如今，许多大学生正为未来感到焦虑。他们担忧就业前景、购房问题以及即将到来的成年生活。
Many college students today are feeling anxious about their future. They have concerns about their job prospects, homeownership and impending adulthood.
杰克琳·加农、尼古拉斯·里卡迪 密歇根州东兰辛——21岁的弗兰基·列兰迪在密歇根州立大学就读的三年里，未能获得任何一份实习机会。
JACQUELINE GANUN, NICHOLAS RICCARDI EAST LANSING, Mich. — Frankie Llerandi, 21, has been unable to land a single internship in his three years at Michigan State University.
他将于春季毕业，主修经济学，并对数据分析感兴趣，但真正的成年生活似乎遥不可及，令人抓狂。他的许多表亲直到三十多岁仍未能买房或组建家庭。
He will graduate in the spring with an economics degree and an interest in data analytics, but true adulthood seems maddeningly far away. Most of his cousins have not been able to buy a house or start a family deep into their 30s.
19岁的大二学生基拉·赛蒂更担忧的是更广阔的世界，而非她个人的未来。每次她看手机，都会看到中东乃至更近地方的暴力和恐怖画面。“看着这些，很难说出‘这个世界是个好地方’，”她说。
Kira Saiti, a 19-year-old sophomore, is more upset about the broader world than her own future. Every time she looks at her phone she sees images of violence and horror, both in the Middle East and closer to home. “It’s kind of hard to look at that and say, ‘This world is a great place,’” she said.
20岁的朱利安·巴乌蒂斯塔目睹自己选择的环境保护职业因特朗普政府的削减而遭受重创，这促使这位大三学生决定毕业后离开美国，前往荷兰寻找工作。他认为，未来18个月里他仍视为家园的这个国家，是由他所认为的腐败政客领导下的民主失败。
Julian Bautista, 20, saw his chosen profession of environmental work decimated by Trump administration cuts, pushing the junior to decide he will leave the United States to find work in the Netherlands when he graduates. He considers what remains his home country for the next 18 months to be a failure of democracy led by what he sees as corrupt politicians.
“在我的一生中，我们要么停滞不前，要么每况愈下，从未有所改善，”巴乌蒂斯塔说。
“Throughout my life, we’ve either stagnated or declined, we haven’t improved,” Bautista said.
对于校园内及全国各地的许多同学而言，现状黯淡无光，未来充其量也只是充满不确定性。他们的焦虑助长了一种不安情绪，他们担心国家的政治体系已无力改善他们的生活，或已不再有意愿提供帮助。
For many of their classmates on campus and elsewhere around the country, the present looks bleak and the future uncertain at best. Their anxiety is fueling a restlessness with a national political system that they worry is no longer capable of improving their lives or no longer interested in helping.
两年前，低迷的经济形势助力唐纳德·特朗普赢得了比以往共和党候选人所能获得的更多的年轻选民支持——据美国联合通讯社开展的选民调查“VoteCast”显示，这一比例达到了47%。如今，对人工智能的担忧以及伊朗战争的威胁又加入了这一因素，促使政治立场截然相反的激进派候选人纷纷涌现，并获得了大学生的青睐。
Two years ago, grim economic vibes helped Donald Trump win a far larger of young voters than is typical for a Republican — 47%, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate. Now, anxiety about artificial intelligence and the Iran war has been added to the mix, powering a wave of disruptive candidates on the opposite end of the political spectrum who have been embraced by college students.
勒拉尔迪、赛蒂和鲍蒂斯塔都支持密歇根州一批主张进步、反对现有体制的民主党候选人，这些候选人承诺要打破现状。其中包括前公共卫生官员阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德，他正在竞选美国参议院席位；还有自由派活动家威尔·劳伦斯，他试图击败代表该大学所在摇摆选区的共和党众议员汤姆·巴雷特。
Llerandi, Saiti and Bautista all support a slate of progressive, antiestablishment Democratic candidates in Michigan who are pledging to shake up the status quo. Among them are Abdul El-Sayed a former public health official running for U.S. Senate, and Will Lawrence, a liberal activist trying to unseat Tom Barrett, the Republican congressman who represents the swing district that includes the university.
对许多学生而言，未来前景黯淡。即便那些并未深度参与政治的学生，也对就业市场、购房以及成年后的生活充满焦虑。
The future looks bleak for many students Anxieties about the job market, homeownership and adulthood are widespread across the campus, even among those who are not deeply involved in politics.
“这听起来有点好笑，但说实话，我长大后真的想拥有一套房子，”21岁的生物化学专业学生普拉文·阿穆努加马说道。他计划继续攻读研究生，希望未来两年就业市场能有所好转。他的朋友们也有同样的想法。
“It’s just something to laugh at, but, you know, I really do want a house when I’m older,” said Praveen Amunugama, a 21-year-old biochemistry major who plans to go to graduate school in hopes the job market improves over the next two years. His friends feel the same way.
“他们都希望能负担得起生活开销，组建一个幸福的家庭，”他说道。
“They want to be able to afford things, raise a good family,” he said.
尽管年轻人对经济状况忧心忡忡，但乍看之下他们的处境似乎还不算太糟。22至27岁人群的失业率为7.2%，虽然高于4.1%的整体失业率，但仍低于经济平稳时期的水平。
Despite the economic angst among young people, at first blush the picture does not look that bad for them. The unemployment rate for those age 22 to 27 is 7.2%, higher than the broader rate of 4.1% but lower than some other moments of economic calm.
2024年的一项研究显示，被称为“Z世代”的年轻一代有望比千禧一代更加富有；而千禧一代在步入职场时虽然也面临着经济不景气的阴霾，但他们的财富水平依然高于上一代人。
A 2024 study found members of the younger generation known as Generation Z are poised to be wealthier than millennials, who themselves are wealthier than the prior generation despite the persistent sense of economic doom that accompanied their entry into the job market during the Great Recession.
参与撰写该研究报告的经济学家凯文·科林斯表示，考虑到当前诸多不确定性因素——尤其是人工智能可能重塑各行各业的前景，以及数据显示年轻一代离家独立、组建家庭的年龄不断推迟——他完全理解Z世代的焦虑情绪。
Kevin Corinth, the economist who co-authored that study, said he understands Gen Z angst, given modern uncertainties, especially the prospect of AI reshaping various industries and data showing younger people are taking longer to leave home and start families.
“对于前几代人而言，只要走上特定的道路，就很可能取得成功，生活也能比父母辈更好，”任职于中间偏右智库美国企业研究所的科林斯说道。不过他也承认，对如今的年轻人来说，这样的成功路径已不再清晰明确。
“For previous generations, if you took certain paths you were likely to succeed, to do better than your parents,” said Corinth, who is at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank. For young people now, he acknowledged, that path is not as clear.
德克萨斯州的经济学家凯瑟琳·爱德华兹指出，近期大学毕业生的失业率高达5.6%，这一数值除了在2008年经济大衰退时期外，几乎处于近年来的最高水平。再加上历史高位的房价以及食品、医疗等生活必需品成本的持续上涨，如今的年轻一代正面临着极为艰难的生存环境。
Kathryn Edwards, a Texas-based economist, noted that unemployment among recent college graduates is at 5.6%, higher than at most other times in recent history other than the Great Recession. Combined with historically high housing prices and rising costs for essentials such as food and healthcare, that is a challenging environment for young people.
“对他们来说情况相当糟糕，”爱德华兹说道，她还补充称年轻人也敏锐地察觉到了经济领域的种种警示信号。“我认为年轻人对当前经济的诸多方面的判断都是准确的。”此外，他们还不得不面对一种全新的求职模式：以人工智能为驱动、完全在线上进行的求职流程，在这种环境下很难分辨出真实的招聘信息与虚假信息。
“It’s pretty bad for them,” Edwards said, adding that young people are picking up on broader warning signs in the economy. “So many aspects of our current economy, I think young people have gotten right.”They are also fully exposed to the new form of job hunting: AI-powered, digital and done almost exclusively online, where it is hard to discern real job openings from fake ones.
“想想看，他们收到的垃圾信息和诈骗信息有多少，市面上还有大量虚假招聘信息，”密歇根州立大学商学院职业管理事务副院长玛拉·麦格劳说道，“学生们经常跑来问我：‘这个招聘信息是真的吗？’”她花费大量时间去鼓励那些心灰意冷的学生重拾信心。
“Think about the amount they get spammed and scammed, and there are tons of fake jobs out there,” said Marla McGraw, assistant dean of career management in Michigan State’s business school. “They’re always coming in here going, ‘Is this real?’”She spends a lot of time trying to buck up disenchanted students.
“我们现在要传达的信息就是：就业市场虽然艰难，但你们比市场更坚强，”麦格劳说道。
“Our message right now is the job market is tough, but you’re tougher,” McGraw said.
学生们认为政治领袖未能履行职责。今年早些时候盖洛普的一项调查显示，自2024年起，美国年轻人对就业市场的乐观情绪大幅下滑；他们对经济的看法与年长者之间的差异程度也几乎位居世界前列。
Students say political leaders are falling short Young Americans’ optimism about the job market has plummeted since 2024 and the gap between their view of the economy and those of their elders is greater than almost anywhere in the world, according to a Gallup survey earlier this year.
美联社与NORC公共事务研究中心的一项调查显示，这一代年轻人较少参与政治活动，也不认为投票有多重要。他们同样不太担心政治暴力事件的发生。然而，对传统政治价值观的信仰逐渐瓦解，这一点令卡莉·范安特沃普深感忧虑。
They are less likely to be engaged in politics and less likely to think it is important to vote, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found. They also are less likely to be concerned about political violence That dissolution of beliefs in traditional political values worries Karlee VanAntwerp.
这位21岁的密歇根州立大学大四学生同时还是“转折点”组织当地分会的负责人。该组织由年轻保守派组成，其创始人查理·柯克去年遭暗杀。范安特沃普看到柯克遇害事件在网上被反复调侃，甚至带有威胁意味，为此感到十分震惊。
The 21-year-old Michigan State senior is also head of the local chapter of Turning Point, the group for young conservatives whose founder, Charlie Kirk was assassinated last year. VanAntwerp has been horrified to see Kirk’s killing repeatedly, and sometimes menacingly, mocked online.
“Z世代的观点往往更为极端，”范安特沃普说道，“这使得与持有不同政治观点的人合作变得困难重重；即便你持中立立场，他们也会觉得你疯了。”在她看来，这种状况进一步加深了同龄人对社会变革难以实现的绝望情绪。
“Gen Z tends to be more extreme with their views,” VanAntwerp said. “It makes it hard to work with people of different political beliefs, because even if you’re in the middle, they assume you’re crazy.”VanAntwerp sees that feeding into the despair many of her generation feel about real change ever happening.
“一届政府做了许多工作，下一届政府上台后又把一切都推翻，”正在为巴雷特竞选活动效力的范安特沃普补充道，“感觉我们总是在原地打转。这也导致政治氛围愈发紧张，因为人们觉得什么改变都实现不了。”虽然她的政治立场与许多自由派学生截然相反——那些学生不久前还聚集在教室里聆听巴雷特的民主党对手劳伦斯演讲——但他们同样渴望社会发生巨大变革。劳伦斯对年轻人初入社会时的迷茫与沮丧深表理解，并劝告他们切勿陷入绝望。
“One administration does a bunch of stuff, another administration comes in and wipes it all out,” said VanAntwerp, who is also working for Barrett’s campaign. “It feels like we always go in circles. That contributes to the political temperature being so high, because people feel nothing changes.”Her politics are the polar opposite of many liberal students who gathered to hear Lawrence, Barrett’s Democratic challenger, talk in a classroom one recent evening, but there was a similar desire for dramatic change. Lawrence sympathized with the glum feelings of early adulthood and urged the students not to succumb to despair.
“我年轻时也曾想过脱离社会，正是各种社会活动为我指明了人生方向，”劳伦斯说道。
“When I was a little younger I wanted to drop out of society, and it was organizing that gave me a path in life,” Lawrence said.
然而，在候选人离开后，鲍蒂斯塔的语气仍透着绝望。他提到自己信任的网络红人如何将纽约州参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默等民主党人称作“迷你版特朗普”，因为在他看来，这些人不过是特朗普的弱化版罢了。
After the candidate left, however, Bautista still sounded on the verge of despair. He talked about how online influencers he trusts deride Democrats such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York as “mini-mes” because, Bautista contended, they are just watered-down versions of Trump.
“我们的领导人越来越不能代表我们了，”鲍蒂斯塔说道，“民众迫切期待能有一些重大举措。”
“Our leaders are representing us less,” Bautista said. “People are desperate for big stuff.”