评论
打印
It would have been a success story if Fullerton High School senior Fernando Rojas, the son of Mexican immigrants whose schooling stopped in the eighth grade, was accepted to college. But the 17-year-old achieved a surprising clean sweep — he was accepted to every Ivy League school。
这真的是一个相当励志的故事。富勒顿高中毕业班学生费尔南多·罗贾斯成功被大学录取，他的父母是墨西哥移民，教育水平只有八年级。而他们的儿子，这个十七岁少年，赢得了令人惊讶的“大满贯”——八所常春藤高校都抛来橄榄枝。
"I didn't think I would get into any," Rojas told The Orange County Register on Saturday. "When I got all eight, it was a blessing and a curse because I had to choose. I was excited and scared and everything at the same time."
罗贾斯在接受橘郡记事报采访时说：“我本以为一所学校都去不了。这八封录取通知书，既是幸事也是不幸，因为我不得不从中作出选择。我很兴奋也很恐惧，一切都在同一个时刻发生。”
The first call came from Yale University in February. Within weeks calls, emails and letters followed from Dartmouth College, Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Columbia University, Harvard University and Princeton University。
二月，罗贾斯收到第一封来自耶鲁大学的录取通知书。几周内，录取通知书、邮件、信件接踵而至，分别来自达特茅斯大学、布朗大学、宾夕法尼亚大学、康奈尔大学、哥伦比亚大学、哈佛大学和普林斯顿大学。
Rojas also was accepted by Stanford University and two nearby schools, the University of California, Irvine, and California State University, Fullerton。
罗贾斯还收到了来自斯坦福大学以及附近两所学校的邀请，分别是加州大学欧文分校和富勒顿的加州州立大学。
He is one of four children of Raul Rojas, 59, and wife, Maria, 56, who moved to Fullerton from Jalisco, Mexico, in the early 1980s. Raul is a machine operator, and Maria is a seamstress。
59岁的劳尔·罗贾斯和56岁的妻子玛利亚一共有四个孩子，他们在二十世纪八十年代初从墨西哥的哈利斯科搬至富勒顿。劳尔是机床工人，玛利亚是名女裁缝。
A national speech and debate champion, Rojas reasoned that if he applied to the eight Ivy League schools, he might get into one。
罗贾斯认为，作为全国辩论赛冠军，如果他申请常春藤高校，应该能进入其中一所。
Sal Tinajero, Rojas' speech and debate coach at Fullerton, told the newspaper that Rojas is a tenacious self-starter who thrives on competition. "His biggest motivation was his parents to know that their hard work meant something," Tinajero said。
罗贾斯的辩论指导老师帝那杰罗表示，罗贾斯顽强坚韧，主动积极，在竞争中快速成长。“他最大的动力就是想让他的父母看到他们的辛苦付出是有回报的。”
After visiting several campuses, he settled on Yale, which costs $64,000 a year with room and board. He is responsible for $6,000; Yale scholarships and federal grant money cover the rest。
在参观了几所大学后，罗贾斯选择了耶鲁大学。连带住宿在内一年6.4万美元，罗贾斯支付6千美元，耶鲁奖学金和联邦津贴承担其余费用。
"I loved Princeton," Rojas said. "It was a beautiful campus, but it felt very stressful. Stanford was too big and overwhelming."
“我喜欢普林斯顿，”罗贾斯说，“校园非常美丽，但是感觉很压抑。斯坦福很大很壮观。”
"The (incoming) Yale kids were a little bit more enthused to get started and get going," Rojas added。
“耶鲁的同学都很热情，从那里开始另一段人生应该很不错”，罗贾斯补充道。
With Fernando Rojas translating, his mother said she didn't initially realize the magnitude of her son's accomplishment. But once the media outlets started calling, she knew it was a big deal。
借助于罗贾斯的翻译，他的妈妈说她起初没有意识到自己的儿子这么出色。媒体采访纷至沓来，让她意识到这件事非比寻常。
Rojas attributes his academic success to hard work and the guidance of his older siblings. "I went into high school knowing what I was supposed to do," he said。
罗贾斯说他的成功得益于自己的努力，以及哥哥们的指导。“我进入高中就已经知道应该怎么做了。”
He'll mostly take it easy during the summer before heading to Yale in late August. He's considering majoring in Latin American studies and perhaps a career as a lawyer or in international affairs。
在进入耶鲁前，罗贾斯想要过一个轻松愉快的夏天。他考虑主修拉美研究，之后成为国际事务方面的律师。
