A New Start

Written by E.C

  As high school finally comes to an end, students excite over the fact that a new part of their life is about to come – the college life. I, on the other hand, was a much more nervous rather than excited. I decided to enter a school that had no familiar faces, I knew no background knowledge about, and was a little too far of a distance for my liking.

  This school is called Pepperdine University, located in Malibu, California.

  Most of my friends who graduated from Fremont High School either went to a nearby state college, like SJSU or SFSU, a UC, or Cal Poly. I, on the other hand, am going to Pepperdine with no comforting companionship. Just new faces and myself.

When I moved into my dorm on the first day, I finally met my roommate. She was polite, nice, and it seemed like we had a lot in common. As the days went by, I had already felt comfortable enough to meet people. About three days later, I already found a group of girls that I felt extremely close to, and this comforted me, allowing me to realize that I am not alone, and that I can make friends here.

Although the first week was busy and fun, I still, inevitably, found myself being very homesick. I looked at my dorm room, decorated with photos and old letters from my loved ones and I suddenly felt sad. However, I wasn’t sad to the point where I wanted to go home. I continued to meet new people and to force the homesickness to fade away, because I knew it was nothing but a phase that every college student will go through.

Now that classes have started, I feel like school has officially begun. I learned that classes in college are much different than in high school, and people here are all here to do one thing – learn and get a degree. This environment I’m in truly excites me and I can’t wait for the upcoming years of it to come. It’s time for true independence, freedom, and responsibility.

新生活开始了

作者：爱美丽 ／ 翻译：红花

  四年高中生活划上了句号。绝大多数人对即将开始的新生活 － 大学生活，充满了热切的期盼。然而，我却不是如此。可以这么说，过度紧张代替了兴奋。那是因为，我最终决定迈进的这所大学，里面没有一张熟悉面孔，学校背景也一无所知，何况距离我家虽不是太远但也不近。

  这所大学，就是位于南加州马里布小镇的佩帕代茵大学。

  我的朋友，他们多数选择去离家较近的大学读书，比如圣荷西州立大学，旧金山州立大学，加州大学，或者加州州立理工等，唯有我，选择了佩帕代茵私立大学，没有伙伴，只有新面孔和我自己。  

  新生报到，搬进宿舍第一天，我终于见到了我的室友。她美丽可爱，待人礼貌。我俩一见如故。随着日子一天天过去，我渐渐适应了大学生活，也渐渐适应了新同学。大约三天前，我结交了一群志趣相投的女孩，这使我感到温暖和安慰。是的，我并不孤单，在这里，我同样能找到好朋友。

  虽然第一周忙碌又兴奋，但我还是无法克制开始想家。看着自己的宿舍，那些装饰精美的照片，以及一封封亲人旧信，我突然感到伤心。我知道，这种思念并不代表我想立刻回家。我必须继续呆在这里，面对新生活继续下去。我能做的，是想办法驱散这种思乡病，因为我知道，这是每一个大学生都必然经历的一个阶段。

    现在，学校开始上课了，我也感觉真正的大学生活开始了。我已经能体会到，高中与大学截然不同。在这里，每一个人都在做一件事 － 吸取知识，获得学位。这样的环境激励着我对未来憧憬，甚至有些迫不及待。是开始真正独立、享受自由和担负责任的时候了。

注：爱美丽去上大学，我希望她能与妈妈我一直保持联络，写出她大学生活的点滴感受。虽然女儿不大愿意与我合作，但好歹也没完全拒绝。这是她在美国劳工节独自呆在学校时，答应交上的作业。虽然短了些，也有应付差事的可能，但是对我来说，如获至宝。在此，谢谢女儿对妈妈的理解。）