From Shark Diving to Monster Truck Driving, These Girls Are Doing Seriously Cool Stuff

by Sarah Devlin

翻譯：芥子

From Shark Diving to Monster Truck Driving, These Girls Are Doing Seriously Cool Stuff

by Sarah Devlin

翻譯：芥子

這些女生告訴你，這才是真正的酷

你想過練習跆拳道或與鯊魚共舞嗎？我們訪問了五個女生：她們都有非一般的愛好，而且通過努力，她們把自己的愛好發揮到專業水平！盡管愛好各異，但她們都有一樣的堅持—你不得不承認，她們是真正的女中豪杰。

Some girls dream of being Olympians, while others want to be competitive[競爭的]cheerleaders—but Navey Baker has always been focused on another part of sports. “In sixth grade, I got to be the mascot for my elementary school,” she says. “I absolutely loved it for that moment forward.”

Years later, she had the opportunity to wear a tiger costume for her high school in Mesa, Arizona. She saved up $1,000 to buy the suit herself; doing jobs around the house and babysitting netted[凈賺]her the cash. She’s become a crowd favorite and plans on working for a professional[職業性的]sports team one day. “Don’t give up, never give up,” Navey advises. “No matter what people say, just be you and you only.”

有些女生夢想成為奧運會選手，有些則希望當上有競爭力的拉拉隊隊長—但納薇·貝克一直以來關注的是體育運動的另一個地方。“讀六年級的時候，我當上了小學的吉祥物。”她說。“我之后就一直很喜歡當吉祥物。”

幾年后，她有機會穿上老虎服為位于（美國）亞利桑那州梅薩市自己所讀的高中當吉祥物。她自己存了一千美元買服裝；這些錢是她在家里干活和當臨時保姆賺來的。漸漸地，大家都喜歡上了她。納薇打算有朝一日可以為專業運動隊工作。“不要放棄，永遠不要放棄。”納薇建議道。“不管別人怎么說，做自己，只要做自己就可以了。”

Like most 16-year-olds, Rosalee Ramer likes to drive, but unlike pretty much every other teen you know, Rosalee is a professional monster truck driver. “My family has been involved[使參與]with monster trucks for a long time—we’ve had our own since I was seven,” she says. “I really love anything on four wheels.”

Though the actual driving is tons of fun, Rosalee particularly values the people she’s met through her job. “It’s given me the opportunity to spend time with people with special needs and kids who love monster trucks as much as I do.” She wants to study mechatronics[機械電子學]engineering in college, which will allow her to “combine computer science and mechanical automotive[汽車的]technology.” Impressive, right? And in case you were wondering, when she’s off-duty she drives a much smaller Jeep Wrangler.

羅莎莉·拉默和大部分16歲的年輕人一樣喜歡開車，但又和你身邊的青少年很不同—她是一名職業怪獸卡車車手。“我的家人長期以來一直從事和怪獸卡車有關的事—我7歲時，家里就有了自己的怪獸卡車。”她說。“我真的很喜歡任何有四個輪子的東西。”

雖然駕車的過程樂趣無窮，但羅莎莉尤其珍惜工作中遇到的各種人。“它讓我有機會與那些有特別需要的人，以及和我一樣熱愛怪獸卡車的孩子相處。”她希望到大學修讀機械電子工程，因為這個專業可以讓她“把電腦科學和機械汽車技術糅合到一起”。真令人敬佩，對吧？以防你有什么疑惑，告訴你，當她不工作的時候，她開的是一輛體積小得多的吉普牧馬人。

注1：一種巨輪卡車。

“Everyone else was scared of them,” shark diver Madison Stewart says about why she was first drawn to the scary sea creatures. Madison has dedicated[致力]herself to protecting the Great Barrier Reef—home to many endangered[瀕臨滅絕的]sharks—and hopes to continue her work as long as she can. “There’s so much information that people just don’t know,” she says. “Like the fact they’re only responsible[負有責任的]for the deaths of 12 people a year, while humans kill more than 100 million sharks in the same time.”

She’s so committed[堅定的]to her cause that she chose to become homeschooled at age 14 to devote more time to diving. “I want to see the end of certain practices in my lifetime, like shark fisheries[漁場]in the Great Barrier Reef, over-fishing, and factory farming[工廠化養殖],” she says. Yes, her future is certainly in the sea: “It would be a dream to be an underwater cinematographer[電影攝影技師]or a safety diver.”

“其他人都怕它們。”鯊魚潛水員麥迪遜·斯圖爾特在談到她最初被這種嚇人的海洋生物吸引時這樣說道。大堡礁生活著很多瀕危滅絕的鯊魚—麥迪遜一直致力于大堡礁的保護工作，并希望可以一直工作到自己無法繼續為止。“人們不知道的事情太多了。“她說。“比如說，每年只有12宗死亡事件和它們有關；但與此同時，人類每年捕殺鯊魚的數量超過一億條。”

她對自己的事業非常熱誠，甚至在14歲時選擇在家接受教育，因為她想把更多時間放在潛水上。“我希望在有生之年看到一些行為可以消失，比如大堡礁的鯊魚場、過度捕魚和工廠化養殖等等。”她說。是的，她的未來一定會在海里度過；“如果能當一名水下攝影師或者安全潛水員，那就真是太好了。”

Starting Jiu-Jitsu[柔術]training when she was just five years old, McKenna Hutchinson’s love of martial arts has been obvious for nearly a decade. She graduated to Judo and kickboxing[跆拳道]before finally discovering Pankration注2, which is “like MMA注3, except it has far more extensive[廣泛的]rules to ensure the safety of its participants[參與者]—for example, there are no head strikes[攻擊].”

And just how tough is this sport? “Pankration is the ultimate[終極的]test of skill,” she says. “Also, it shows how well I would be able to defend[防守]myself in a real self-defense[自我防護]situation.”She hopes to eventually[最后]compete professionally in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, get her black belts in Jiu-Jitsu and Judo, and open her own martial arts school. As for anyone who questions if girls should participate in combat sports[搏擊運動]? “Not to be cliché[陳腐的],” she says, “but girls can do anything that guys can, and most of the time we’re better at it.”

麥克納·哈奇森從5歲起就開始接受柔術訓練，她對武術的熱愛已經持續了近十年。在完成了柔術和跆拳道的學習后，她又發現了古希臘式搏擊。古希臘式搏擊“類似于綜合格斗（MMA），只是有更多廣泛的規則保證參加者的安全—例如，它沒有擊打頭部的動作。”

這項體育究竟有多艱難？“古希臘式搏擊是對技術的終極檢驗。”她說。“另外，它也可以顯示出在真正的自衛情況下，我能夠如何保衛自己。”她希望最終能在終極格斗錦標賽以職業選手的身份參加比賽，拿到柔術和柔道黑帶，并開一家屬于自己的武術學校。如果有人問起女生應不應該參加搏擊運動，她會怎樣回答？“我不是要老調重彈，”她說，“但男生可以做的事情女生也可以做，很多時候我們做得更好呢。”

How do you spend your weekends? A little homework, a movie, and a whole lot of hanging out? Well, Jess Dawson is busy creating complex desserts at Grace, a Michelin注4-starred restaurant in Chicago. Jess was first hired as a pastry[油酥糕點]chef at age 16 (at Spiaggia, another restaurant in her hometown), and at the very end of her first summer there, she finally picked up her paychecks—she had never had a job before and couldn’t figure out[想出]where to find them.

“That night I skipped down Michigan Avenue, waving my checks in the air, telling everyone who would listen that I, Jessica Dawson, was getting paid to bake,” she says. She plans to keep working for chefs who inspire her and to focus on making delicious food. Her favorite things to make right now are French pastries: “It’s not a complete Saturday morning until the smell of croissants[牛角面包]fills the kitchen.”

你的周末是怎樣過的呢？做點功課、看一部電影，花上大量時間和朋友外出？杰斯·道森則在“格蕾絲”（一家位于芝加哥的米其林星級餐廳）忙碌地制作復雜的甜點。16歲時，杰斯第一次以糕點師的身份受雇（于“海灘”，她家鄉的另一家餐廳）。在那里工作的第一個夏天結束之時，她終于拿到了薪水（支票）—她之前沒有任何工作經歷，也不知道怎樣找到工作。

“那天晚上，我在密歇根大道上蹦蹦跳跳的，手里揮動著我的支票，我告訴所有人；我，杰斯·道森，我烤面包會有人給錢。”她說。她打算繼續為那些給予她靈感的師傅工作，專注制作美味的食物。我現在最喜歡做的是法國糕點：“只有當廚房里充滿了牛角面包的香氣，才算是一個完整的周六早晨。”

注2：古希臘式搏擊是古代奧林匹亞競技大會的一項技擊性項目，是一種可以同時使用拳擊與角力、其他技巧等全面性技術的一種搏斗比賽。

注3：MMA（mixed martial arts）是一種規則極為開放的競技格斗運動，比賽允許選手使用拳擊、巴西柔術、泰拳、摔跤、空手道、截拳道等多種技術。

注4：米其林指南是法國知名輪胎制造商、米其林公司所出版的美食及旅游指南書籍的總稱，其中以評鑒餐廳及旅館、書皮為紅色的“紅色指南”最具代表性。