339 Senior & Junior
Do you still remember your seniors and junior from University? Eleanor Olcott is a graduate from Cambridge University who is currently studying Chinese at National Taiwan University in Taipei. ShaoLan and Eleanor discuss the policy of many universities around the world where older students are paired with new students, to help them adjust to university life. In Asia, the bonds between juniors and seniors are quite strong and it’s common to stay in touch for many years after graduation, indeed, ShaoLan shares that she is still in touch with some of her seniors and juniors from high school and university!
The Chinese word for “senior” is 學長/学长 for a male and 學姐/学姐 for a female. The first character 學/学 means “to study” or “to learn,” the next character 長/长 means “elder” and 姐 means “older sister.” It gives a sense of seniors and juniors being a bit like family in the way they look out for each other.
