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For most people, graduation is an exciting day - the culmination of years of hard work. My graduation day... was not.
對(duì)于大多數(shù)人而言，畢業(yè)那天讓人興奮，多年的苦讀結(jié)束了。而我的畢業(yè)日卻不是。

I remember that weekend two years ago. Family and friends had flown in from across the country to watch our class walk across that stage. But like everyone else in my graduating class, I had watched the economy turn from bad to worse my senior year.
我記得兩周前的周末，家人和朋友們從各地飛來(lái)，觀看班級(jí)列隊(duì)走過(guò)畢業(yè)舞臺(tái)，但是我們畢業(yè)班的每個(gè)人都清楚，在大四那年，經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境每況愈下。

We graduates had degrees, but very limited prospects. Numerous applications had not panned out and I knew that the next day, when my lease ended, I would no longer have a place to call home.
我們雖然都有學(xué)位，但是就業(yè)前途渺茫。許多應(yīng)屆畢業(yè)生都沒(méi)有找到工作，隔天我的租的房子就到期了，我要無(wú)家可歸了。

The weeks ahead weren't easy. I gathered up everything I couldn't carry and put it into storage. Then, because I knew my small university town couldn't offer me any opportunities, I packed up my car and drove to Southern California to find work.
之前的幾周也并不順利。我把帶不走的東西都打包起來(lái)放在倉(cāng)庫(kù)。大學(xué)所在的這座小鎮(zhèn)也不能提供我什么就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)。我整理行裝驅(qū)車駛向南卡羅來(lái)納州找工作。

But what I thought would take a week dragged into two, and then four, and 100 job applications later, I found myself in the exact same spot as I was before. And the due date to begin paying back my student loans was creeping ever closer.
我想我可能要花上一周時(shí)間，但是2周、4周過(guò)去了，投了100份簡(jiǎn)歷，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己又回到了原點(diǎn)。而且我還要面臨逐漸臨近的學(xué)生貸款還款日。

You know that feeling when you wake up and you are just consumed with dread? Dread about something you can't control - that sense of impending failure that lingers over you as you hope that everything that happened to you thus far was just a bad dream? That feeling became a constant in my life.
你了解那種一醒來(lái)就陷入恐懼的感覺(jué)么？恐懼到讓你不能自已，要面對(duì)一次又一次的失敗，而不僅僅是一個(gè)噩夢(mèng)，這種感覺(jué)在你的生命中開(kāi)始持續(xù)。

Days felt like weeks, weeks like months, and those many months felt like an unending eternity of destitution. And the most frustrating part was no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't seem to make any progress.
一天好像漫長(zhǎng)到一周，一周漫長(zhǎng)到一個(gè)月，那些日子讓人飽受貧困，而且不知道何時(shí)才是盡頭。最讓人沮喪的是，不管我多么的努力，都沒(méi)有一點(diǎn)改善。

I channeled my frustration into a children's book. Beyond the River was the story of an unlikely hero featuring a little fish who simply refused to give up on his dream.
我把這些情緒寫進(jìn)了一本兒童書。《大河的彼端》不是講英雄的書，而是將一條小魚在夢(mèng)想之路上堅(jiān)持不懈的故事。

And then one day, without any sort of writing degree or contacts in the writing world - just a lot of hard work and perseverance - I was offered a publishing contract for my first book!
一天，不是寫作科班出生的我聯(lián)系了出版社，靠著我的努力和韌勁，我最終出版了我的第一本書！

After that, things slowly began to fall into place. I was offered a second book deal. Then, a few months later, I got an interview with The Walt Disney Company and was hired shortly after.
從
那以后，一切開(kāi)始步入正規(guī)。我又簽約了第二本書。幾個(gè)月以后，我收到了來(lái)自迪士尼公司的面試，不久后就開(kāi)始受雇工作。

The moral of this story is... don't give up. Even if things look bleak now, don't give up. Two years ago I was huddled in my car drinking cold soup right out of the can. Things change.
這個(gè)故事告訴我們，不要放棄，即使未來(lái)渺茫，也不要放棄。2年前我蜷在車子里喝著罐頭里的冷湯。事情會(huì)有轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)。

If you work hard, give it time, and don't give up, things will always get better. Often times our dreams lie in wait just a little further upstream... all we need is the courage to push beyond the river.
只要你努力工作，不要放棄，假以時(shí)日，事情就會(huì)改變。很多時(shí)候我們的夢(mèng)想只需要一些逆流而上的勇氣就能到達(dá)大河的彼端。

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（翻譯：林潯鷗）