9-2 不只是一笔奖学金

More Than a Scholarship

You may have heard of Osceola McCarty. She’s the 88-yea-old woman in Mississippi who had worked for over 75 years as a washer woman. One day after she retired 1, she went to the bank and discovered, to her great surprise, that her meager 21 monthly savings 3 had grown to over ＄150,000. Then to everyone’ s great surprise, she turned around and donated ＄150,000 -- almost all of those savings -- to the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) for a scholarship fund for African-American students with financial needs. She made national headlines.

What you have not heard is how Osceola’s gift had affected 4 my life. I am 19 years old and the first recipient 52 of an Osceola McCarty Scholarship.

I was a dedicated 6 student, and I had my heart set on going to USM. But I missed being eligible 73 for a regular scholarship by one point on the entrance exams, and a scholarship was the only way I could attend.

One Sunday, I came across the story in the paper about Osceola McCarty and her generous gift. I showed my mother the article, and we both agreed it was a great thing to have done.

The next day I went to the financial aid office, and they told me there was still no money available for me, but if anything came up they’d call. A few days later, as I was running out the door to catch a ride with my mother to work, the phone rang. I stopped to pick it up, and while I heard my mother honking4 the horn for me to hurry up, they told me I had been chosen to receive the first Osceola McCarty Scholarship. I was ecstatic5! I ran out as fast as I could to tell my mother. She had to call the office again herself to make sure it was true.

I first met Osceola at a press conference -- meeting her was like finding family. Osceola never married or had children, so my family has since become her family. My grandma and she talk on the phone regularly and do errands6 together, and she joins us for family functions.

Once we got round to talking about ice cream. We found out Osceola hadn’t had much experience with ice cream, so we all packed into the car and went to the Dairy Queen, where we ordered Osceola her first banana split! She has ice cream a lot now.

Osceola worked hard her whole life -- from early in the morning to sunset -- washing clothes by hand. I used to drive right by her house every day on my way to school. Of course, at the time I didn’t know it was her house, but I did notice how well kept the lawn was and how everything was clean and neat. Recently I asked her why I never saw her once in all that time, and she answered, “I guess I was out in back, washing clothes.”

Now that Osceola’s retired, she sits most of the day and reads the Bible. That is, when she’s not getting rewards! Every time I go visit, she has a new award. She’s even gone to the White House. She is so happy and proud, though not at all conceited 9. We had to talk her into getting a VCR7 so she could tape the programs and see herself on TV -- she just sits and smiles.

Osceola gave me much more than a scholarship. She taught me about the gift of giving. Now I know there are good people in the world who do good things. She worked her whole life and gave to others, and in turn she has inspired me to give back when I can. Eventually I plan to add to her scholarship fund.

I want to give Osceola the family she’s always wanted, so I’ve adopted her as another grandma. She even calls me her granddaughter. And when I graduate from USM, she’ll be sitting in the audience between my mother and my grandmother -- right where she belongs.

注释：

1. meager [5mi:^E(r)] a. [美] = meager 不足的

2. recipient [ri5sipiEnt] n. 接受者，收受者

3. eligible [5elidVEbl] a. 有资格当选的，有条件被选中的

4. honk 8 [hRNk] vt. 鸣（汽车喇叭）

5. ecstatic [eks5tAtik] a. 狂喜的

6. errand [5erEnd] n. 差事，差使（如送信、买东西等）

7. VCR abbr. video cassette recorder 录像机

不只是一笔奖学金

你们可能听说过奥西奥拉·麦卡蒂。她是密西西比州一位88岁高龄的妇女，当了75年多的洗衣工。退休后的一天，她去了银行，非常惊奇地发现，她那每个月微薄的储蓄已累积到15万多美元。而令众人特别惊讶的是，她转手就把15万美元——几乎是她的全部储蓄——捐献给了南密西西比州大学，作为帮助经济困难的非洲裔美国学生的奖学金基金。她成了全国头版头条的新闻人物。

你们没有听说过的是奥西奥拉的捐赠如何影响了我的一生。我今年19岁，是奥西奥拉·麦卡蒂奖学金的第一个获得者。

我是个执着的学生，一心想上南密西西比州大学。但是因为入学考试差一分，我不能享受一般奖学金，而我只能靠奖学金上学。

在一个星期天，我偶然在报上读到有关奥西奥拉·麦卡蒂和她慷慨捐赠的报道。我把报纸给我母亲看，我们俩都认为那是一个伟大之举。

第二天我去经济资助办公室。他们告诉我还是没有钱能资助我，不过一有新情况他们会打电话给我。几天后，我正跑出家门赶搭我母亲的车去上班，电话响了。我停下来拿起话筒，在我听到我母亲按喇叭催我的同时，办公室的人告诉我，我被选为首位奥西奥拉·麦卡蒂奖学金获得者。我欣喜若狂！我以最快的速度跑出去告诉我母亲。她非得再打一次电话给办公室以确认是否真有这回事。

在一次记者招待会上，我第一次见到奥西奥拉——见到她就像是找到了家人。奥西奥拉从未结过婚，也没有孩子，所以自那以后我的家就成了她的家。我的祖母经常和她在电话里聊天，并一起办事。她参加我们的家庭活动。

有一回我们随便谈起冰淇淋。我们发现奥西奥拉很少吃冰淇淋，于是我们全挤进一辆车，去了“乳制品皇后”店，给奥西奥拉叫了个她从没吃过的香蕉圣代。如今她吃很多冰淇淋。

奥西奥拉劳累了一生——从清晨忙到日落——用手洗衣服。我过去每天开车去上学时正好经过她的家。当然，那时候我并不知道那是她的家，但我确实注意到草坪收拾得那么好，每样东西都那么干净、整齐。最近，我问她为何在那段时间里我连一次也没见到过她。她回答说：“我想我在后院洗衣服。”

现在奥西奥拉已经退休了。白天大部分时间，当她不去领奖时，她就坐着读《圣经》。我每一次去看望她，她都得一个新奖。她甚至还应邀进过白宫。她是那样的幸福和自豪，但丝毫不自满。我们不得不说服她买台录像机，这样她能把节目录下，在电视上看到自己——她只是微笑地坐着。

奥西奥拉给我的远远不只是一笔奖学金，她使我懂得给予的可贵。现在我知道，在这个世界上有很多做好事的好心人。她辛勤劳动了一生而将所得给了他人，然后她激励我在有能力时回报社会。最终我打算为她的奖学金基金添加资金。

我要给奥西奥拉一个她一直想要的家，因此我认她为我的另一位祖母。她甚至叫我孙女儿。当我从南密西西比州大学毕业时，她将作为来宾坐在我母亲和我祖母之间——那是理应属于她的位置。