I grew up 3 hours outside of Pittsburgh,我在距離彼得堡3小時(shí)車(chē)程的地方長(zhǎng)大

with my mother and 3 younger siblings .與我母親，還有三個(gè)弟妹同住

My mom was a single mother我母親是一個(gè)單親媽媽

and worked a minimum wage job,干活只能掙到極少的錢(qián)

so we never had much,我們的生活一直捉襟見(jiàn)肘

but that was OK,可是沒(méi)有關(guān)系

we made ends meet anyhow.無(wú)論如何我們總算撐起了這個(gè)家

Freshman year of High School進(jìn)入高中的第一年

I got a job at a local bakery我在當(dāng)?shù)氐囊患液媾嗟觊_(kāi)始打工

and immediately started saving money for college.并且馬上開(kāi)始為我的大學(xué)學(xué)費(fèi)攢錢(qián)

I was accepted into the University of Pittsburgh后來(lái)我收到了圣彼得堡大學(xué)的錄取通知書(shū)

and received some academic scholarships that covered my tuition.還收到了一筆獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，足夠支付我的學(xué)費(fèi)

Room and board were not covered但是住宿和交通費(fèi)還是沒(méi)有著落

so I opted to pay for the meal plan but not the housing于是我決定把自己的錢(qián)花在吃飯上，但不能花在住宿上

because it was way too expensive for me.因?yàn)閷?duì)于我還說(shuō)，那太貴了

Whenever it was time to head out for college當(dāng)我準(zhǔn)備動(dòng)身去學(xué)校的時(shí)候

I scrapped all of the back row seating in my caravan(the old caravan seats were removable)我把家里的旅行拖車(chē)后排座椅的位置仔細(xì)摩擦光滑（原來(lái)的座椅都已經(jīng)被搬走了）

and I purchased a twin mattress還買(mǎi)了一張雙人床墊

and laid it on the floor of my van,鋪在車(chē)廂底上

I also saved enough money to have my windows tinted.我還攢錢(qián)把車(chē)窗噴上了新的顏色

I purchased a parking pass on campus,我出錢(qián)獲得了學(xué)校里的停車(chē)許可

chose a spot on the top level of the parking garage地方選定在停車(chē)車(chē)庫(kù)的第一層

and lived out of my van for the next 2 years.就在車(chē)子外面住了兩年的時(shí)間

Like I said, this was the best thing to ever happen to me,就像我說(shuō)夠的，這是我人生中最大的幸事

The weather in Pittsburgh was bad.彼得堡的天氣很糟糕

Super hot and humid in the summer time夏天酷熱又潮濕

and freezing cold and snowy in the winter time.冬季嚴(yán)寒，雪花飄飄

That being said,既是如此

being homeless forced me to take advantage of everything the campus had to offer我頭上又沒(méi)有半片瓦遮陰，我只能利用學(xué)校里提供的一切資源

since I wanted to spend as little time in my van as possible.因?yàn)槲蚁Ｍ约捍粼谲?chē)?yán)锏臅r(shí)間越少越好

I ended up spending most of my time throughout the week at the library結(jié)果，我一周中的大部分時(shí)間都是呆在圖書(shū)館

and consequentially ended up studying and reviewing classroom material a lot more than I would have最后，我學(xué)習(xí)和復(fù)習(xí)課堂所學(xué)的時(shí)間如此的長(zhǎng)

if I had the luxury of going home and turning on the TV or falling asleep for hours in my room.如果我能夠奢望回到家里，打開(kāi)電視，或者連續(xù)幾個(gè)小時(shí)在房間里睡覺(jué)，我學(xué)習(xí)的時(shí)間一定會(huì)短得多

I frequented my professors office hours. 我去給教授幫忙的時(shí)間也越來(lái)越多

I ended up getting really close to some of my professors最后我與許多教授建立了親密的師徒關(guān)系

because of this,正因?yàn)榇?/p>

and it really helped me excel in the classroom.我才能在全班同學(xué)中名列前茅

I attended a lot of social events,我參加了許多社會(huì)活動(dòng)

guest speakers, plays, charities, student life events around campus too還參加了許多客座演講，戲劇表演，慈善活動(dòng)，還有校園里的各種學(xué)生活動(dòng)

and this was really good for me這也對(duì)我十分有益

because I ended up meeting a lot of new friends by attending all these things.因?yàn)閰⒓舆@些活動(dòng)的過(guò)程中，我結(jié)交了許多的新朋友

Prior to college I would have considered myself and introvert ,上大學(xué)之前，我一直認(rèn)為自己性格內(nèi)向

I didn’t really speak much unless spoken to,不喜言談，除非別人向開(kāi)口找我說(shuō)話

but again not wanting to sit around in my van all day made me venture outside of my comfort zone可是，還是由于我不想整天坐在自己的拖車(chē)旁邊度日，我決定到自己的舒適區(qū)外面去探險(xiǎn)

and do new things去做沒(méi)做過(guò)的事情

and I really developed an outgoing personality because of it.這樣以來(lái)，我漸漸養(yǎng)成了十分開(kāi)朗的性格

Even after I moved out of the van即使是在我已經(jīng)搬出拖車(chē)之后

I continued to spend hours at the library,我還是會(huì)花時(shí)間逛圖書(shū)館

working out everyday,每天鍛煉

attending events,etc參加各種活動(dòng)

and I really think that having to deal with the struggles that I had to go through really made me into a better person.我著實(shí)認(rèn)為，經(jīng)歷那些我不得不經(jīng)歷的折磨，讓我成為了一個(gè)更好的人

Since then I got a really got job后來(lái)我得到了一份很好的工作

and have been helping my siblings prepare for life我還一直幫助弟弟妹妹們?yōu)樗麄兊娜松鰷?zhǔn)備

and I’ve even been able to help my mother out a little bit.我也能力所能及的幫助母親了

It just feels good :)這感覺(jué)真好！