故事46 | A One in a Million opportunity

       
我在中国的家 2022
故事46 | A One in a Million opportunity

Hi there! My name is Alexia Arielle Vargas, but everyone calls me Lexi. I am Puerto Rican raised in the United States of America and I have lived in China for 3 years. 

大家好!我叫 Alexia Arielle Vargas,大家都叫我 Lexi。我是在美国长大的波多黎各人,在中国生活了 3 年。

When I was in high school and college, people would ask me, “Where would you like to travel if you could go anywhere?” I’d say, “Asia, China would be an amazing place to see and learn more about.” Throughout my life living in New York City, it was always a dream to travel and being able to come to China would be such a wonderful opportunity. 

上高中和大学的时候,人们会问我:“你最想去哪里旅行?”我会回答:“亚洲,中国是一个了不起的国家,去那里可以开拓眼界,增长见识。”在纽约生活的时候,旅行一直是我的梦想,如果有机会去中国,那真是太棒了。

I come from a family of 5 siblings, three brothers and a little sister. I was a middle child, and we didn’t have much, but we made the best out of every situation we were in. I was kind of an odd ball growing up, but a pretty good scholar. I had opportunities to go Europe because of my performance in school to accept an award, but it did not include the travel cost and neither my school, nor my family could afford it, so I was unable to go. When I was in college the opportunity to study abroad began to feel more real. I really began to feel like this would be my opportunity to travel abroad and begin my journey to see the world. 

我有三个兄弟和一个妹妹,我排行中间。我们兄妹几个没有什么本领,除了善于处理遇到的各种问题,做到尽善尽美。我小时候有点怪,但学习成绩却相当优异。因为我成绩优秀,表现良好,获得了去欧洲留学的机会,但是家庭和学校都负担不起出国费用,所以我放弃了这次机会。上大学时,出国留学的机会离我越来越近,我感觉自己马上要走出国门,开启世界之旅。

During this time, I began having some family and relationship issues and felt like I had to be the glue to keep everything together, so I decided that it wasn’t my time yet and I had to push my dream aside a little while longer. 

但那时候,我和家人的关系紧张,我必须粘合与家人的关系,所以出国时机还未成熟,我必须再次把梦想搁到一边。

Throughout my years in college and university getting my bachelor’s and master’s degree in education I knew one thing for sure, I wanted to teach and work with children. While I was in school, I would work four different jobs (including teaching), volunteer at community centers to help underprivileged students with their homework, host mingle nights at the elderly hospital to play games, do hair, paint little old ladies nails and sometimes even boogie (don’t let the elderly fool you, they know how to party) all while going to school and taking night classes. There were no days off. I was busy every day, 7 days a week, but I loved it. Being involved in my community and meeting new people was always such an adventure for me. During my last year of University, I knew that a new chapter in my life would soon begin, but where? 

攻读教育学学士和硕士学位期间,我明白了自己的理想:我想当老师,和孩子们一起学习。上学时,我打了四份工(包括家教),在社区中心做志愿者,帮助贫困学生补习,晚上去养老院举办活动:玩游戏,理发,给老太太涂指甲油,甚至跳舞(别被老人家骗了,他们懂得在派对上怎么玩),同时我得学习,上晚课,没有休息日。一周 7 天,我每天都很忙,但我喜欢这样的状态。参加社区活动,认识新朋友,对我来说是一项挑战。大学最后一年,生命中的新篇章即将开始,我该何去何从呢?

I started applying to schools abroad, but was very skeptical, I didn’t know anyone who worked or lived abroad. I would hear stories of other people’s adventures of traveling or studying, but no one in my life lived abroad. At this point in my life, I’m thinking going abroad is just a fairytale fantasy, a dream and just a dream. What are the one in a million chances I’d get a job abroad doing what I love- teaching? Could this be possible? 

我开始申请出国留学,但我有些许顾虑,因为国外没有亲人朋友。我有听过在国外旅行或学习的故事,但我身边人都没有在国外生活过。那一刻,我想出国只是一个童话般的幻想,是一个梦,而且只能是一个梦。在国外找一份我喜欢的工作——教书,百万分之一的几率,可能发生吗?

 I had also applied to many other schools around the States. Going through countless interviews from different schools in the States as well as abroad like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Xiamen. I began hearing back from more schools overseas than from schools I had applied to in the States. I received offers from schools in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Xiamen. After doing some research and browsing through social media I knew Xiamen was for me. There wasn’t much out there about Xiamen, but when I learned that I’d be living on an island surrounded by palm trees and mountains (the exact opposite of NYC) I knew this is where I wanted to be. I saved up as much money as I could for years and thought this is my opportunity to go out there and really live my dreams. 

我曾申请美国的许多学校,接受了美国和国外学校的无数次面试,包括香港、上海、北京和厦门的学校。我开始收到国外许多学校的回复,比国内学校还要多,我还收到了香港、上海和厦门学校的录取通知。我做了一些研究,上网查了一些资料,觉得厦门这座城市更适合我。关于厦门的信息不多,只知道那是一座棕榈树和山脉环绕的岛屿(与纽约完全不同),这就是我想去的地方。几年来,为了这次难能可贵的机会,我拼命攒钱,去厦门实现我真正的梦想。

When I first moved to Xiamen, I began questioning everything, worrying if I made the right decision. I just left everything and everyone I know behind. Even though I was so excited to be immersed in a new environment and culture, I was worried I couldn’t do it. Getting to know the city, I realized I live in such a beautiful city and within no time I knew I wanted to be as involved as possible. I began getting involved in community events and meetings. I even had the opportunity to host events like a Christmas painting event for families and friends and even a beach clean-up. When COVID-19 began I wanted to try and help lift the spirits in our communities, not just in Xiamen, but all-around China and drew a picture and took a selfie to help send positive messages around and asked the community center if we could gather pictures of our community members and put together something to help give back and to stay positive and strong when lockdowns began. So many people got involved and it started to spread throughout China. Till this day I like to be as involved as possible meeting so many different people from all around the world. This has truly been an amazing opportunity. I have made such great friends that I consider family.  Xiamen has become a place for me that feels like home. 

第一次来到厦门时,我开始怀疑自己,怀疑自己的决定是否正确。我离开了家乡,离开了亲人朋友。我非常兴奋,因为我来到了一个新的文化环境,同时又担心自己无法融入。我开始深入了解厦门,生活在如此美丽的城市里,我想尽快融入这里的生活。我开始参与社区活动和会议,为许多家庭和朋友举办圣诞绘画活动,甚至是海滩清洁活动。疫情爆发时,我想凝聚每个厦门人,甚至每个中国人的士气,所以我画了一幅画,拍了一张自拍,传递正能量。我还去社区中心收集我们社区成员的照片,整合在一起,体现隔离期间我们积极坚强的心态。许多人加入了我们,这一活动开始在中国各地传播。直到今天,我还喜欢参加各种活动,认识来自世界各地的人们,这确实是一个很棒的机会。我结识了许多好朋友,我像家人一般对待他们。厦门给了我家的温暖。

I was born and raised in the big apple of New York City, also known as “the city that never sleeps”. A place where everyone gravitates towards the food, Broadway shows, and the beginning of eras like hip hop music and graffiti art.

我在纽约市出生长大,这座城市被称为“大苹果城”、不夜城。这里的每个人都喜欢美食、百老汇,还有开创整个时代的嘻哈音乐和涂鸦艺术。

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