LAST March, just as Matt Levin was about to start hearing from the schools to which he d applied, his parents, Craig and Diana, handed him a letter. They didn t care whether he read it right away, but they wanted him to know that it had been written bore they found out how he fared. It was their response to the outsize yearning and dread that they saw in him and in so many of the college-bound kids at Cold Spring Harbor high school, in a Long Island suburb of New York City. It was their bid for some sanity.
去年3月，在马特 莱文(Matt Levin)即将收到申请学校的通知前，他的父母克雷格(Craig)和戴安娜(Diana)给了他一封信。他们并不在意儿子是否马上就看了这封信，他们只是想让他知道，这封信是在他们得知儿子的申请结果之前写下的。他们在儿子身上看到了极为强烈的渴望和惧怕，在位于纽约郊区长岛的冷泉港高中，其他即将升入大学的同学身上也有这种渴望和惧怕。这封信，就是他们对这种情绪的回应，也是他们对理性的呼吁。
Matt, like many of his peers, was shooting for the Ivies: in his case, Yale, Princeton or Brown. He had laid the groundwork: high SAT scores; participation in sports and music; a special prize for junior-year students with the highest grade-point averages; membership in various honor societies; more than 100 hours of community service.
和许多同龄人一样，马特也想争取常春藤：他的目标是耶鲁、普林斯顿(Princeton)或布朗大学(Brown)。他已经打好了基础：SAT高分;参与音乐体育活动;参加各类荣誉团体;逾100小时的社会服务;还荣获了颁发给平均绩点最高的高年级学生的特别奖项。
For Yale, Princeton and Brown, that wasn t enough. All three turned him down.
然而，对于耶鲁、普林斯顿和布朗来说，这些还不够。三所大学都拒绝了他的申请。
His mother, Diana, told me that on the day he got that news, He shut me out for the first time in 17 years. He barely looked at me. Said, Don t talk to me and don t touch me. Then he disappeared to take a shower and literally drowned his sorrows for the next 45 minutes.
在马特得知被拒消息的那一天，他的妈妈戴安娜告诉我， 他17年来第一次对我不理不睬，几乎不敢看我。挤出一句， 别跟我说话，别碰我。 然后就溜去淋浴了，在接下来的45分钟里简直就是在用冲下的水来浇熄自己的悲伤。
The following morning, he rallied and lt the house wearing a sweatshirt with the name of the school that had been his fourth choice and had accepted him: Lehigh University. By then he had read his parents letter, more than once. That they felt compelled to write it says as much about our society s warped obsession with elite colleges as it does about the Levins warmth, wisdom and generosity. I share the following parts of it because the message in them is one that many kids in addition to their son need to listen to,especially now, with college acceptances and rejections on the way:
第二天早上，他恢复了精神，穿着一件印有录取了他的第四志愿学校 利哈伊大学(Lehigh University) 校名的运动衫出了门。那时，他已经看过了父母的信，而且看了不止一次。莱文夫妇所感到的非写这封信不可的心情，既体现了他们的温情、智慧和豁达，又折射出了我们的社会对名校扭曲的痴迷。我想与大家分享信的片段，因为除他们的儿子以外，许许多多的孩子也需要听一听其中的信息，特别是现在，当大学录取信和拒信纷至沓来之时。
Dear Matt,
亲爱的马特：
On the night bore you receive your first college response,we wanted to let you know that we could not be any prouder of you than we are today. Whether or not you get accepted does not determine how proud we are of everything you have accomplished and the wonderful person you have become. That will not change based on what admissions officers decide about your future. We will celebrate with joy wherever you get accepted and the happier you are with those responses, the happier we will be. But your worth as a person, a student and our son is not diminished or influenced in the least by what these colleges have decided.
在你收到第一所学校答复的前一天晚上，我们想让你知道，我们今天为你感到无比骄傲。无论是否录取，我们都为你所取得的一切成就、还有你出色的为人感到自豪。这一点，不会因为录取官对你的将来做了什么决定而有任何改变。不管你被哪里录取，我们都会满心欢喜地为你庆祝 而且你对结果越是满意，我们就越高兴。你作为个人、学生及我们儿子的价值，丝毫不会因为这些学校的决定而受到削弱或影响。
If it does not go your way, you ll take a different route to get where you want. There is not a single college in this country that would not be lucky to have you, and you are capable of succeeding at any of them.
即使未能如愿，你也会另辟蹊径，抵达你想去的地方。这个国家无论哪一所大学，拥有你都将是幸运的，你也有能力在任何一所学校里取得成功。
We love you as deep as the ocean, as high as the sky, all the way around the world and back again and to wherever you are headed.
我们对你的爱深似海洋，广若天空，覆盖全世界 并将追随你到你要去的任何地方。
Mom and Dad
妈妈和爸爸

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