U6 B
Earn as you learn?
勤工助学?
As the cost of attending university has soared over the last two decades, a frank and vigorous debate is emerging over who should pay for the cost of higher education. While in some countries students have always been expected to absorb part or even all of their tuition costs through work or borrowing, in other countries the tremendous cost of attending university has been provided by the relevant education authority or by parents. I am proud to be in the small minority of students who "earn as they learn" and absorb the cost of their own university education in spite of the many obstacles.
随着近20 年上大学费用的急剧攀升，高等教育费用应该由谁支付的问题引发了坦诚而激烈的争论。在有些国家，人们总是希望学生通过打工或贷款来承担部分或全部的学费，而在另一些国家，上大学的大笔费用一直由有关教育部门或者父母提供。我是少数派学生中的一员，通过“勤工助学”、克服种种困难去承担自己的学费，我为此而感到自豪。
As for the remaining majority, I ask myself, "Is it me, or are students these days just lazy?" Collectively, they claim that they have no capacity to pay for college. I think it's more a matter of them simply not wanting to pay or contribute. During college I consistently endured comments from peers with scholarships and loans, and peers who had new cars and expensive apartments, who would ask me, eyes bulging, "You mean your parents didn't help you at all?" "How did you pay for tuition?" My response was simple: "I worked." They would look at me blankly, as though I had told them I'd gone to the moon.
至于其他大多数人，我问自己：“是我情况特殊，还是现在的学生就是懒惰呢？”大家都说自己没有支付大学学费的能力。我认为倒不如说是他们不想自己出钱或不愿分担学费。在大学时，我一直忍受着其他同学的评论。他们拿着奖学金和助学贷款，或者开着崭新的汽车、住着昂贵的公寓。他们会瞪大眼睛问我：“你是说你的父母一点资助都不给你吗？”“那你怎么付学费啊？”我的回答很简单：“我打工。”然后他们就会一脸不解地看着我，仿佛我告诉他们我去过月球一样。
As an undergraduate student, I worked for two solid years as a day care provider earning minimum wage. Then I paid for the rest of my education by helping deaf children and working as a tutor in a private school.
读本科时，我做了整整两年的日托保育员，拿的是最低工资。后来，我还照顾过失聪儿童，也当过私人学校的助教，以此支付我其余的学费。
Looking back, I'm not sure how I managed to cover all the costs of my education. But I did. And I bought every single textbook and pencil myself too.
回顾过去，我都不清楚我是怎么设法付清了我所有的学费的。但是，我做到了。而且，每一本课本、每一支铅笔也都是我自己花钱买的。
Sometimes, I did feel a little sorry for myself, especially when I compared myself to wealthy students. I once asked another student if she worked. "Oh, no!" she said, startled, "I go to school full-time." She was taking only 13 credit hours, and yet was "too busy" to work. She went on to explain that her parents paid for everything and provided her with every necessity, and many luxuries too!