2006年NPR美国国家公共电台十一月-Living What You Do Every Day

I believe in honor, faith and service.
I believe that a little outrage¹ can take you a long way.
I believe in freedom of speech.
I believe in empathy.
I believe in truth.
I believe in the ingredients of love.
This I believe.

Each Monday we bring your series: This I believe.

Yolanda Urbana lives in Richmond, California. But she traveled the world ,Spain Japan, Northern India, usually alone. It was closer to home, that she discovered her belief. Here’s series creator independent producer Jay Alyson.

Nearly a year and half into this series we continued to be surprised, as we were by Yolanda Urbana. We asked her boss, a scientist to contribute an essay, he 's still working on his. But in the meantime, she wrote one of her own. Based, as you will hear, on the work she does for her boss. Here is Yolanda Urbana with her essay for This I believe.

I believe in being what I am instead of what sounds good to the rest of the world. Last year, I left a job I hated as a programmer for a job I love, as an executive assistant, which is just a fancy word for secretary. I still feel a little embarrassed when people asked me about my new job. Not because of what I do, but because of what some people, including myself, have thought of secretaries.

I had always thought that secretaries were nice and may be competent, but not smart, or strong, or original. I have a master's degree in English Literature, have interviewed the Dalai Lama and co-founded a non-profit organization. People who know me wondered why I would go for what seemed to be such a dull and low-status job. Even my new boss asked if I would be bored. Why would I want to be a secretary? Because it fits me like a glove. I get to do what I love best all day, which is organized things. I like the challenge of holding the focus on the top priorities in my boss’s wildly busy schedule. I can function with a high degree of chaos², untangling finances feels like playing detective to me. I find filing restful.

The only hard part is dealing³ with my own and other people's stereotypes⁴ and learning to focus on internal rewards rather than humble⁵ appearances. I admit that I feel vaguely⁶ embarrassed, bringing the faculty⁷ lunch or serving coffee to my boss’s visitors. But deep down, I don’t believe that serving food is humiliating. Really, I think of it as a practice in humility⁸. My husband is Tibetan. In Tibetan communities you serve each other tea as a form of respect. When I am serving coffee at work, I imagine that I am serving a monk⁹.

Whenever I get down or defensive¹⁰ about being a secretary, I think of those sharp fast-talking assistants on the West Wing and how they speak in paragraphs and remember everything and I feel pretty cool.

Sometimes I just look around at my fellow secretaries, savvy¹¹ and articulate women, who are masters in multitasking. I know I am in good company.

I have done a lot solo travel in my life, in New Zealand, Japan, Africa and India. Taking this job is harder than any of that. when I said I was going to spend a year in Northern India, I get points. When I said I was going to be a secretary, people wondered what happened to me. It would be easier if I were someone whose skill is more respected and better compensated¹², a doctor, an architect, a scientist. I would feel cool when I meet someone at a party. But a friend reminded me that you only have to talk about what you do for five minutes at parties, but you have to live what you do everyday of your life. So better to do what you love and forget about how it looks. And this I believe.

Yolanda Urbana with her essay for this I believe. She told us, by the way, that she tore up many versions before she wrote this one. If you like to make the attempt yourself, visit our website npr.org. Well you can also browse¹³ through the thousands of essays that have been submitted to date.

For this I believe, I am Jay Alyson.

Hear another this I believe essay next Monday and all things to consider.

Support for this I believe comes from Cappela University.
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VOCABULARY

1. competent adj. CAPABLE, FIT, QUALIFIED¹⁴ <a competent mechanic >
2. untangle v. 1. DISENTANGLE 2. to strength out, resolve: <untangle a problem>

3. savvy n & adj. practical know how <political savvy>

4. articulate adj. able to speak; also: expressing oneself readily and effectively <an articulate orator>

  

 

1 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

2 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

6 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

7 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

8 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

9 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

10 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

11 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

12 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

13 browse   

vi.随意翻阅，浏览；(牛、羊等)吃草

参考例句：

• I had a browse through the books on her shelf.我浏览了一下她书架上的书。
• It is a good idea to browse through it first.最好先通篇浏览一遍。

14 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。