Life> Kaleidoscope

Cold weather can't freeze seat scramble

By Fred Yang (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-03 09:32

Early in the morning, when silence and darkness still reign over the campus, a long line has already formed before the entrances of the library. Clad in thick clothes, the shivering students all rub their hands and stomp their feet to keep warm.

Then with the creaking of doors, the line, in one split second, breaks into a scalloped shape, and the frenzied students pour inside, scrambling to grab an available seat to study.

Yes, even before the city's heating kicks in, the national civil service examination and graduate admission test are already heating up campuses across the capital.

The two life-changing exams weigh heavy on the shoulders of the takers and require tons of preparation. The ever-increasing number of applicants and the high standards set for them have fuelled tough competition.

With roughly three months before the big day, students are on the boil. They work around the clock and rack their brains in the homestretch of the struggle, and that explains the long lines waiting outside the school buildings. Students start to use every trick in the book to call a seat their own. But even the early birds won't catch the worm in this case.

I did my fair share of seat grabbing when I was in college. I woke up at an unearthly hour and walked through the cold to the teaching building, only to find, to my dismay, that the rows of empty seats had already being "pre-booked" with belongings the night before.

Those who despise and look down on such seat hogging at first will soon be stooping to that level in their attempts to survive the seat crisis.

The methods students use to secure a seat continue to evolve. From simply putting a book on the seat to pasting a threatening note on a desk there are now those bold enough to lock chairs and desk together.

Some experts blame the lack of expansion of colleges and suggest constructing more buildings. But in the meantime here are my solutions:

Start your preparations early, most classrooms have only a few students in sight at other times of the year. So, spread the workload into everyday study instead of procrastinating and idling your time away. If it's imperative to find a seat outside when your roommates make it impossible for you to concentrate, you can always spend a little money at a quiet cafe buying some quality study time. Both of these can save a great deal of time and energy that would otherwise be wasted trying to claim a seat on campus.

If you are an overseas student, you will probably miss out on all the rough and tumble of snatching a classroom seat. But, if you really want to get a taste of the famous diligence of Chinese students or a touch of exam fever then you should drop by and try to grab a seat yourself.