ハーバード大学に合格した高校生のエッセイ（小論文）の原文を読み解いてみる（６）
日本人講師KG
前回の続き、今日で最終回です。
まずは、最終パラグラフを全文。
As I listened to my dad’s heartbeat that night, my mind filled with anger and sorrow. However, in hindsight, I am thankful for the lessons I learned from my mother; the pain I felt was a necessary step in the process of becoming the person I am today, someone who is unafraid to express himself.
それでは、個別に読んでいきましょう。
As I listened to my dad’s heartbeat that night, my mind filled with anger and sorrow.
あの夜、父の心臓の鼓動を聞きながら、怒りと悲しみでいっぱいだったことを思い出す。
as = when
heartbeat 「心臓の鼓動」
filled with..「〜で満たされる」
sorrow 「悲しみ」
However, in hindsight, I am thankful for the lessons I learned from my mother;
しかし、後になってみれば、母から学んだ教訓に感謝している。
In hindsight「後で考えてみれば」
Thankful for 〜「に感謝している」
lesson 「教訓」
the lessons (that)I learned from my mother 関係代名詞thatが省略されています
文の最後がピリオドではなくセミコロンなので、次の文章が前文を補足説明しています。
the pain I felt was a necessary step in the process of becoming the person I am today, someone who is unafraid to express himself.
あの痛みは、恐れずに自分自身を表現することができる今の自分になるための、必要なステップだったと分かった。
pain「痛み」
a necessary step「必要なステップ」
in the process of 「〜する過程で」
unafraid to do 「恐れずに〜する」
express「表現する」
*関係代名詞の省略が２箇所あります
the pain (that) I felt
the person (who) I am today
二つ目はいかにも英語的な表現ですね。
直訳は「今日、私である人間」→ 今の自分
以上です！！！
高校生といえども、さすがネイティブですね。素晴らしい表現が満載。私も幾つかパクってそのまま使ってみたいと思います。
最後にもう一度、原文全文を掲載して終わりにします。
http://www.businessinsider.com/ivy-league-admissions-essay-2017-4
“The soft thumping of my dad’s heart provided a small degree of solace as I cried with my head on his chest. I was in fifth grade. He had just told me that my mom, having been attacked by her boyfriend, was in the hospital. I remember being surprised with myself, surprised that I would be sad after all she had done. This was the same person who, when I was eight, threw a drunken party at our house for teens younger than I am now. This was the same person who would disappear after spending nights at the bar, the person who went to jail for trying to strangle my dad in an inebriated stupor. She had not been a part of my life for over a year since my dad received sole custody; I thought I had closure, that I was ready to move on. Yet, hot tears still ran down my cheek as I imagined her swollen face and the bruises on her arms.
“I had always been shy as a kid and the absence of my mom exacerbated this problem as I tried to unhealthily suppress my insecurities and fill her absence with others’ approval. In sixth grade, I constantly sought the attention of a group of kids who, in turn, bullied me. Consequently, when I switched schools going into seventh grade, I was shy and timid, afraid to engage with new people. I pictured myself near the bottom of a rigid social hierarchy. The next year, I started to branch out more, but inside, I remained obsessed with how others perceived me.
“Entering high school, I would spend hours at a time thinking about my insecurity and talking through memories of my mom with my dad. During this time, I would always remember how I had stared numbly into the ripples of my dad’s shirt as a fifth grader. I could never forget that feeling of helplessness, but with repeated reflection, I began to understand this moment in a different way. Given her circumstances — raised by an abusive, alcoholic father and a neglectful mother; involved in several dysfunctional relationships with controlling men; drinking to numb the injustices of life, but then realizing it was too late to stop — I have no way of knowing if my life would be any different from hers.
“For the first time, I began to understand an idea that has since granted me freedom: I cannot walk in my mom’s shoes, and thus, no one else can truly walk in mine. The way others perceive me is inherently inaccurate, so I do not need to concern myself with what others think. This realization provided me the freedom to become untethered from the approval of others, finally at ease with myself.
“I started to open up. Throughout high school, I began talking to others about ideas that fascinated me, like space travel and philosophy, rather than frantically searching for common ground. I quit football, realizing that I largely participated for the status it brought me, and joined cross country, because I genuinely enjoy running. I started holding the door open for my classmates almost every morning, greeting them as they arrived at school, hoping to brighten their day. I became engaged in my role on student council, which paid off when I was elected student body president. Even then, it wasn’t the role itself that I found meaningful, but the way I could use it to help others. The basis of my friendships shifted from validation seeking to mutual, genuine respect.
“As I listened to my dad’s heartbeat that night, my mind filled with anger and sorrow. However, in hindsight, I am thankful for the lessons I learned from my mother; the pain I felt was a necessary step in the process of becoming the person I am today, someone who is unafraid to express himself.”
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『フィリピン留学 ブログには書けない話』
非帰国子女として英語を10年間勉強し、
英国にMBA留学し、
フィリピンに4年住み、
セブ島で英語学校を経営してきた
知恵と経験を凝縮しました! 無料ですのでこのままご登録下さい
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