高中生活教會了我什么

Erin+Marie+Whitten

從初中邁向高中，你或許會發現一切變得不同。你將要面對的不僅僅是考大學的壓力，也可能需要應對來自人際關系方面的困境。這個時候，你該何去何從？下文的作者就分享了自己在高中生活中學會的事情，或許會對你有所啟發。

August 2011. The beginning of an era known as high school.

My journey began as an awkward， lazy and cocky1） freshman—and yes， I am willing to admit that， not to shame myself， but to show the changes. I wore too much makeup trying to fit in somewhere in between my old set of friends （where I soon realized that group changes almost three days into the school year）， and branched out2） trying to prove myself to other people to make them think I&apos；m worthy of being their friends， which was probably the worst idea I&apos；ve had in my four years at Revere High， but what it taught me was more than any a course I have ever taken at that school. （Yes， even more than what my AP class had taught me.）

When you&apos；re in high school， you take your classes to graduate， but what you do not notice is you are taking more than that. You are taking your life skills to the next level whether you like it or not. If you think about it， when you are a freshman， you are either 14 or 15， straight out of middle school where you were the top dogs3） of the school， then bam4）： you&apos；re in a school with people about to go to college. That was my issue： I thought I was ready for this huge change， but then the second I walked in， I wanted to run out.

I wasn&apos；t the best student， nor the worst. I was put in a limbo5） between being classified as stupid or being a nerd. That was a rough patch6） that I was stuck in because I was not the brightest star in my classes， but they called me a nerd because I acted studious. Even when I did my best like learning an A in my Freshman English class， I still for some reason got put in college prep7） English， and not honors8）， and then proceeded to ace9） my sophomore English college prep class. I felt there was something wrong with me， but then finally I got into Honors English after trying for three years. That class I passed with a B+ average， then I jumped to AP English this year earning a C+， which is fantastic， seeing10） I was barely prepared for this.

Here I am， the last nine days of my senior year are coming to a close. I am a genuinely11） different person than I was four years ago. So much has happened now as I am reflecting12） back on the last four years， whether it&apos；s amazing things or terrible. Yes， I did kill13） my GPA freshman and sophomore year. Yes， I did get a bad stomach disability， resulting in an intense surgery. And yes， I have done things I deeply regret. But there were positives as these years went on. I became an AP student. I got accepted to my top choice college with scholarships. I am a published writer on HuffPost Teen. And most importantly， I have a support group like no other14）. Whether it be my fifth grade teacher Ms. Anderson， my new found mentor， motivator， and friend Ms. Barile， or the people who have bullied me.

This is to those people. The people who laughed at me when I didn&apos；t know how to do basic algebra， the people who snorted15） when they figured out that I got published， the people who constantly have pushed me down—and then came crying back to me the second I did something like get great publicity16） and claim to be my friend. You are the ones who pushed me to this greatness， so I applaud you for trying to tease17） me by saying "That girl with the weird teeth" or even "That chick who has that weird fang".

Yes， I am that girl with the weird teeth. But I am also someone who persevered： Every emotional breakdown18） over some drama that doesn&apos；t even have relevancy19） in my life， or every time I would be in agonizing pain before my surgery， but then drag myself to school the next day， constantly trying to live my life while pleasing others. That has shaped me to be the girl I am today.

2011年8月，我的高中時代拉開序幕。

高中之旅開始時，我是個笨拙、懶散又自負的高一新生——是的，我愿意承認這一點，并不是要羞辱自己，而是為了展示我的變化有多大。那時我化很濃的妝，試圖和以前的朋友（我很快意識到，那個學期開學還不到三天，這些朋友就變了）還能打成一片。同時，我還嘗試做一些以前不太常做的事情，試圖向其他人證明自己，讓他們覺得我這個朋友值得一交——而這可能是我在里維爾高中四年里（編注：美國高中有四年，即9～12年級）有過的最糟糕的想法。不過，這件事教給我的比我在任何一門課上學到的都要多。（是的，甚至比AP課程教給我的還要多。）

當你上了高中，你修各種課程才能夠畢業，但你沒有發現的是，你所學的可遠不只是課堂知識。不論你是否愿意，你正在這里學習你即將應用到人生下一階段的生活技能。想想看，你剛剛初中畢業，進入高一，不過十四五歲，之前在初中還是學校的佼佼者，然后“咣”地一下，你就來到一個身邊人全都奔著大學去的校園。這就是我當時的情況：我原以為自己對這一巨變做好了準備，可剛一踏入校園我就想逃跑。

我不是最好的學生，但也不是最差的。這讓我處于一個不確定的境地，要么被歸到傻子笨蛋堆里，要么被劃到書呆子之列。我陷入了一個困境，因為我不是班里最耀眼的那顆星。可由于我表現得非常刻苦，他們都叫我書呆子。不知道什么原因，我雖然盡最大努力在高一英語課考試時拿到了A，但還是被分到了大學預科班，而不是榮譽課程班。第二年，我在英語大學預科班又拿到優秀的成績。我覺得自己可能出了什么問題，但我終于在努力了三年之后進入英語榮譽課程班學習，并且取得B+的平均成績。今年，我又跳到了AP英語課程班，同時拿到了C+——鑒于我幾乎就沒為跳級到AP班做過準備，C+這個成績簡直太棒了！

如今，還有九天我高中的最后一年就要結束了。現在的我和四年前真的大不相同。回首過去的四年，好也罷壞也罷，發生了太多事情。的確，我頭兩年成績平均分不怎么樣；的確，我曾得了嚴重的胃病，并因此動了一次大手術；的確，我做過一些讓我后悔不迭的事。然而，這些年還有很多積極的方面。我成了AP課程班的學生；拿著好幾項獎學金考上了最心儀的大學；我在《郝芬頓郵報青少版》上發表了文章。最重要的是，我有一個非常特別的后援團。不論是我小學五年級的老師安德魯森女士，還是我剛剛找的大學導師巴瑞爾女士（她同時也是激勵我的人，是我的朋友），或是那些欺負過我的人，他們都是我的后援團成員。

有些人曾經在我不會做基礎代數題時嘲笑我；有些人在發現我發表文章后對此嗤之以鼻；還有些人一直欺負我，但在我做了一些事比如獲得很大的名氣后又馬上跑來，哭著喊著說是我的朋友。對這些人，我想說，是你們將我推到如今的高度，所以，我贊賞你們曾經奚落我是“那個牙齒丑陋的女孩”甚至是“那個長著詭異獠牙的小妞”。

沒錯，我就是那個牙長得難看的女孩，但我也是一個堅持不懈的人。無論是每一次我因為生活中一些根本和自己無關的戲劇性事件感到精神崩潰，還是我在做手術前每一次胃痛難耐卻在第二天依舊硬撐著到學校上課，還不斷在取悅他人的同時也努力過好自己的生活——正是這一切造就了今天的我。

1. cocky [?k?ki] adj. 狂妄自負的；趾高氣揚的；驕傲的

2. branch out： 涉足（新領域）；拓展（業務、興趣等）

3. top dog： 權威；優勝者；奪魁者

4. bam [b?m] vi. 發出“咣”的一聲

5. limbo [?l?mb??] n. （處于）前途未卜的境地

6. patch [p?t?] n. 時期

7. prep [prep] adj. 大學預科的。美國高中課程分三個難度等級，核心課程、榮譽課程和AP課程，難度依次遞增。這里的大學預科班所上的課程是高中教育所要求完成的核心課程，而AP課程指的是大學先修課程。此外，美國高中還會有進補班（Remedial Classes），主要是為基礎較差、需要補習提高的學生而設。

8. honor [??n?（r）] n. 榮譽課程

9. ace [e?s] vt. （在考試或其他高壓情況下）表現出色

10. seeing [si???] conj. 既然，由于，鑒于

11. genuinely [?d?enju?nli] adv. 真正地

12. reflect [r??flekt] vi. 沉思；深思

13. kill [k?l] vt. 毀掉

14. like no other： 特別的

15. snort [sn??t] vi. （表示惱怒、反對或不耐煩）哼鼻子，嗤之以鼻

16. publicity [p?b?l?s?ti] n. （媒體或公眾的）關注

17. tease [ti?z] vt. 嘲笑；取笑；嘲弄

18. breakdown [?bre?kda?n] n. 神經衰弱；精神崩潰

19. relevancy [?rel?v?nsi] n. 相關性；實用性；意義