高中生活教会了我什么

Erin+Marie+Whitten

從初中迈向高中，你或许会发现一切变得不同。你将要面对的不仅仅是考大学的压力，也可能需要应对来自人际关系方面的困境。这个时候，你该何去何从？下文的作者就分享了自己在高中生活中学会的事情，或许会对你有所启发。

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，我的高中时代拉开序幕。

高中之旅开始时，我是个笨拙、懒散又自负的高一新生——是的，我愿意承认这一点，并不是要羞辱自己，而是为了展示我的变化有多大。那时我化很浓的妆，试图和以前的朋友（我很快意识到，那个学期开学还不到三天，这些朋友就变了）还能打成一片。同时，我还尝试做一些以前不太常做的事情，试图向其他人证明自己，让他们觉得我这个朋友值得一交——而这可能是我在里维尔高中四年里（编注：美国高中有四年，即9～12年级）有过的最糟糕的想法。不过，这件事教给我的比我在任何一门课上学到的都要多。（是的，甚至比AP课程教给我的还要多。）

当你上了高中，你修各种课程才能够毕业，但你没有发现的是，你所学的可远不只是课堂知识。不论你是否愿意，你正在这里学习你即将应用到人生下一阶段的生活技能。想想看，你刚刚初中毕业，进入高一，不过十四五岁，之前在初中还是学校的佼佼者，然后“咣”地一下，你就来到一个身边人全都奔着大学去的校园。这就是我当时的情况：我原以为自己对这一巨变做好了准备，可刚一踏入校园我就想逃跑。

我不是最好的学生，但也不是最差的。这让我处于一个不确定的境地，要么被归到傻子笨蛋堆里，要么被划到书呆子之列。我陷入了一个困境，因为我不是班里最耀眼的那颗星。可由于我表现得非常刻苦，他们都叫我书呆子。不知道什么原因，我虽然尽最大努力在高一英语课考试时拿到了A，但还是被分到了大学预科班，而不是荣誉课程班。第二年，我在英语大学预科班又拿到优秀的成绩。我觉得自己可能出了什么问题，但我终于在努力了三年之后进入英语荣誉课程班学习，并且取得B+的平均成绩。今年，我又跳到了AP英语课程班，同时拿到了C+——鉴于我几乎就没为跳级到AP班做过准备，C+这个成绩简直太棒了！

如今，还有九天我高中的最后一年就要结束了。现在的我和四年前真的大不相同。回首过去的四年，好也罢坏也罢，发生了太多事情。的确，我头两年成绩平均分不怎么样；的确，我曾得了严重的胃病，并因此动了一次大手术；的确，我做过一些让我后悔不迭的事。然而，这些年还有很多积极的方面。我成了AP课程班的学生；拿着好几项奖学金考上了最心仪的大学；我在《郝芬顿邮报青少版》上发表了文章。最重要的是，我有一个非常特别的后援团。不论是我小学五年级的老师安德鲁森女士，还是我刚刚找的大学导师巴瑞尔女士（她同时也是激励我的人，是我的朋友），或是那些欺负过我的人，他们都是我的后援团成员。

有些人曾经在我不会做基础代数题时嘲笑我；有些人在发现我发表文章后对此嗤之以鼻；还有些人一直欺负我，但在我做了一些事比如获得很大的名气后又马上跑来，哭着喊着说是我的朋友。对这些人，我想说，是你们将我推到如今的高度，所以，我赞赏你们曾经奚落我是“那个牙齿丑陋的女孩”甚至是“那个长着诡异獠牙的小妞”。

没错，我就是那个牙长得难看的女孩，但我也是一个坚持不懈的人。无论是每一次我因为生活中一些根本和自己无关的戏剧性事件感到精神崩溃，还是我在做手术前每一次胃痛难耐却在第二天依旧硬撑着到学校上课，还不断在取悦他人的同时也努力过好自己的生活——正是这一切造就了今天的我。

1. cocky [?k?ki] adj. 狂妄自负的；趾高气扬的；骄傲的

2. branch out： 涉足（新领域）；拓展（业务、兴趣等）

3. top dog： 权威；优胜者；夺魁者

4. bam [b?m] vi. 发出“咣”的一声

5. limbo [?l?mb??] n. （处于）前途未卜的境地

6. patch [p?t?] n. 时期

7. prep [prep] adj. 大学预科的。美国高中课程分三个难度等级，核心课程、荣誉课程和AP课程，难度依次递增。这里的大学预科班所上的课程是高中教育所要求完成的核心课程，而AP课程指的是大学先修课程。此外，美国高中还会有进补班（Remedial Classes），主要是为基础较差、需要补习提高的学生而设。

8. honor [??n?（r）] n. 榮誉课程

9. ace [e?s] vt. （在考试或其他高压情况下）表现出色

10. seeing [si???] conj. 既然，由于，鉴于

11. genuinely [?d?enju?nli] adv. 真正地

12. reflect [r??flekt] vi. 沉思；深思

13. kill [k?l] vt. 毁掉

14. like no other： 特别的

15. snort [sn??t] vi. （表示恼怒、反对或不耐烦）哼鼻子，嗤之以鼻

16. publicity [p?b?l?s?ti] n. （媒体或公众的）关注

17. tease [ti?z] vt. 嘲笑；取笑；嘲弄

18. breakdown [?bre?kda?n] n. 神经衰弱；精神崩溃

19. relevancy [?rel?v?nsi] n. 相关性；实用性；意义