It never fails to hit me this time of year. If you're an ex-nerd (okay, probably current nerd) like me, you may remember a certain feeling of bittersweet nostalgia mixed with vague anticipation and more than a bit of melancholy that hit right as the school year was ending. For most people, that feeling peaked at around seventh grade and tapered off from there.
For many of us in the education field, however, it still lingers on and on - so now, twenty plus (!) years into adulthood, I still get a strong whiff of this feeling starting in late May and lasting till about July Fourth, when I realize that, yes, there really is a summer vacation and I better get around to enjoying it because it will be over in less than two months. (A hint of eternal adolescence, built right into the job description! Joy of Joys!)
One wave of this feeling hit me walking back from my last final this Sunday. Instead of the Noble Tradition of Taking all the Crap from Your Dorm Room and Chucking It Into the Nearest Dumpster, Chinese students seem to have a more environmentally friendly approach - drag your stuff out onto the sidewalk and see if somebody else will buy it. There's a whole section of campus that looks like a massive outdoor flea market. Here's what it looked like:
And these pictures capture a bit more of how it felt to me:
(Thank you, thank you, iPhoto cheesy editing effects)
Also interesting, (and much more melancholy-inducing, I'm afraid) is this article from Newsweek, which talks about the waves upon waves of college grads living in slum conditions outside tech centers in Beijing and Shanghai. Seems like China is creating far more college grads than college level jobs at this point. The article seems to ring true from what I've seen and heard here on our campus. My sophomore students are already starting to get a bit nervous about life after graduation. Senior year is mostly spent off campus - either working an unpaid internship, or tromping around from interview to interview.
The accompanying photo essay is worth a look as well. Gives me added sympathy for the next time a Senior in my class comes up and asks (not in so many words, but this is their general question): "Um, Mister Wells, I'm going to be spending most of my time this semester looking for work. Can I skip every single one of your classes and just come in to take the final? Oh, and can you give me a decent grade as well?"
I'll consider it. Really, I will.
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