我的大学生活：典型的一天

作者：美国使馆e实习生 Josephine Chu 阿默斯特学院学生

为了写这篇文章，我选出我一周中的一天进行描述，希望我能在某种程度上写清楚一名美国大学生的日常生活。我每天的安排都大不相同，因为现在我每天的课程或活动都不一样。我选择了一周中特别的一天，因为它为我参加的所有各种活动都提供了不错的范例。

Frosh Room

早上，我通常在上课前半个小时起床，那样我就能穿好衣服并迅速吃完早餐。阿默斯特学院与美国大多数大学一样，没有校服或者严格的着装要求，学生们被允许穿着他们想穿的任何衣服。对我来说，这通常意味着便装或者牛仔和好看的衬衫。我们学院的校园很小，只要步行5分钟就能从我的宿舍到最远的教学楼。每周二，我都在早上9点30分左右醒来，早上10点到11点20分我会上俄罗斯外交政策课。紧接着，早上11点30分到下午12点50分，我会上健康经济学和政策课。作为同时主修政治学和经济学双学位的学生，我所上的多数课程都在这两个系中。阿默斯特学院非常鼓励多元化学习；我也选修了其他系的不少课程。

Val Food

上完第二节课后，我去食堂。多数大学都有好几个食堂，但阿默斯特学院很小，它只够为所有学生保留一个食堂。其实，这非常好，因为我几乎总能碰上和我一起吃饭的朋友。学生的标准用餐计划是要在每学期开学时付预付款。然后，整个学期，每个学生都可以在就餐时间不限次地在食堂用餐。在确认完我的学生证后，我可以拿一个托盘，开始盛一盘盘的食物。我这里也附上了用餐区的图片。本周午餐的部分食谱包括面食、蔬菜汤、烤鸡肉或火鸡、三明治和各种沙拉。我通常会在午餐时吃面食。

吃完午餐后，我就去上我一天的最后一堂课。探索音乐是一门音乐理论和作曲课，从下午2:00至下午03:20。这不计入我的主修课程，但我非常喜欢它。我在这节课和我下一个活动之间有一点空闲。在此期间，我经常去校园里的咖啡馆拿点咖啡或点心。接下来，我花一小时做我的半工半读工作。有些学生学期内兼职工作，赚一点零用钱。我为一个非盈利性组织工作，该组织为儿童和青少年的家长们举办扫盲项目。星期二，我在办公室工作呆一小时，做各种小的行政工作。

然后，我有大约两小时的时间休息、做一些作业、和吃饭。我通常在工作后就回宿舍。由于和很多阿默斯特学院的高年级学生在一起，我有我自己的房间。大学里的房间（面积）通常随着你年龄的增长而变得更大，你年纪越大就越少可能和人共用一个房间。我大一时幸运地没有与别人共用一个房间，因为那个房间太小啦！我随文附上了那个房间的照片。

我试着隔天锻炼一次，去健身房或者参加一些有趣的团体活动。例如，周二，从7:30 PM 到 9:30 PM，我有拉丁舞课。这个课程非常有趣！我们跳若干不同的舞蹈，包含萨尔萨舞、巴恰塔舞、和梅伦格舞。老师的酬劳由阿默斯特学院支付，课程面向任何想要参加的学生。

最后，在睡觉之前，我有大约两个小时完成作业。这少于我花费在做作业上的平均时间。当有很多作业而且活动少的时候，我大部分时间都用来做作业。幸运的是，我很少有周三要交的大部头作业。大约11:30 PM，我洗澡并准备睡觉。我12:30 AM之前就睡着了。

My Life as a College Student: The Typical Day

For this article, I’ve chosen one day of my week to write about, in hopes that I can somewhat demystify the daily life of an American college student. My schedule varies greatly from day to day, since none of my current classes or activities meet every single day. I chose this particular day of the week, because it provides good examples of all the various activities that I engage in.

In the mornings, I usually get up about half an hour before class, so that I can get dressed and eat a quick breakfast. As with most universities in the U.S., Amherst College doesn’t have a uniform or a strict dress code, and students are allowed to wear whatever they wish. For me, this usually means a casual dress or jeans and a nice shirt. My college campus is rather small, and the farthest class building is about 5 minutes walking distance from my dorm. On Tuesdays, I wake up around 9:30 AM, and I attend my Russian Foreign Policy class from 10:00 AM until 11:20 AM. Immediately afterwards, I have Health Economics and Policy from 11:30 AM to 12:50 PM. As a Political Science and Economics double major, the majority of the classes I take are in either department. Amherst College strongly encourages diversification of learning; I’ve also taken quite a few classes in other departments.

After my second class, I make my way over to the dining hall. Most universities have quite a few dining halls, but Amherst College is small enough that it can maintain only one hall for all of its students. This is actually great, because I almost always run into friends that I can eat a meal with. The standard dining plan for students requires an upfront payment at the beginning of each semester. Then, throughout the semester, each student has unlimited access to the dining hall during dining hours. After being identified with my student card, I can grab a tray and begin loading it with plates of food. I’ve included a picture of the serving area. Some of the options for lunch this week include pasta, vegetable soup, grilled chicken or turkey, sandwiches and various salads. I usually choose to eat pasta for lunch.

Once I’ve finished my lunch, I head over to my last class of the day. Exploring Music is a music theory and composition class that runs from 2:00 PM to 3:20 PM. This isn’t a course that will count towards my major, but I enjoy it a lot. Between this class and my next activity, I have a bit of free time. I often head to a café on campus to pick up a coffee or a snack during this time. Next, I spend an hour doing my work-study job. Some students work part-time during the semester, in order to earn some spending money. I work for a nonprofit organization that organizes literacy programs for children and teenage parents. On Tuesdays, I spend one hour at the office and do various small administration tasks.

Afterwards, I have about two hours to relax, do some homework, and eat dinner. I usually return to my dorm right after work. As with most upperclassmen at Amherst College, I have my own room. Rooms at college usually get bigger as you get older, and you’re less likely to share. My freshman dorm room, which I luckily didn’t have to share, wasn’t too small! I’ve included a picture of it.

I try to exercise every other day, by going to the gym or participating in some fun group activities. For example, on Tuesdays, from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM, I have Latin dance lessons. It’s a lot of fun! We work on a number of different dances, including salsa, bachata, and merengue. The teacher is paid for by Amherst College, and lessons are open to any students who want to join.

Finally, I have about two hours to complete my homework before I have to go to sleep. This is less than the average time I spend on homework. On some days when I have a lot of assignments and fewer activities, I spend the majority of my day doing my homework. Fortunately, I rarely have large assignments due on Wednesdays. Around 11:30 PM, I shower and get ready for bed. I’m asleep by 12:30 AM.