newcomer, your under-classmate. Upper-classmates teach under-classmates what to do in school. In most cases, your upper- and under-classmates have the same student number as you; the only difference is your entrance year. Once upon a time six upper- and under-classmates from the Taipei First Girls’ Senior High School went to dinner. The participants included a junior in high school, an NTU freshman, a sophomore (me), a junior, and a senior. We also had an upper-classmate who had graduated from the university. We talked a lot about our lives and it all seemed so familiar. The high school student talked about how much she wanted to enter NTU. The freshman talked about her great visions for the future and her desire for success. As a sophomore I confessed that I spent a lot of time on the bbs, playing volleyball, and wasting time on other trifles. The junior said she lived almost the same life as me, but she was desperately trying to change. The senior appeared more open-minded and relaxed. She had bowed to the inevitable destiny—that is, graduate and find a job. However, she sometimes regretted all her wasted time and wished she could have had more professional knowledge. The girl who had graduated just listened to our tragic play and remarked: “It’ll be alright! See, even I fit into society well!” I sensed through all of this how many similarities there were between us. I see my former self in my under-classmates and I have the hunch that I may have exactly the same fate as my upper-classmates in the future. Now we are in different phases of life, but in the end we all go through the same things. “All the world’s a stage!” The future appears to be too serious. Let’s see if the “study buddies” system works any better. Can it help us find a potential life partner, a husband, or a wife? When you enter college, you choose a Public Relations representative to work for your “happiness,” which means he or she might be able to find your “better half.” His or her job is to collaborate with representatives from other departments and decide (in very mysterious ways) who your “study buddies” are. After three days your study buddy will contact you (because certain “chasing guidelines” suggest that three days is an appropriate period—you can’t make the other party feel that you are hasty or desperate, but you also don’t want to make them think you are waiting too long). Rumors say that the “study buddies” system produces romance. And it’s not just a rumor. One of my classmates makes a perfect couple with her study buddy in Electrical Engineering, which makes me very envious. Other study buddies help my classmates with their school work, such as calculus and computer science, or with their extracurricular activities, which makes me envious, too. Because none of my study buddies contacted me. I wonder why. I AM a good person! I’m NOT ugly or fierce. It’s said that some people investigate before really contacting their study buddies, and some people even pay bribes to acquire a good-looking, popular study buddy. I think this hurts people’s feelings a little bit. As the old saying goes, “Never judge anything by its appearance.” It is true that we all imagine romantic situations: to find out that your study buddy is a popular superstar, you chat with him or her about everything and become good friends, and in the end he or she becomes your boyfriend or girlfriend. Such plots happen by chance, not by strategy. If you consider study buddies as a dating game, it’s really a distortion of its original meaning. I think we shouldn’t expect too much out of it; it’s just to make friends, to get to know other people. Oh dear it seems I’m being too serious again! Students needn’t be so worried about their well-being; your perfect mate will just show up one day. Just don’t forget to have fun seriously—I mean, with the right attitude! a
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May 2024
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