作者简介：Caryn Schwartz，智梦外籍主管，瓦萨学院英语文学与中文专业，成功辅导学员录取：瓦萨学院，圣路易斯华盛顿大学，莱斯大学，圣母大学，埃默里大学，卡内基梅隆大学，南加州大学，加州大学洛杉矶分校等美国名校。同时，Caryn热爱中文，在大学期间就到青岛参加语言文化交流。

翻译：Summer

This is part two of my college myths blog post. This week I’ll be talking about two common upperclassmen afflictions: the idea that junior year is the worst year of college, and senioritis.

这是我“大学谜团”博客的第二部分。这周我将讲述大学高年级同学们的困扰：大三是最糟糕的一年的理念，和大四毕业季。

The junior year myth is deeply tied in to study abroad, which most students do in one or both semesters of their junior year.The reality of junior year for most students is that at least one (and oftenseveral) of your friends will be gone. Or maybe you’ll be the one that’s gone.Or maybe you’ll be the one that’s gone first semester and then when you getback other people will be gone. It’s theseparation that, in my opinion, is responsible for junior year’s bad reputation.College is a time of unprecedented togetherness with your peers. For better or for worse, you live together, you eat together, you go to class together, you study together, you relax together and so on. Sometimes you will be annoyed by this closeness, but you will also become accustomed to it, and you will feel like something is missing during junior year when people who are integral to that closeness are gone. Of course, everyone will be back together when senior year rolls around, but the sad truth of this myth is that junior year is kind of like aglimpse into post-grad life. After college, it is unlikely that you will be in such close proximity with so many of your college friends again. It isn’t the end ofthe world, but it takes getting used to.

在大三，大多数的学生都会选择在国外交换学习一到两个学期。所以大三的现实是，你将会有一个以上的朋友离开了（往往会更多）。或者你将成为那个离开的人。又或者当你在国外完成了第一学期回来时，你的朋友们却走了。我觉得这些分离让大三的生活臭名昭著。大学将是学生们结下深厚友谊的地方。你们一起吃饭，住宿，上课，学习，娱乐。这份亲密感可能有时会给你造成不快，但也会渐渐变成你的习惯，所以当你要好的朋友在大三离开后，你会有种严重的失落感。当然，大四的时候大家又会团聚在一起。但是大三的一年让我们意识到了毕业之后的生活。毕业之后，你和你的大学同学们再也不会像以前一样亲密了。这简直就和世界末日一般，但是你必须习惯。

As for senioritis, perhaps it is inevitable. Seniors, although they are still very much college students, are also forced to consider their lives after graduation. Senior year is when most students begin applying for grad school and/or jobs in earnest. Obviously school is still important,but it sometimes feels less so because there are so many enormous decisions looming over you when you’re a senior. College feels like it will inevitably play itself out, but your concentration and efforts are being drawn toward more pressing tasks. The one notable exception to this is senior theses. Most,though certainly not all, students complete some kind of capstone project in their senior year. The thesis requires you to draw together all the relevant knowledge you have accumulated over the past three years and then build on it. College students spend untoldhours reading other peoples’ research and ideas, but the senior thesis is achance to express your own. For this reason, students tend to be more passionate about it than their other school work. The stakes are higher, andsenior theses are therefore less likely to fall victim to the effects of senioritis.

至于“大四毕业季”是不可避免的。大四学生虽然还是大学生却被迫开始思考他们毕业之后的生活。大四的时候大部分的学生都会紧张地着手申请研究生或是工作。尽管学业还是很重要，但是和你面对的各种重大选择来讲好像也没有过去那么重要了。当你的时间和精力集中在更加重大的任务时，你的学业就开始自生自灭了。当然毕业论文是一个例外。大部分的，当然不是全部的学生会在大四完成一个重大的项目。毕业论文需要你累积这三年学到的知识并加以运用。大学生们在大学花了无数的时间来阅读他人的研究和想法，而毕业论文则是展示自己思想的一次机会。因此，学生们对待论文的态度会比其他学业认真很多。由于论文更加重要，也就不容易成为忙碌大四的牺牲品。

Really “myth” is the wrong word for these phenomena,because it implies that they are universally untrue. While the topics I’m discussing are not true to everyone’s college experience, they are true for some students. They are a common feature of many college experiences, andchances are they will stay that way for years to come.

其实“谜团”不适合形容这些现象，因为这好像在暗示这些不是真的。虽然我提及的这些现象不针对所有人，但是很多学生确实会面临这些问题。大学的生活有很多的共同之处，并且可能在接下来的几年并不会改变。

文中生词：

Capstone:

1. a final touch; a crowningachievement; a culmination

2. a stone that forms the top of wall or building

【智梦简介】

智梦是一家专注美国本科留学的教育咨询机构。

我们的使命：

“智梦教育团队深知留学申请关系到学生及其家长的前途和未来，我们将竭尽所能帮助每一位智梦学员发掘其潜在的特质，以开放透明的申请方式，让他们能不留遗憾的争取到自己的理想学校。与此同时，培养他们成为诚实守信、独立思考、德才兼备的国际化人才。”
我们的愿景：
“智梦教育将成为一所发掘学术兴趣，培养学术能力，塑造具有公民意识的新时代留学生的学校。”