美文: 在人生的每个十字路口坚持自己的选择

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[00:01.10]48 Validation	抉择
[00:06.20](By Michelle Desnoyer)	（译 / 刘克）
[00:08.60]I was probably one of the few kids in America whose parents didn't want her to go to college. 在美国，很少有父母不想让孩子上大学，可我就是这些孩子中的一员。
[00:17.92]It's not that they didn't want me to go, exactly, now that I look back at it, but, just as everything else in high school, 确切地说，并不是父母真的不想让我上大学，如今回想起来，就像我在高中时所遭遇的其他所有事情一样，
[00:25.86]there was the major issue of money.	主要还是钱的问题。
[00:29.01]My family is very blue collar.我生活在极普通的工人家庭。 
[00:31.07]My parents started having kids very young, and I felt they were never able to achieve more than getting a factory job, 我的父母很早就开始生儿育女。我感觉他们最大的能力无非就是找到一份工厂的工作，
[00:39.39]and trying to make ends meet as their family grew.	并随着家庭成员的增加而努力维持收支平衡。
[00:43.30]While I was growing up, it was fine to speak in theoretical terms about going to college. 随着我一天天长大，理论上说，谈论上大学的事情顺理成章。
[00:49.15]I would always say I wanted to go to an Ivy League school and then practice neurosurgery at the Mayo Clinic, 我总会说我想要去一所常春藤大学就读，然后去梅奥医学中心当一名神经外科医生，
[00:57.03]and my dad would say there was absolutely nothing wrong with our state university. 爸爸就会说我们州立大学绝对没什么问题。
[01:02.51]My aunt Mary,the only person in both extended families to go to school before me,在父母双方家族中，我的姑姑玛丽是在我之前唯一上过大学的人。
[01:08.06]had gone there and she was a big shot lawyer taking in loads of money. 她念的就是州立大学，如今是一位赫赫有名的律师，收入颇丰。
[01:13.01]So Dad suggested that's what I ought to shoot for .	因此，爸爸认为那就是我应当为之奋斗的目标。
[01:16.73]The one thing I vividly remembered hating in high school was asking for money. 我清楚地记得，高中时我一直痛恨的一件事情就是向父母要钱。
[01:22.37]When my junior year arrived, I had signed up for the whole course load of Advanced Placement (AP) classes. 我升入高二时，报名参加了大学先修班的所有课程。
[01:29.92]Even though the AP tests were only $22 at that time, my mom would question why I needed the money and, I believe, 尽管那时该班的测试费仅需22美元，但妈妈还是会质疑我为什么需要那些钱，并且我确信，
[01:39.11]huff a little bit as she wrote out the check. 妈妈在写支票时还有点儿生气。
[01:41.80]I gave creative speeches about how much AP would save me at college, and that those $22 would be parlayed into thousands of dollars of tuition money.	我多次颇有创意地讲解说：大学先修班课程能让我在大学里省下多大一笔钱，而那22美元则将会增值为成千上万的学费。
[01:53.90]By the time senior year rolled around , I sent out only two applications for college, 到上高三的时候，我只发出了两份大学申请书：
[02:00.29]one to the state university a little more than two hours away from my hometown, and one to a school in another state. 一份发给了离我的家乡两个多小时路程的州立大学，另一份则发给了别的州的一所学校。
[02:08.12]I was quickly accepted into both, but this was the point at which l felt somewhat blindsided by my parents. 很快我就被两所院校同时录取，但是恰恰在这一点上，父母令我感到有些吃惊。
[02:15.50]My dad, at least, seemed to be against the idea of my going away for school. 至少爸爸看起来似乎反对我离家求学的想法。
[02:21.42]He wanted me to attend the extension in our county and save money by continuing to live at home.	他想让我在本县的进修部继续求学，并想让我继续住在家里以节省开支。
[02:28.03]The mere thought of staying home another two years was enough to turn my stomach . 只要想到自己还要在家待上两年，我便会感到厌烦。
[02:33.47]I was already attending some classes at "The Stench ," because my high school didn't offer the accelerated classes I qualified for. 我已经在上那所“烂校”的一些课程了，因为我所在的高中没开设适合我学习的快班。
[02:41.77]Although it was a fine school, and many people did transfer from the extension to the main state school, I knew I wouldn't follow that path.	尽管那是一所好学校，并且许多人还确实从这所进修部转到了州里的主校区，但我知道我不会那么做。
[02:52.08]For whatever reason, I had been given more ambition than my parents before me, or my two younger brothers, 无论什么原因，与我的父母以及宁愿选择工厂工作也不愿接受教育的两个弟弟相比，
[02:59.55]both of whom opted for the factory scene rather than education. 我已被赋予了更远大的抱负。
[03:03.50]But I could see this ambition having an ending point, as if it were mistakenly siphoned into me and would be sucked out if I spent too much time in my small town. 但是我能看到这个抱负有一个终结点，仿佛它被错误地注入我的心中，而如果我在家乡小镇耗费太多时间，它就会被吸空。
[03:15.78]I could see in my mind's eye how discouraged I would get living at home for two more years under my parents' ironclad rule, either getting frustrated at the extension,在内心深处我可以看到，如果我在父母严苛的管教下再在家里住上两年，我会变得多么沮丧，要么会对这个进修部灰心，
[03:26.61]or finding more value in the attention from boys, ending up pregnant and working at the nearby gas station. 要么会从男孩们的关注中找到更多的自我价值， 最终结婚生子，
[03:34.20]Not my idea of a future.	在附近的加油站工作。这可不是我对未来的想法。
[03:36.66]So every day after school, my dad and I had blown out fights about where I would go to college. 这样一来，每天放学后，我和爸爸就会为我去哪儿上大学而引发争吵。
[03:43.45]His logic was very sound, especially considering where I stand now, three years after graduation with debt up to my eyeballs , 他的逻辑非常合理，尤其是考虑到我当前的处境――高中毕业后三年之内，我将债台高筑。
[03:52.90]but I just knew l would get nowhere staying in my hometown. 但是我深知待在家乡我将一事无成。
[03:57.28]He threatened to give me no financial help at all, and I said that was fine, I would be able to get enough loans.	他威胁说不给我任何经济支持，我回答说没关系，我会得到足够的贷 款。
[04:04.50]Eventually I signed my family up for a tour of the state university. 最终我给全家报了名去参加州立大学观光游。
[04:09.68]My dad and I toured campus, and even though it was very cold, my dad fell in love - or at the very least seemed very enthusiastic about every corner of the campus.	我和爸爸游览了整个校园，尽管天气很冷，爸爸还是很快就喜欢上了这所学校――或者至少看上去对这所学校的每一个角落都热情有加。
[04:21.12]I could tell he was softened by this visit, but the fights about where I was going to get the money continued until the day I packed everything up into our minivan . 我能断定通过这次参观，他的态度缓和了。但是关于我将去哪儿筹到钱的争吵却仍在继续，直到我将所有用品都打包装进我家的小货车里。
[04:32.15]It was then, at breakfast before we made our journey down, that my dad said he was proud of me. 就在我们上路前吃早餐的时候，爸爸说他以我为荣。
[04:38.39]He hadn't thought I would actually leave, and he was impressed. 他没有想到我会真的离家远行，他深受感动。
[04:42.24]As my parents dropped me off at my dorm room, my mom started crying hysterically , and even my dad teared up, kissing me on the forehead,当父母驱车把我送到宿舍时，妈妈开始歇斯底里地大哭起来，就连爸爸眼里也泛起了泪花。他们亲吻了我的额头，
[04:51.59]which was the first time I could remember getting hugged and kissed by them in years.	这可是数年来我能记起的第一次被他们拥抱和亲吻。
[04:56.37]At this point, my relationship with my parents changed. 就在这一刻，我和父母的关系改变了。
[05:00.24]No longer were they the disciplinarians but they became confidants , advisors and an excellent support system, and I became an adult. 他们不再是严师，而是变成了我的密友、顾问以及坚强的后盾。我也变成了成年人。
[05:10.16]Sometimes I still expect to get yelled at for my decisions, but they've done phenomenally well to leave me to my own life, and to just be happy when I actually call home.有时我还期盼能够因为我的决定而受到他们的责骂，但是他们已经能坦然面对，任由我安排自己的人生。当我给家里打电话的时候，他们都很高兴。 
[05:21.70]No matter what happens now, I know standing my ground on where to go for school has been the best decision of my life, 无论现在情况如何，我知道为去哪儿上大学而坚持到底是我人生中最棒的一个决定，
[05:29.58]as I have gained both a good education and a precious life experience I never would have been exposed to had I taken any other road.	因为我不仅得到了良好的教育，还拥有了一次宝贵的人生体验――假如我选择了其他的人生道路，这些我将永远都不会拥有。
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美文: 在人生的每个十字路口 坚持自己的选择

美文: 在人生的每个十字路口坚持自己的选择