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I attended a big public school in Miami—think Fast Times at Ridgemont High
那时，我在迈阿密一所很大的公立学校上学——请联想一下电影《开放的美国学府》。
that was far more concerned with preventing fights in the halls and keeping drugs out of the bathrooms than with academics.
比起学习成绩来，这所学校更关心如何防止学生在校内打架、在厕所里吸毒。
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.
当我被哈佛大学录取时，很多同学都问我为什么要去一所盛产书呆子的学校，
Then they would stop short, remember who they were talking to,
接着，他们会突然停住，意识到我也是个“书呆子”，
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开——他们已经知道答案了。
Freshman year of college was a huge shock for me.
大学头一年的生活对我来说是个巨大的挑战。
First semester, I took a course called The Concept of the Hero in Hellenic Civilization, which was nicknamed Heroes for Zeroes.
第一个学期，我上了一门叫作“希腊文明中的英雄”的课程，学生戏称这门课为“狗熊见英雄”。
I didn't have a burning desire to study Greek mythology, but it was the easiest way to fulfill the literature requirement.
我对研究希腊神话并没有多大热情，但学习这门课是应付文学课最简单的方式。
The professor began the first lecture by asking which students had read these books before.
教授在第一堂课就问我们，以前读过这些“书”里的哪一本。
I whispered to my friend next to me, "What books?"
我低声问身边的朋友：“什么书？”
"The Iliad and The Odyssey, of course," she replied.
“当然是《伊利亚特》和《奥德赛》。”她回答。
Almost every single hand went up. Not mine.
几乎每个人的手都举了起来，除了我。
The professor then asked, "And who has read these books in the original?"
教授又问：“谁读过这些书的原著？”
"What original?" I asked my friend. "Homeric Greek," she replied.
“什么原著？”我问朋友。“希腊文原著。”她答道。
A good third of the class kept their hands up.
有三分之一的人还举着手。
It seemed pretty clear that I was one of the zeroes.
显然，我就是传说中的“狗熊”之一。
A few weeks later, my professor of political philosophy assigned a five-page paper.
几周后，我的政治哲学课教授布置了长达5页的论文。
I was panicked. Five whole pages!
这让我惊慌失措。整整5页！
I had only written one paper of that length in high school, and it was a year-long project.
我只在高中写过一篇那么长的论文，而且那还是花了一年时间的大工程。
How could anyone write five pages in just one week?
谁能在一周之内写出5页来？
