Vacation Ends

This winter vacation was the longest in history, from December 12 to February 19 next year, totaling 69 days. During this period I worked about 24 days.

As this vacation ends, my mood is still a little complex. I don’t know how to describe it—am I feeling confused or perhaps reluctant? Because this might be my last vacation, since I will start interning in July this year.

Because I’m studying at a junior college, the bachelor’s program is four years, while the junior college program is three years. Junior college consists of two years of on-campus study, and a third year spent interning off campus, so this year we have to go out early to intern, so there is no summer vacation.

But I want to continue to a bachelor’s degree, even if it’s private. The downside of the path from diploma to bachelor’s degree is that the first credential is a diploma, and the certificate is a bachelor’s, but it will be marked with the words "diploma-to-bachelor’s upgrade." But it’s okay; except for some very formal large enterprises, small businesses don’t seem to care much about the first degree, and you can still present it as a bachelor’s.

Internship

I asked about the previous seniors; this year’s internship policy has been adjusted. Previously you only needed to sign a tripartite agreement and stamp it, regardless of which organization’s stamp, even if you worked as a supermarket cashier. But this year it’s different: you must intern for four months at a company related to your major, you must stamp it and you need to take photos of the company’s culture, which is quite a headache…

I am majoring in automotive; historically the most common internship sites among seniors are 4S shops, and some go on to be mechanics, but I know very well that I am not suited to be a mechanic, so the basic direction can only be 4S shops, because there are very few companies recruiting diploma students. I want to intern for four months first, then resign and pursue self-employment.

Very confused; I don’t know how the future path will go, or how to proceed…

The Campus Gates Are Open

Yesterday I returned to campus and asked the security guard; the gates are now open, parents can enter the campus, students scan their faces and family members follow behind. Yesterday I walked around the campus with my parents, and I was very happy.

Since my first year at school, I have been thinking about whether I could bring my parents in before graduation for a tour; after all, they’ve never stepped onto a university campus in their lives, they don’t know how good the school’s teaching is, and what they care about most is how the school is and how their son is living in university.

Although it’s a junior college, in my parents’ eyes it’s still a university, and they have always been proud that I am a university student, always saying I am the family’s only university student. But that’s just talk; I’ve never taken pride in it seriously, haha, after all, junior college is indeed very ordinary, extremely ordinary, and my parents hope very much that I can continue to a bachelor’s degree program.