When I Wasn’t Perfect

by Alicia

翻译：法比仔

When I Wasn’t Perfect

当我并不完美

by Alicia

翻译：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.

读小学时，我是学校里最聪明的孩子之一。我从不学习，却总能在所有的测试中取得接近满分的好成绩。我是个天才儿童，至少在我心里是这样认为的。同时，我觉得自己还是个音乐奇才。因为在学校里，我唱歌几乎比所有人都要好听。我当时非常肯定，一旦自己升上六年级，所有人都会为我的才能所折服，包括我的老师们。

而实际上，他们并没有。

来到新班级后，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总有人能够做得更好。独唱机会常常会分给那些更有天赋的女生。我的成绩开始下降，因为我确实需要为考试去学习了。我意识到我并不聪明，我并不是天才，我只是一个失败者。

在接下来的两年里，我做每一件事都需要十分努力。每一个在歌唱方面的奖项都是由我长时间的辛勤和努力换来的。我的分数依然很低，但正在逐步提高。我非常努力地学习，却始终无法在所有事情上成为最出色的那个人。

但我根本不必这样。直到最近我才意识到，我真的不必每件事都做得比别人好。无论我承受了多少压力，无论我做错事时感到多么尴尬，那都是我！我对自己太苛刻了。当我在考试中发挥不好时，我的同学也从不会嘲笑我。

人无完人，总是会有人在某些方面做得比我好。想一想，世界上大约有七十亿人呢。我永远不可能在每件事上都比别人做得好，而那真的没关系。

1) quiz ［kwIz] n. 课堂测验

2) genius ['dʒiːnIəs] n. 天才

3) prodigy ['prɒdIdʒI] n. 神童，奇才

4) carry a tune 唱得准调子

5) amaze [ə'meIz] v. 使惊奇，使吃惊

6) eager ['iːgə] adj. 热切的，渴望的

7) solo ['səʊləʊ] n. 独唱

8) award to 授予

9) vocal ['vəʊkəl] adj. 歌唱的，声音的

10) achievement [ə'tʃiːvmənt] n. 成就，成绩

11) improve [Im'pruːv] v. 改善，改良

12) occur to… 被……想到

13) embarrassment [Im'bærəsmənt] n. 难堪