In 1974, after filling out fifty applications, going through four interviews, and winning one offer, I look what I could get ---- a teaching job at what I considered a distant wild area; western New Jersey. My characteristic optimism was alive only when I reminded myself that I would be doing what I had wanted to do since I was fourteen---- teaching English.
1974年，在填写了50份申请，面试了四次后，我赢得了一份工作，我看了看我的工作——在我认为遥远的荒野地区新泽西州西部做一份教学工作。只有当我提醒自己，我要做我从14岁起就想做的事——教英语时，我才显得乐观一些。
School started, but I felt more and more as if I were in a foreign country. Was this rural area really New Jersey? My students have a week off when hunting season began. I was told they were also frequently absent in late October to help their fathers make hay on the farms. I was a young woman from New York City, who thought that”Make hay while the sun shines”just meant to have a good time.
学校开学了，但我越来越觉得自己身处异国他乡。这个农村地区真的是新泽西州吗？狩猎季节开始时，我的学生停课一周。有人告诉我，他们在10月下旬也经常缺席，帮助他们的父亲在农场晒干草。我是一位来自纽约市的年轻女性，我认为“趁着阳光晒干草”只是为了玩得开心。
But, still, I was teaching English. I worked hard, taking time off only to eat and sleep. And then there was my sixth-grade class ------seventeen boys and five girls who were only six years younger than me. I had a problem long before I know it. I was struggling in my work as a young idealistic teacher. I wanted to make literature come alive and to promote a love of the written word. The students wanted to throw spitballs and whisper dirty words in the back of the room.
但是，尽管如此，我还是在教英语。我努力工作，只为了吃饭和睡觉而休息。我六年级的班——十七个男孩和五个女孩，他们只比我小六岁。我早就意识到了一个问题。作为一名年轻的理想主义教师，我在工作中很挣扎。我想让文学变得鲜活，提升大家对写作的热爱。学生们想在教室后面扔纸团，低声说脏话。
In college I had been taught that a successful educator should ignore bad behavior. So I did, confident that, as the textbook had said, the bad behavior would disappear as I gave my students positive attention. It sounds reasonable, but the text evidently ignored the fact that humans, particularly teenagers, rarely seem reasonable. By the time my boss, who was also my taskmaster, known to be the strictest, most demanding, most quick to fire inexperienced teachers, came into the classroom to observe me, the students exhibited very little good behavior to praise.
在大学里，我被教导一个成功的教育者应该忽视不良行为。所以我照做了，我相信，正如教科书所说，当我给予学生积极的关注时，不良行为就会消失。这听起来很合理，但教科书显然忽略了这样一个事实，即人，尤其是青少年，很少显得合理。当我的领导，也是我的管理者，被认为是最严格、最苛刻、最容易解雇缺乏经验的老师，走进教室听我的课时，学生们几乎没有表现出值得赞扬的良好行为。
My boss sat in the back of the room. The boys in the class were making animal noises, hitting each other while the girls filed nails or read magazines. I just pretended it all wasn’t happening, and went on lecturing and tried to ask some inspiring questions. My boss, sitting in the back of the room, seemed to be growing bigger and bigger. After twenty minutes he left, silently. Visions of unemployment marched before my eyes.
我的领导坐在教室的后面。班上的男孩们发出动物的叫声，互相击打，而女孩们则在剪指甲或读杂志。我只是假装一切都没有发生，继续讲课，试图问一些鼓舞人心的问题。我的领导坐在教室的后面，似乎变得越来越大。二十分钟后，他默默地离开了。失业的前景在我眼前浮现。
I felt mildly victorious that I got through the rest of class without crying, but at my next free period I had to face him. I wondered if he would let me finish out the day. I walked to his office, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
我没有哭上完了剩下的课，我有些有点获胜的感觉，但在下一个空闲时间，我不得不面对我的领导。我想知道他是否会在让我滚蛋。我走到他的办公室，深吸了一口气，然后开了门。
He was sitting in his chair, and he looked at me long and hard. I said nothing. All I could think of was that I was not an English teacher; I had been lying to myself, pretending that everything was fine.
他坐在椅子上，使劲地看着我。我一言不发，我所能想到的就是我不再是一名英语老师；我一直在骗自己，假装一切安好。
When he spoke, he said simply, without accusation, “You had nothing to say to them.”
当他说话时，只是简单地说了句，没有指责，“你什么也不和他们说。”
“You had nothing to say to them.” he repeated, ”No wonder they’re bored. Why not get to the meal of the literature and stop talking about symbolism. Talk with them, not at them. And more important, why do you ignore their bad behavior?’” We talked. He named my problems and offered solutions. We role-played. He was the bad student, and I was the forceful, yet ,warm, teacher.
“你什么也不和他们说，”他重复道，“难怪他们会感到无聊。为什么不来一顿文学大餐，停止谈论象征主义呢？与他们交谈，而不是说教。更重要的是，你为什么忽视他们的不良行为？”我们交流了一下。他说出了我的问题并提出了解决方案。我们扮演了角色。他是个坏学生，而我是个有说服力而热情的老师。
As the year progressed, we spent many hours discussing literature and ideas about human beings and their motivations. He helped me identify my weakness and my strengths. In short, he made a teacher of me by teaching me the reality of Emerson’s words: "The secret to education lies in respecting the pupil.”
随着时间的推移，我们花了很多时间讨论有关人类的文学和思想以及它们的动机。他帮助我发现了自己的弱点和长处。简而言之，他教会了我爱默生话语的真实性，让我成为了一名老师：”教育的秘诀在于尊重学生。”
Fifteen years later I still drive that same winding road to the same school. Thanks to the help I received that difficult first year, the school is my home now.
十五年后，我仍然那条蜿蜒的路上开车去同一所学校。多亏了我在困难的第一年得到的帮助，学校现在成了我的家。
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