When I Wasn’t Perfect

by Alicia

翻譯：法比仔

When I Wasn’t Perfect

當我并不完美

by Alicia

翻譯：法比仔

At my primary school, I was one of the smartest kids there. I never studied, but always got near perfect scores on all my tests and1)quizzes. I was a child2)genius, at least in my mind. I was also a3)prodigy in music according to myself. I could4)carry a tune better than almost everyone else in my school. I was pretty sure that once I got to sixth grade， everyone including my teachers would be5)amazed by me.

But actually, they weren’t.

When I arrived at my new class, I was6)eager to show everyone what I could do. However, it seemed that there was always someone else who could do them better.7)Solos in singing were often8)awarded to other more talented girls. My grades began to suffer because I needed to actually be studying for my tests.I believed I wasn’t smart, I believed I wasn’t talented. I believed I was a failure.

Over the next two years， I had to work very hard for everything I did. Every prize in9)vocal10)achievements was given to me for days of hard work and effort. Grades were still very low but gradually11)improving. I worked really hard but was still never the best at everything.

But I don’t have to be. It didn’t12)occur to me until very recently, but I really don’t have to be the best at everything. All that pressure I was feeling, all that13)embarrassment when I did wrong, that was me! I was being too hard on myself. When I did badly on a test, my classmates would never laugh at me.

No one is perfect. There will probably always be someone better than me at something. Think about it, there are seven billion people in this world. I will never be the number one at everything, and that’s really okay.

讀小學時，我是學校里最聰明的孩子之一。我從不學習，卻總能在所有的測試中取得接近滿分的好成績。我是個天才兒童，至少在我心里是這樣認為的。同時，我覺得自己還是個音樂奇才。因為在學校里，我唱歌幾乎比所有人都要好聽。我當時非常肯定，一旦自己升上六年級，所有人都會為我的才能所折服，包括我的老師們。

而實際上，他們并沒有。

來到新班級后，我十分渴望能在所有人面前展示我的才能。然而，我能做到的事情似乎總有人能夠做得更好。獨唱機會常常會分給那些更有天賦的女生。我的成績開始下降，因為我確實需要為考試去學習了。我意識到我并不聰明，我并不是天才，我只是一個失敗者。

在接下來的兩年里，我做每一件事都需要十分努力。每一個在歌唱方面的獎項都是由我長時間的辛勤和努力換來的。我的分數依然很低，但正在逐步提高。我非常努力地學習，卻始終無法在所有事情上成為最出色的那個人。

但我根本不必這樣。直到最近我才意識到，我真的不必每件事都做得比別人好。無論我承受了多少壓力，無論我做錯事時感到多么尷尬，那都是我！我對自己太苛刻了。當我在考試中發揮不好時，我的同學也從不會嘲笑我。

人無完人，總是會有人在某些方面做得比我好。想一想，世界上大約有七十億人呢。我永遠不可能在每件事上都比別人做得好，而那真的沒關系。

1) quiz ［kwIz] n. 課堂測驗

2) genius ['d?i?nI?s] n. 天才

3) prodigy ['pr?dId?I] n. 神童，奇才

4) carry a tune 唱得準調子

5) amaze [?'meIz] v. 使驚奇，使吃驚

6) eager ['i?g?] adj. 熱切的，渴望的

7) solo ['s??l??] n. 獨唱

8) award to 授予

9) vocal ['v??k?l] adj. 歌唱的，聲音的

10) achievement [?'t?i?vm?nt] n. 成就，成績

11) improve [Im'pru?v] v. 改善，改良

12) occur to… 被……想到

13) embarrassment [Im'b?r?sm?nt] n. 難堪