More than a Scholarship 不只是一筆獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金
More than a Scholarship 不只是一筆獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金
◎ Stephanie Bullock
You may have heard of Osceola McCarty. She’s the 88-year-old woman in Mississippi who had worked for over 75 years as a washer woman. One day after she retired, she went to the bank and discovered, to her great surprise, that her meager monthly savings had grown to over $150 000. Then to everyone’s great surprise, she turned around and donated $150 000——almost all of those savings——to the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) for a scholarship fund for African-American students with financial needs. She made national headlines.
你也許聽說過奧西奧拉·麥卡蒂。她是密西西比州一位88歲高齡的婦女，曾做了75年的洗衣工。退休后的一天，她去了銀行，讓她大為吃驚的是，她發(fā)現(xiàn)自己每個(gè)月微薄的存款已經(jīng)超過了15萬美元。而更令人驚奇的是，她轉(zhuǎn)身就把幾乎全部的積蓄——15萬美元作為獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金捐給了南密西西比大學(xué)，以幫助經(jīng)濟(jì)困難的非裔美國學(xué)生。于是，她成了全國矚目的頭條新聞人物。
What you have not heard is how Osceola’s gift had affected my life. I am 19 years old and the first recipient of an Osceola McCarty Scholarship.
而奧西奧拉的禮物如何影響了我的一生，這是你們從未聽說過的。我今年19歲，是第一位獲得奧西奧拉·麥卡蒂獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金的學(xué)生。
I was a dedicated student, and I had my heart set on going to USM. But I missed being eligible for a regular scholarship by one point on the entrance exams, and a scholarship was the only way I could attend.
我是個(gè)很用功也很執(zhí)著的學(xué)生，我最大的心愿就是去南密西西比大學(xué)讀書。獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金是我上學(xué)的唯一途徑，但是在入學(xué)考試中，我因一分之差與獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金失之交臂。
One Sunday, I came across the story in the paper about Osceola McCarty and her generous gift. I showed my mother the article, and we both agreed it was a great thing to have done.
一個(gè)星期天，我偶然在報(bào)紙上看到了有關(guān)奧西奧拉·麥卡蒂和她慷慨捐贈(zèng)的報(bào)道。我拿給媽媽看，我們一致認(rèn)為這是一個(gè)偉大的壯舉。
The next day I went to the financial aid office, and they told me there was still no money available for me, but if anything came up they’d call. A few days later, as I was running out the door to catch a ride with my mother to work, the phone rang. I stopped to pick it up, and while I heard my mother honking the horn for me to hurry up, they told me I had been chosen to receive the first Osceola McCarty Scholarship. I was ecstatic! I ran out as fast as I could to tell my mother. She had to call the office again herself to make sure it was true.
第二天，我去了他們的財(cái)政資助辦公室。他們告訴我說，仍然沒有能幫助我的資金，但如果有任何情況，他們會(huì)隨時(shí)電話通知我。幾天后，我正匆忙出門，準(zhǔn)備搭媽媽的車去工作時(shí)，電話鈴響了。我停下來接電話，聽到他們說我被選為奧西奧拉·麥卡蒂獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金的首位獲得者，而此時(shí)媽媽還在不停地按喇叭催我。我感到萬分驚喜！我飛快地沖出去，把這個(gè)好消息告訴了媽媽。她為了確認(rèn)此事，又親自給辦公室打了個(gè)電話。
I first met Osceola at a press conference——meeting her was like finding family. Osceola never married or had children, so my family has since become her family. My grandma and she talk on the phone regularly and do errands together, and she joins us for family functions.
我第一次見到奧西奧拉，是在一次新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上，當(dāng)時(shí)我看到她就仿佛見到了親人。奧西奧拉從未結(jié)過婚，也沒有孩子，所以我家就成了她的家。我奶奶經(jīng)常和她打電話聊天，一起做事，她也常來參加我們的家庭活動(dòng)。
Once we got round to talking about ice cream. We found out Osceola hadn’t had much experience with ice cream, so we all packed into the car and went to the Dairy Queen, where we ordered Osceola her first banana split! She has ice cream a lot now.
有一次，我們?cè)谝黄鹆牡搅吮苛?。我們發(fā)現(xiàn)奧西奧拉沒吃過多少冰淇淋，于是大家全都擠進(jìn)車?yán)?，去了“戴瑞皇后”，為她點(diǎn)了她從未吃過的香蕉圣代！如今她已經(jīng)吃過很多種口味的冰淇淋了。
Osceola worked hard her whole life——from early in the morning to sunset——washing clothes by hand. I used to drive right by her house every day on my way to school. Of course, at the time I didn’t know it was her house, but I did notice how well kept the lawn was and how everything was clean and neat. Recently I asked her why I never saw her once in all that time, and she answered, “I guess I was out in back, washing clothes.”
奧西奧拉一輩子都很努力——從早到晚都在忙著洗衣服。我以前開車去學(xué)校時(shí)，正好經(jīng)過她的家。當(dāng)然，當(dāng)時(shí)我不知道那是她的房子，但我注意到她家的草坪保養(yǎng)得很好，而且處處都干凈整潔。就在最近，我問她為何那段時(shí)間里從未見過她一次，她回答說：“我猜我一定在后院洗衣服。”
Now that Osceola’s retired, she sits most of the day and reads the Bible. That is, when she’s not getting rewards. Every time I go visit, she has a new award. She’s even gone to the White House. She is so happy and proud, though not at all conceited. We had to talk her into getting a VCR so she could tape the programs and see herself on TV——she just sits and smiles.
現(xiàn)在奧西奧拉已經(jīng)退休了。除了去領(lǐng)獎(jiǎng)，一天的大部分時(shí)間她都坐在家里讀《圣經(jīng)》。每次我去看她，她都會(huì)領(lǐng)一個(gè)新獎(jiǎng)。她甚至還去過白宮。她如此開心、自豪，卻從不傲慢清高。我們就說服她去買一臺(tái)攝像機(jī)，這樣她就能把節(jié)目錄下來，在電視上看到她自己——而她只是面帶微笑地坐著。
Osceola gave me much more than a scholarship. She taught me about the gift of giving. Now I know there are good people in the world who do good things. She worked her whole life and gave to others, and in turn she has inspired me to give back when I can. Eventually I plan to add to her scholarship fund.
奧西奧拉給予我的遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過了一筆獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金。從她那里，我學(xué)到了付出的可貴。現(xiàn)在，我知道世界上有很多做好事的好人。她一生都在努力，最終卻將一切奉獻(xiàn)給了他人，也鼓勵(lì)我在有能力時(shí)就要懂得回報(bào)。最后，我決定為她的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金基金增添資金。
I want to give Osceola the family she’s always wanted, so I’ve adopted her as another grandma. She even calls me her granddaughter. And when I graduate from USM, she’ll be sitting in the audience between my mother and my grandmother——right where she belongs.
我想給奧西奧拉一個(gè)她夢(mèng)寐以求的家，所以我認(rèn)她做我的另一位祖母。她甚至也叫我孫女兒。當(dāng)我大學(xué)畢業(yè)的時(shí)候，她會(huì)作為來賓，坐在我母親和奶奶之間——那是本就屬于她的位置。
