亞裔美國(guó)人家庭為教育付出了多少？

The implication — which he later confirmed — was that he and my mother would sell their home and move to the farm so they could finance my graduate education.

這意味著——他后來(lái)證實(shí)了這一點(diǎn)——他和母親將賣(mài)掉他們的房子，搬到農(nóng)場(chǎng)，這樣就能資助我的研究生教育了。

My family is Chinese-American. Our race has become synonymous with educational achievement through archetypal icons like the Tiger Mom or popular memes like the High Expectations Asian Father. These stereotypes may be offensive, but there is a certain validity to them. In 2019, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that Asians had higher GPAs, and Inside Higher Ed reports that the average Asian student scores at least two points higher on the ACT or 100 points higher on the SAT than students of other races.

我家是個(gè)華裔美國(guó)人家庭。通過(guò)一些典型符號(hào)，比如虎媽或“望子成龍的亞洲父親”這樣一些流行模因，我們的種族已經(jīng)成為教育成就的同義詞。這些刻板印象可能令人不快，但它們也有一定的道理。2019年，美國(guó)教育進(jìn)步評(píng)估(National Assessment of Educational Progress)發(fā)現(xiàn)，亞洲學(xué)生的平均績(jī)點(diǎn)更高，高等教育內(nèi)部(Inside Higher Ed)的報(bào)告顯示，亞洲學(xué)生在ACT考試中的平均成績(jī)至少比其他種族的學(xué)生高2分，SAT的平均成績(jī)至少比其他種族的學(xué)生高100分。

This academic success is not necessarily reflected in critical metrics, like admission to elite colleges. The college admissions scandal has demonstrated how rich and unethical parents can fake criteria from exam scores to sports accolades. Even legitimate academic achievement can be ineffective, as happened in 2018, when Asian-Americans had the lowest acceptance rate despite holding the highest SAT average in Harvard’s admitted students pool. A lawsuit, in which a decision is expected soon, accuses Harvard of setting a quota on admissions for Asian-American applicants and holding them to a higher standard than other races.

這種學(xué)術(shù)上的成功并不一定反映在精英大學(xué)錄取率等關(guān)鍵指標(biāo)上。大學(xué)錄取丑聞表明，從考試成績(jī)到體育榮譽(yù)，不道德的富有父母可以偽造指標(biāo)。即使合法的學(xué)業(yè)成績(jī)也可能無(wú)效，就像2018年發(fā)生的那樣，盡管在申請(qǐng)哈佛大學(xué)的學(xué)生中，亞裔美國(guó)人的SAT平均分最高，但錄取率最低。有訴訟指控哈佛為亞裔美國(guó)申請(qǐng)人設(shè)定了入學(xué)限額，并且為他們?cè)O(shè)定了比其他種族更高的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，預(yù)計(jì)很快就會(huì)有裁決出來(lái)。

While Asians are divided over the Harvard case, our families unite through our concern about the outcomes of these cases. They not only indicate how the courts will treat minorities like us. The possibility of gaming the admissions system also destabilizes the elevated position these elite institutions of higher education hold in American society, and nullifies the extraordinary, legitimate investment of money, labor and emotional energy in education by many families, Asian or otherwise.

雖然亞裔對(duì)哈佛一案意見(jiàn)不一，但我們的家庭出于對(duì)這些案子最終結(jié)果的擔(dān)憂而團(tuán)結(jié)在一起。它們不僅表明法院將如何對(duì)待像我們這樣的少數(shù)群體。利用招生制度作弊的可能性也動(dòng)搖了這些精英高等教育機(jī)構(gòu)在美國(guó)社會(huì)中的崇高地位，并使許多家庭（無(wú)論是亞裔還是其他族裔）在教育上投入的大量合法金錢(qián)、勞動(dòng)力和情感化為泡影。

The Asian cultural emphasis on educational attainment has financial consequences. A 2017 report by LendEDU, which surveyed more than 1,400 college graduates, found that among black, white, Hispanic and Asian families, Asians gave their children the most financial support in paying for college.

亞洲文化對(duì)教育程度的重視意味著財(cái)務(wù)上的更大投入。LendEDU 2017年的一份報(bào)告對(duì)1400多名大學(xué)畢業(yè)生進(jìn)行了調(diào)查，發(fā)現(xiàn)在黑人、白人、西班牙裔和亞裔家庭中，亞洲人為孩子上大學(xué)提供的經(jīng)濟(jì)支持最多。

The report found that 70 percent of Asian parents provide financial assistance for higher education, with a quarter paying for half or all of college, compared with about 50 percent of parents of other races.

報(bào)告發(fā)現(xiàn)，70%的亞裔父母（其他族裔中這一比例為50%）為子女的高等教育提供經(jīng)濟(jì)上的幫助，其中四分之一的家長(zhǎng)支付一半或全部大學(xué)學(xué)費(fèi)。

My own experience in a solidly middle-class family also suggests that Asians pay for college not with extraordinary wealth but with extraordinary measures, like my parents’ eight-year renovation project. In many cases, Asian parents expect not only to pay for higher education, but also to budget the cost into their finances decades in advance.

我自己在一個(gè)穩(wěn)固的中產(chǎn)階級(jí)家庭中的成長(zhǎng)經(jīng)歷也表明，亞裔上拿得出大學(xué)學(xué)費(fèi)并不是因?yàn)槎嘤绣X(qián)，而是因?yàn)閯?dòng)用了非比尋常的措施，比如我父母歷時(shí)八年的翻修工程。在很多情況下，亞洲父母不僅認(rèn)為有必要支付子女的高等教育費(fèi)用，而且還會(huì)提前幾十年將這筆費(fèi)用計(jì)入財(cái)務(wù)預(yù)算。

I remember little of my life at age 4, but I have one distinct memory: a shopping mall with a well-lit plaza. My parents would take me there for a reading class every Sunday, and then sit through the course with me. At that time we still lived in Beijing, where two-day weekends had not yet been adopted, so my parents sacrificed their one free day to accompany me to class.

我對(duì)自己四歲時(shí)的生活幾乎沒(méi)有什么印象，但有一個(gè)清晰的記憶：一個(gè)購(gòu)物中心，有著燈火通明的廣場(chǎng)。每逢星期天，父母都會(huì)帶我到那里，陪著我一起上一節(jié)閱讀課。那時(shí)我們還住在北京，中國(guó)還沒(méi)有實(shí)行雙休日，所以父母犧牲他們唯一一天休息時(shí)間陪我上課。

When I was in high school, my mother would wake at 6 a.m. to make my breakfast, and sometimes remain at work until 6 p.m. so she could drive me home after I finished my extracurriculars.

上高中的時(shí)候，母親常常早上6點(diǎn)起床做早飯，有時(shí)候工作到傍晚6點(diǎn)，這樣她就可以等我課外活動(dòng)結(jié)束后，開(kāi)車(chē)載我回家。

My father, meanwhile, remained on call for my math questions and engineering projects. He spent weekends helping me build catapults for Science Olympiad, and driving me to and from science fairs around the state so I could present my research. While I spent the entirety of my primary education in free public schools, my parents had invested thousands of hours of labor in me before I was ever accepted to college.

與此同時(shí)，父親會(huì)守在一旁，隨時(shí)等著回答我關(guān)于數(shù)學(xué)和工程項(xiàng)目的問(wèn)題。他的周末都用來(lái)幫我建造參加科學(xué)奧林匹克賽(Science Olympiad)的彈射裝置，開(kāi)車(chē)載我往返于全州的科學(xué)競(jìng)賽，以便我有機(jī)會(huì)介紹自己的研究。雖然整個(gè)小學(xué)階段我上的都是免費(fèi)的公立學(xué)校，但在被大學(xué)錄取之前，父母早已為我投入了數(shù)千小時(shí)的辛勞。

In the summer of my junior year of high school in 2013, I attended MIT’s Research Science Institute, a summer program for the best scientists my age. The program’s acceptance rate was about 3 percent, lower than that of Yale, Harvard or Stanford. In our class of less than 90, two have already died. A documentary, “Looking for Luke,” was filmed about the life and suicide of one of my classmates, to raise awareness of depression, particularly in an Asian-American context.

2013年上高三的那個(gè)夏天，我參加了麻省理工學(xué)院科學(xué)研究項(xiàng)目(MIT’s Research Science Institute)面向最優(yōu)秀的同齡科學(xué)人才的暑期項(xiàng)目。項(xiàng)目錄取率約在3%，低于耶魯、哈佛或斯坦福的同類(lèi)項(xiàng)目。在我們不到90人的班上，兩人已去世。一部名為《尋找盧克》(Looking for Luke)的紀(jì)錄片講述了我一位同學(xué)的生平與自殺經(jīng)歷，以提高對(duì)抑郁癥的認(rèn)識(shí)，特別是在亞裔美國(guó)人當(dāng)中。

In my experience, the pressure that Asian families exert on their children takes the form not of actively demanding high marks but of quiet sacrifice in support of our education. While my parents insist my health comes above all else, I would often miss a few meals for class, or lose a few nights of sleep for an assignment in college, because these losses seem small when I know all that they have given for my education.

在我的經(jīng)歷中，亞裔家庭給子女施加的壓力，不是表現(xiàn)在主動(dòng)要求高分，而是默默犧牲自己以支持我們的學(xué)業(yè)。雖然我的父母堅(jiān)持我的健康高于一切，但我常常為了上課而錯(cuò)過(guò)幾餐，或者在大學(xué)里為了完成作業(yè)而熬幾個(gè)通宵，因?yàn)楫?dāng)我知道他們?yōu)槲业膶W(xué)業(yè)所付出的一切，這些損失似乎不算什么。

I feel incredibly fortunate that my parents saved me the worry of how to finance graduate school, but in doing so they have replaced the stress of paying off debt with another sort of pressure. Debt feels different when I owe my parents instead of some faceless corporation. I notice how their hair has grayed, and they have grown old in the process of supporting me. Then, I am consumed by guilt.

讓我感到無(wú)比幸運(yùn)的是，父母省去了我讀研的經(jīng)濟(jì)煩惱，但這么做的同時(shí)，他們也把還債的壓力替換成了另一種壓力。當(dāng)我欠的是父母的錢(qián)，而不是某個(gè)面目模糊的公司，那種債務(wù)的感覺(jué)是不同的。我注意到在支持我的過(guò)程中，他們的頭發(fā)白了，人變老了。于是，我深感內(nèi)疚。

Our homes are not only the settings for our most cherished memories, but also the products of years of care, labor and investment. I have watched my parents pour their lives into their farmhouse over the course of the last decade. I am driven to work by the knowledge that they are prepared to sell the house I grew up in to pay for my graduate school, and that if I failed to earn scholarships it would be the financial equivalent of burning down my parents’ home.

我們的家不僅承載著我們最珍視的回憶，也是多年打理、勞作和投入的結(jié)果。過(guò)去10年里，我看著父母把他們的生命傾注到他們的農(nóng)舍上。我知道他們準(zhǔn)備賣(mài)掉我長(zhǎng)大的房子，以負(fù)擔(dān)我的研究生學(xué)業(yè)；我也知道如果沒(méi)能拿到獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，那在經(jīng)濟(jì)上就相當(dāng)于把父母的家付之一炬。因此，我只能發(fā)奮學(xué)習(xí)。

本文作者Jingjing Xiao是自由撰稿人、耶魯大學(xué)大四學(xué)生。

翻譯：李建芳、晉其角

本文轉(zhuǎn)載自公眾號(hào)：NYT教育頻道