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I attended a big public school in Miami—think Fast Times at Ridgemont High
那時，我在邁阿密一所很大的公立學校上學——請聯想一下電影《開放的美國學府》。
that was far more concerned with preventing fights in the halls and keeping drugs out of the bathrooms than with academics.
比起學習成績來，這所學校更關心如何防止學生在校內打架、在廁所里吸毒。
When I was accepted into Harvard, many of my high school classmates asked me why I would want to go to a school filled with geeks.
當我被哈佛大學錄取時，很多同學都問我為什么要去一所盛產書呆子的學校，
Then they would stop short, remember who they were talking to,
接著，他們會突然停住，意識到我也是個“書呆子”，
and sheepishly walk away without waiting for an answer, realizing they already had it.
然后不等我回答就窘迫地走開——他們已經知道答案了。
Freshman year of college was a huge shock for me.
大學頭一年的生活對我來說是個巨大的挑戰。
First semester, I took a course called The Concept of the Hero in Hellenic Civilization, which was nicknamed Heroes for Zeroes.
第一個學期，我上了一門叫作“希臘文明中的英雄”的課程，學生戲稱這門課為“狗熊見英雄”。
I didn't have a burning desire to study Greek mythology, but it was the easiest way to fulfill the literature requirement.
我對研究希臘神話并沒有多大熱情，但學習這門課是應付文學課最簡單的方式。
The professor began the first lecture by asking which students had read these books before.
教授在第一堂課就問我們，以前讀過這些“書”里的哪一本。
I whispered to my friend next to me, "What books?"
我低聲問身邊的朋友：“什么書？”
"The Iliad and The Odyssey, of course," she replied.
“當然是《伊利亞特》和《奧德賽》。”她回答。
Almost every single hand went up. Not mine.
幾乎每個人的手都舉了起來，除了我。
The professor then asked, "And who has read these books in the original?"
教授又問：“誰讀過這些書的原著？”
"What original?" I asked my friend. "Homeric Greek," she replied.
“什么原著？”我問朋友。“希臘文原著。”她答道。
A good third of the class kept their hands up.
有三分之一的人還舉著手。
It seemed pretty clear that I was one of the zeroes.
顯然，我就是傳說中的“狗熊”之一。
A few weeks later, my professor of political philosophy assigned a five-page paper.
幾周后，我的政治哲學課教授布置了長達5頁的論文。
I was panicked. Five whole pages!
這讓我驚慌失措。整整5頁！
I had only written one paper of that length in high school, and it was a year-long project.
我只在高中寫過一篇那么長的論文，而且那還是花了一年時間的大工程。
How could anyone write five pages in just one week?
誰能在一周之內寫出5頁來？
