你是否有過類似經歷：自己身邊的同學朋友在才藝展示的時候都能大顯身手，琴棋書畫信手拈來，運動場上也各顯其能，各個英姿颯爽；而你卻從頭到尾負責鼓掌，混個最佳觀眾獎。想想自己從前是不是也培養了好多興趣愛好，但都淺嘗輒止了呢？那就讀讀下面這篇文章吧，一個華裔的美國女孩用自己的親身經歷告訴你，選擇一條路並堅持走下去你將看到什麼樣的風景；而半途而廢你又將會有怎樣的心境？
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By Sophie Zhang 趙陽 注
All through my childhood, I was very good at sports. My dad and I used to play soccer with an inflatable Barbie beach ball in the basement, using pillars as goal marks. I was that girl who used to tear down the field with the ball, screaming at all of those who were just standing around. I remember going to soccer camp with my good friend Victoria, who was skinny and much more feminine than I was, and later tattling on her for not moving around as much as I thought she should. In elementary school, I was on the swim team. I was the fastest at breaststroke, and would have gotten first place had my competitor’s mother not messed me up (I still resent her till this day). The only thing that stopped me from completely dominating was my fear of diving. I could not and would not dive into the water. I dreaded going to swim practice because of those few minutes at the end when we would have to dive. If I was forced to get up on the diving stand, I would cannonball in the water. Most times, I would still beat the other girls. But the coaches always pointed out how much more I could win by if I only just dived in. I was ecstatic when we moved away from China and I was allowed to quit the swim team.
When we moved to America, my school didn’t have a swim team. Basketball, volleyball, and track were pretty much my only options available. I had been known as a fast runner when I was younger – in fifth grade, my nickname was Speed due to the fact that I always beat the other girls in 「race ya to the fence」 competitions – and I went out for track. I made the track team and was fast enough to be selected for the 200m x 4 relay. I was excited and proud that I was able to compete with a bunch of tall, long-legged American girls and make the spot . Unfortunately, because I had piano lessons every Monday and had to miss practice once a week, I was unable to defend my spot in the relay and some other girl took it. Track slowly floated away from me as I continued to miss practice to attend my piano lessons.
Gradually, the image of 「sportswoman」 no longer resembled me. I was that Asian girl who was smart and sometimes funny, but never athletic. I began to dread gym class, even though it had been one of my favorite classes when I was younger. I hated team sports. As I grew older, I even started making jokes about how horrible I was at sports. It was my sad reality. In ninth grade, I tried to rekindle my love of soccer by trying out for the team. I made the junior varsity team, but felt uncomfortable and unhappy the entire time. The other girls, who were a year above me, were all considered to be the 「mean」 girls of our school, and rarely interacted with me. Even though I was the worst one on the team, the coach continually started me and rarely benched me, which, would have been a prize to most players, but was a punishment for me. Eventually, an injury allowed me to quit the team. I didn’t admit it to anyone, but I was secretly elated that I no longer had to stay after school until 6pm with girls who ignored me and spend my Saturdays on a field, running drills and trying to avoid being yelled at by my coach while on the field. To this day, I’m still not quite sure why he insisted on putting me in the center of the field every single time. Maybe I wasn’t as bad as I thought – or maybe he saw something in me that I didn’t.
When I stopped playing sports, I started gaining weight. On top of that, I had stopped growing taller as well. My body was short and stout and I hated it. Because I was so horrible at sports, I had no real way to keep fit. The summer before my senior year of high school, after a fit of tears and anger, I decided to start running again. Not sprinting or short-distance running like I had done on the track team, but real running. That summer, I lost about twenty pounds and I felt great. Since then, I』ve gained some weight back (thanks to college), but at least I have a way out .
But this story isn’t about my weight-loss transformation. It’s about the importance of playing sports. Even though I don’t play sports anymore, I still watch them on television. I love the NBA. I love watching basketball and seeing these men jump dizzyingly high heights to gracefully sink the ball into the tiny basket. Watching them makes me want to play, but I know I can’t.
Play a sport and stick with it, no matter how bad you think you are. Sticking with something even if you don’t think you’re very good at it is just a lesson of endurance that comes with learning a sport. I never kept up that endurance. I let small things, like mean girls and diving boards, get in my way of achieving great potential that everyone knew I had. I sometimes look at my classmates resentfully, the ones who walk around in their sports jackets and sweatpants and talk about how annoying their coaches are, and wonder what it would have been like to be in their position. Strong, built , and confident. There isn’t anything in the world like being good at a sport. I remember that feeling of racing down the field with the ball rolling precariously in between my feet, trying to kick it into the giant net behind the goalie. I』ve never quite been able to replicate that feeling of pure bliss and focus and adrenaline.
My brother has recently become excellent at tennis, and while I’m so proud to see him on the court, slamming those balls over the net, I also wish that I could be there playing with him. He’s no longer an amateur, like I will always be. So take it from someone who has lamented a life decision – whatever it is you’re doing, if it’s worthwhile, stick with it. You won’t regret it.
詞彙:
Inflatable: 可充氣的，可膨脹的。
我還記得和維多利亞一起去過足球夏令營，她又瘦又文靜，後來我還和別人抱怨她在球場上太不活躍了。feminine: 女性的，嬌柔的，女子氣的；tattle on: 背後談論他人隱私或洩露他人秘密，在閒談中說出，背後講別人壞話。
breaststroke: 蛙泳；mess up: 給某人添亂，搗亂，把某事弄糟。
dread: 害怕，畏懼。
cannonball: 抱膝跳水。
ecstatic: 欣喜若狂的。
在我還不大的時候，那時候我五年級，跑得出了名的快，夥伴們都叫我「速必得」，因為當時和她們賽跑沒人贏得了我，我也因此參加了田徑隊選拔。go out for: 努力爭取，（運動員）參加選拔賽。
make the spot: 輕而易舉地戰勝某人。
rekindle:重新燃起，重新激發。
雖然我是隊裡最差的選手，教練還是一路提攜我，很少讓我坐冷板凳，這種待遇大多數隊員求之不得，我卻唯恐避之不及。
elated: 得意洋洋的，興高採烈的。
這可把我高興壞了，但我對誰都沒說，我終於不用每天放學後還要和那些孤立我的女孩子們一起在學校呆到六點，也不用每個星期六在場上一邊揮汗如雨一邊被教練大呼小叫。elated: 興高採烈的，得意洋洋的。
on top of: 除……之外（還）。
stout: 略胖的，粗壯的。
way out: 解決辦法，出路。
dizzyingly: 使人頭暈地，使人糊塗地。
stick with: 堅持，繼續做。
endurance: 耐力，忍耐力。
get in my way of: 阻礙我（做某事）
resentfully: 厭惡地，憤恨地；sweatpants: 運動褲。
built: 〈美俚〉體形好的，體態性感的。
precariously:不牢靠地，不穩定地，不確定地；goalie: 守門員。
replicate: 重現，重複；adrenaline: 腎上腺素。
聽聽我這個後悔莫及的過來人的建議吧——無論做什麼，只要值得就一定堅持到底。lament: 悔恨，痛惜，哀嘆。