I grew up 3 hours outside of Pittsburgh,我在距離彼得堡3小時車程的地方長大

with my mother and 3 younger siblings .與我母親，還有三個弟妹同住

My mom was a single mother我母親是一個單親媽媽

and worked a minimum wage job,干活只能掙到極少的錢

so we never had much,我們的生活一直捉襟見肘

but that was OK,可是沒有關系

we made ends meet anyhow.無論如何我們總算撐起了這個家

Freshman year of High School進入高中的第一年

I got a job at a local bakery我在當地的一家烘培店開始打工

and immediately started saving money for college.并且馬上開始為我的大學學費攢錢

I was accepted into the University of Pittsburgh后來我收到了圣彼得堡大學的錄取通知書

and received some academic scholarships that covered my tuition.還收到了一筆獎學金，足夠支付我的學費

Room and board were not covered但是住宿和交通費還是沒有著落

so I opted to pay for the meal plan but not the housing于是我決定把自己的錢花在吃飯上，但不能花在住宿上

because it was way too expensive for me.因為對于我還說，那太貴了

Whenever it was time to head out for college當我準備動身去學校的時候

I scrapped all of the back row seating in my caravan(the old caravan seats were removable)我把家里的旅行拖車后排座椅的位置仔細摩擦光滑（原來的座椅都已經被搬走了）

and I purchased a twin mattress還買了一張雙人床墊

and laid it on the floor of my van,鋪在車廂底上

I also saved enough money to have my windows tinted.我還攢錢把車窗噴上了新的顏色

I purchased a parking pass on campus,我出錢獲得了學校里的停車許可

chose a spot on the top level of the parking garage地方選定在停車車庫的第一層

and lived out of my van for the next 2 years.就在車子外面住了兩年的時間

Like I said, this was the best thing to ever happen to me,就像我說夠的，這是我人生中最大的幸事

The weather in Pittsburgh was bad.彼得堡的天氣很糟糕

Super hot and humid in the summer time夏天酷熱又潮濕

and freezing cold and snowy in the winter time.冬季嚴寒，雪花飄飄

That being said,既是如此

being homeless forced me to take advantage of everything the campus had to offer我頭上又沒有半片瓦遮陰，我只能利用學校里提供的一切資源

since I wanted to spend as little time in my van as possible.因為我希望自己呆在車里的時間越少越好

I ended up spending most of my time throughout the week at the library結果，我一周中的大部分時間都是呆在圖書館

and consequentially ended up studying and reviewing classroom material a lot more than I would have最后，我學習和復習課堂所學的時間如此的長

if I had the luxury of going home and turning on the TV or falling asleep for hours in my room.如果我能夠奢望回到家里，打開電視，或者連續幾個小時在房間里睡覺，我學習的時間一定會短得多

I frequented my professors office hours. 我去給教授幫忙的時間也越來越多

I ended up getting really close to some of my professors最后我與許多教授建立了親密的師徒關系

because of this,正因為此

and it really helped me excel in the classroom.我才能在全班同學中名列前茅

I attended a lot of social events,我參加了許多社會活動

guest speakers, plays, charities, student life events around campus too還參加了許多客座演講，戲劇表演，慈善活動，還有校園里的各種學生活動

and this was really good for me這也對我十分有益

because I ended up meeting a lot of new friends by attending all these things.因為參加這些活動的過程中，我結交了許多的新朋友

Prior to college I would have considered myself and introvert ,上大學之前，我一直認為自己性格內向

I didn’t really speak much unless spoken to,不喜言談，除非別人向開口找我說話

but again not wanting to sit around in my van all day made me venture outside of my comfort zone可是，還是由于我不想整天坐在自己的拖車旁邊度日，我決定到自己的舒適區外面去探險

and do new things去做沒做過的事情

and I really developed an outgoing personality because of it.這樣以來，我漸漸養成了十分開朗的性格

Even after I moved out of the van即使是在我已經搬出拖車之后

I continued to spend hours at the library,我還是會花時間逛圖書館

working out everyday,每天鍛煉

attending events,etc參加各種活動

and I really think that having to deal with the struggles that I had to go through really made me into a better person.我著實認為，經歷那些我不得不經歷的折磨，讓我成為了一個更好的人

Since then I got a really got job后來我得到了一份很好的工作

and have been helping my siblings prepare for life我還一直幫助弟弟妹妹們為他們的人生做準備

and I’ve even been able to help my mother out a little bit.我也能力所能及的幫助母親了

It just feels good :)這感覺真好！