在富人學校做窮學生是什么感受

During my first year of college, I went on a trip with a group of other classmates to New York City to network with alumni①alumni 英 [?'l?mna?] 美 [?'l?mna?]n. （統稱）校友，畢業生. At the end of the day, after spending hours going from one company to the next, several of the students talked about hanging out in the city for a while before getting dinner.

"It'll be so much fun,"they said. "You should totally come with us!"

I said I would be happy to tag along②tag along 緊跟；尾隨, and I followed the group onto a train headed towards another part of town.When we finally reached our stop and climbed out onto the street, I suddenly found myself surrounded by clothing stores and restaurants as far as the eye could see.

Feeling a pit in my stomach, I followed the group into a store they decided to enter at random③random 英 ['r?nd?m] 美 ['r?nd?m] adj. 隨機的；任意的, and walked idly around the interior④interior 英 [?n't???r??] 美 [?n't?r??] n. 內部；本質as I gazed at the golden lights,the shiny surfaces, the hard edges, and the beautiful clothes.

I saw a pretty jacket and checked the price tag. $530.

"That would look so cute on you!" One of the girls in the group, Melanie, was suddenly standing beside me, taking the jacket from the hanger and holding it up against my chest. "It totally goes with your hair color."

"I think I'm good, thanks."

"Are you sure? It's totally cute."

"Honestly, I'm okay." I paused, noticing the piles of clothes Melanie held clutched against her chest. "Did you find anything you like?"

"Oh my gosh, yes! It totally sucks living in a college town because there are, like,no clothing stores. I honestly try to come to NYC as much as possible just to shop."

I almost laughed, thinking she was joking, but when Melanie turned away to inspect a $1,000 dress hanging from the wall, I realized she was serious.

The other students in the group ended up spending thousands of dollars at the store, their purchases being folded⑤fold 英 [f??ld] 美 [fold] vt. 折疊；合攏；抱??；籠罩carefully and tucked away into colorful paper bags. It was only when they had finished that they decided to eat dinner at a place across the street.

In the nicest restaurant I had ever been to that year, I ordered the cheapest appetizer⑥appetizer 英 ['?p?ta?z?] 美 ['?p?'ta?z?] n. (正餐前的 )開胃品，開胃小吃；(正餐前)冷盤；小吃I could find, and sat in silence as the students around me reminisced⑦reminisce 英 [,rem?'n?s] 美 [,r?m?'n?s] vt. 追憶說 vi. 回憶about the private schools they had gone to,their most recent vacations to Europe.

When the dinner was over, a student suggested seeing a broadway play, and one of the guys pulled out his phone and told the group Cabaret was playing for only $250 a ticket.

"What a steal!" Melanie, wearing her brand-new jacket, cried. "We have to go!" She turned to look at me and gave me a big smile. "Do you want to come?"

I knew I wasn't going to be spending $250 for a show.

"I have a lot of homework," I said. "But thanks anyway."

Melanie shrugged, and after paying for our dinner, the group walked out of the restaurant into the chilly New York City air to head towards the show. I walked back to the hotel alone, and spent the night studying for my upcoming⑧upcoming 英 [?p'k?m??] 美 ['?pk?m??] adj. 即將來臨的Sociology exam.

When I had finished studying, I lay back in the starched sheets of the bed and wondered what it was like for those classmates of mine,who had grown up with the ability to spend thousands of dollars on clothing, to go on trips to big cities to see expensive shows and blow even more money on fancy restaurants and stores. Who went to summer camp, private schools, who lived in big houses with maids and housekeepers, who went on vacation to foreign countries, staying in beautiful hotels.

To be very honest, I find it fascinating to be surrounded by classmates who come from wealth like I have never experienced. I'm not embarrassed for being unable to afford the things some of my classmates buy dozens of through online shopping. I'm not embarrassed for growing up being told "no" again and again, because my family simply didn't have enough money.

I'm proud of who I am, and where I've come from. And that's enough for me.

在我大一的時候，我通過網絡聯系了校友，和他們一起去了紐約旅行。旅行臨近尾聲，在花了幾個小時參觀了一個又一個公司后，幾個同學提議在吃晚飯前逛一下這座城市。

“這一定會很有趣，”他們說，“一起來吧！”

我說我很樂意跟他們一起逛，然后我跟著他們上了火車，去往這座城市的另一個地方。當我們最后到達車站，上了大街時，我突然發現在目光所及之處，都是服裝店和餐館。

在我饑腸轆轆的時候，我跟著他們隨意進了一家商場，我一邊懶洋洋地走進室內，一邊被金色的燈光、閃耀的燈面、堅固的棱角和漂亮的衣服所深深吸引，移不開目光。

我看中了一件漂亮的夾克，看了看價格標簽。530美元。

“你穿那件夾克一定很好看！”同伴中一個叫梅蘭妮的女孩突然出現在我身旁，從衣架上拿下夾克，把它舉在我胸前?！八c你的發色很搭?！?/p>

“謝謝，我想它不適合我?！?/p>

“你確定？它真的很好看?！?/p>

“說真的，我覺得還好?！蔽彝ｎD了一下，注意到梅蘭妮把衣服在她身前對照?！澳阌姓业侥阆矚g的衣服嗎？”

“哦，是的！住在大學城簡直糟透了，因為根本沒有服裝店。我以后真想常來紐約的商店逛逛?！?/p>

我笑了笑，以為她是開玩笑的，但當梅蘭妮轉身去檢查墻上掛著的一件1000美元的衣服時，我才意識到她是認真的。

同游的其他同學最終在商場里花費了數千美元，他們買的衣物被小心翼翼地折疊起來，塞進了彩色紙袋里。當他們全部購物完后，他們才決定在街對面的一個地方吃晚飯。

那是我那年去過的所有餐館中最好的一家，我點了最便宜的小吃，然后靜靜地坐著，而我周圍的同學都在討論他們上過的私立學校，或是他們最近在歐洲度過的假期。

當晚餐結束時，一位同學提議去看百老匯的戲，接著就有一個小伙子掏出手機查了價格，發現卡巴萊歌舞表演只要250美元一張票。

“這票價簡直像偷來的一樣！”梅蘭妮穿著嶄新的夾克驚呼?！拔覀円欢ㄒ?，不能錯過了！”她轉過身看著我，向我投來一個大大的微笑?！澳阋黄饋韱?？”

我知道我不會為了看一場演出花250美元。

“我還有很多作業沒做，”我說，“但是不管怎樣很謝謝你們邀請我?！?/p>

梅蘭妮聳了聳肩，晚餐結賬后，他們離開了餐廳，走在寒冷的紐約街上，朝著百老匯的方向前去。而我獨自走回酒店，花了一個晚上復習即將迎來的社會學考試。

當我學習完，躺在漿洗過的床單上，想著那些同學的生活，那些有著優越的家境、有能力承擔數千美元的衣服開銷、去大城市旅行、看價格昂貴的演出和砸很多錢在高檔餐廳和商場的同學。那些參加夏令營、上私立學校，又或是住在有著女傭和管家的大房子里、去國外度假、住在漂亮的酒店里的同學們。

說實話，我覺得身邊圍繞著很多有著我從未經歷過的富裕生活的同學很有意思。盡管我的一些同學會通過網上購物買一堆這樣的東西，我不為自己買不起東西而感到尷尬。我也不因為我的家庭并不富裕，而一次又一次地拒絕別人的邀請而感到尷尬。

我為自己自豪，也為我的出生自豪。這就足夠了。