佚名/Anonymous
I will never forget one day in my first year in high school. I was sitting on the stairs descending into the basement, putting my head in my hands and crying out in despair to my parents that I would never be able to save enough money for college. My parents tried to console me, but it seemed impossible to save $64, 268, the cost for the private restitution that I desperately wanted to attend.
Now let me tell you the amazing story of how I earned this sum of money.
It all began with a paper route in Ankeny, IA. I hated delivering that route, but was determined to stick it out for six months until my family moved to Wausau, WI. With a few meager dollars from my paper route, a small nest egg began to develop. My next job was with an athletic company as a telephone customer service representative. The savings account continued to grow very slowly. Then, the fall of my junior year of high school, I began to waitress at Denny's restaurant. It was a hard work, but the money began to roll in and this job paid at least twice as much money per hour.
By the time my senior year arrived, I had saved a considerable amount of money. This was encouraging, but I knew that I would also need some help, so began the process of applying for scholarships. Sometimes it was discouraging because I was rejected again and again. Then, my first scholarship offer came in, $2, 000 a year to play tennis. This is only a small dent at a school that costs approximately $14, 000 a year, but it was a start. Several other academic scholarships also came my way and soon I was up to have $9,050 in scholarships. Between scholarships and savings, I had enough money for my first year!
Another interesting development emerged. I began testing out of classes. Running anxiously to the mailbox in anticipation of my test scores became part of my daily routine. Excitement mounted as test result saved me approximately $1,000 in tuition and then enabled me to graduate a year early. This would save room and board expenses as well.
Finally, I was off to college. Because of careful saving, I did not have to work during the school year. Then, summer hit and it was time to work harder than ever. I continued working as a waitress at night, instructed tennis camps several mornings a week and worked as a secretary for a few hours in the afternoons. Being a little overzealous, I decided to also take a class at a community college. This class at the community college saved me $650, it was an exhausting summer and made me anxious to return to my relatively easy life at college.
During my second and third years of undergraduate schooling, I decided to work about five hours per week in the campus admissions office answering phones. This provided a little spending money and kept me from draining my savings. The overall situation looked hopeful as I approached my senior year as long as I could make as much money as I had the previous summer. That is when I decided to go to Israel to study for 3 weeks. I hesitated in making this decision and had just about decided not to go because it would cost me $1,600 more to get the credits in Israel.
About two weeks later my Mom called to tell me that I had $1,600 in the bank that I had forgotten about! One of my concerns about this trip was not only the cost, but the loss of time to make money; however, I made as much that summer in the ten weeks that I was home as I had made during the fourteen weeks that I was home the summer before. The way everything worked together to make this trip feasible was one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to me.
Finally, my senior year of college was upon me and to keep things interesting, I decided to buy a car. I obviously did not have a lot of money to spend for a car. I searched many newspaper ads and I was ecstatic to find one for only $4, 200.
Then, I also attended an 8-week course on marriage and family in Colorado. This was an incredible experience that taught me a great deal about my worldview and how to develop a healthy family. This experience was also very costly, $4,000. I was surprised to find that I had graduated with no debt and so many remarkable journeys along the way.
This experience has shaped me in many important ways. The first thing that I learned was the importance of a strong work ethics. Working long hours did a lot to mold my character and helped me learn the value of a dollar. It also made me learn how to craft creative solutions to difficult dilemmas.
我永远也不会忘记高中一年级时发生的一件事。一天，我两手抱头坐在通往地下室的楼梯上，绝望地哭着对父母说，我永远也没有办法攒够读大学的费用了，我很想申请一所私立大学，学费是64268美元。父母试着安慰我，但是我似乎不可能攒够这笔钱。
我赚这笔钱的过程令人惊奇，下面让我讲给大家听。
整个故事是从在艾奥瓦州安可尼市送报纸开始的。这份工作，我坚持了六个月，尽管我很厌恶那条送报纸的路线，但还是决心干下去，直到我家搬到威斯康星州的沃索市。每次送报纸赚的几块钱，让我的存款逐渐多了起来。体育用品公司的电话客户服务代理，是我的第二份工作，然而存折上存款的数目增长得仍然很慢。后来，在高二那一年的秋天，我在丹尼斯餐馆当女侍者，每小时的薪水比先前的多出至少一倍，虽然很辛苦，却能赚到很多钱。
高三的时候，我的存款数目已经相当可观了，这让我十分振奋。但我知道，自己仍然需要一些钱来为自己支付学费。于是，我开始申请奖学金，然而，我一次又一次地遭到拒绝，这让我很气馁。终于，我获得了一笔一年2000美元的资助，条件是我为学校打网球，这是我的第一笔奖学金，也是一个良好的开端，尽管相对于一年14000美元的学费来说，这真是太少了。之后，我又获得了几项学科奖学金，总额高达9050美元。我已有的存款加上这些奖学金，终于可以支付第一学年的学费了。
之后，生活中出现了很有意思的事情。我开始参加课外考试，每天都想知道考试成绩，每天都怀着焦虑的心情查收邮件，这成了我平时工作的一部分。我的兴奋与日俱增，因为我考试成绩优异，学费大概省下了1000美元，并且得以提前一年毕业，伙食费和住宿费也就可以节省下来了。
最终，我进入大学读书了。第一学年，我不用去打工了，这都得益于我平时的细心节约。放暑假时，我不得不比以前更加努力地工作，每周几个上午当网球夏令营教练，下午做几个小时的秘书，晚上继续当餐馆女服务生。作为一个对事情有着过分热情的人，我决定在公立大学选修一门课程，这能为我节省650美元。我迫切期望回到相对轻松的大学生活中，因为这个暑假过得太累了。
大二、大三的时候，我决定去学校的招生办公室做接听电话的工作，每周有五个小时的工作时间。有了这份工作，我就可以给自己挣点儿零花钱，不必把积蓄都花光了。如果大三暑假我能够赚到上一个暑假那么多的钱，生活就会充满希望。这时，我想去以色列学习三个星期，由于要多花1600美元来修学分，对于去还是不去，我踌躇不定，最后还是决定放弃。
大概两周之后，妈妈打电话告诉我，我的银行存款还有1600美元，我已经忘记了这件事！关于去以色列学习的事情，我有两个方面的顾虑，一方面是学习费用，另一方面就是没有时间打工赚钱了。然而，在那个暑假中，我用10周的时间赚到了上个暑假14周赚到的钱数。各种事情凑到一起促成了我的以色列之行，这真是一件令人激动的事情。
终于读大四了，我决定买一部车，因为我想让生活变得更加有趣。显然，我没有太多钱买车，我看了许多报纸广告，终于找到一辆只需花4200美元就可以买到的车，这让我欣喜若狂。
此后，我又在科罗拉多州学习了8周，那是一门关于婚姻和家庭的课程。我学到了许多关于世界观的知识，并且学会了如何组建一个健康的家庭。这个价格不菲的课程花了我4000美元，然而，这次的学习经历让人难以置信。大学毕业的时候，我发现自己非但没有负债，还有了那么多不平凡的经历，这让我感到惊喜。
这些经历在许多方面给了我巨大影响。首先，我懂得了具有坚定的敬业精神是很重要的。每次的长时间工作，对我性格的形成起到了很大作用，并且让我体会到了每一美元的价值。此外，它还使我学会了用有创意的解决办法去面对困境。
心灵小语
生活的真正乐趣是享受旅行的过程，而梦想就是终点，明确的目标和坚定的信念会一直牵引你前行，直至走向成功。文中的主人公通过不懈的努力，实现了自己开始认为不可能实现的愿望，并在达到愿望的同时收获了许多人生的道理。
词汇笔记
meager ['mi:g?] adj.贫乏的
He lives on the meager income from her writing.
他仅靠写作那点儿微薄的收入生活。
considerable [k?n'sid?r?bl] adj.相当大的；相当多的；可观的
It's really a considerable income.
这是一笔相当可观的收入。
drain [drein] v.喝光；耗尽
He drained his mother of every cent she had.
他花光了他母亲的每一分钱。
craft [ kr?ft] v.精巧地制作
These are the scale models he has crafted.
这些是他精制的标尺模型。
小试身手
每次送报纸赚的几块钱，让我的存款逐渐多了起来。
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这是我的第一笔奖学金，也是一个良好的开端，尽管相对于一年14000美元的学费来说，这真是太少了。
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之后，生活中出现了很有意思的事情。
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短语家族
...the money began to roll in and this job paid at least twice as much money per hour.
roll in：纷至沓来；滚滚而来
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...so began the process of applying for scholarships.
apply for：申请
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