I’m an 18-year-old pre-medical student, tall and good-looking, with two short story books and quite a number of essays to my credit. Why am I singing such praises of myself? Just to explain that the attainment of self-pride comes from a great deal of self-love, and to attain it, one must first learn to accept oneself as one is. That was where my struggle began.
我是一名18岁的医学预科生，高大英俊，有两本短篇小说，还有很多值得称赞的文章。我为什么要这样赞美自己？我只是想解释一下，自尊的获得来自于大量的自爱，要想获得它，一个人必须首先学会接受自己的本来面目。这就是我斗争的开始。

Born and raised in Africa, I had always taken my African origin as a burden. My self-dislike was further fueled when my family had to relocate to Norway, where I attended a high school. Compared to all the white girls around me, with their golden hair and delicate lips, I, a black girl, had curly hair and full, red lips. My nose often had a thin sheet of sweat on it, whatever the weather was. I just wanted to bury myself in my shell crying “I'm so different!”
我在非洲出生和长大，一直把我的非洲血统视为一种负担。当我的家人不得不搬到挪威，我在那里上高中时，我的自我厌恶进一步加剧了。与我周围所有的白人女孩相比，我是一个黑人女孩，金色的头发和精致的嘴唇，卷发和丰满的红唇。不管天气如何，我的鼻子上经常有一层薄薄的汗。我只想把自己埋在头盔里哭着说：“我太不一样了！”

What also contributed to my self-dislike was my occasional stuttering, which had weakened my self-confidence. It always stood between me and any fine opportunity. I’d taken it as an excuse to avoid any public speaking sessions, and unknowingly let it rule over me.
我偶尔会口吃，这也是我不喜欢自己的原因, 这削弱了我的自信心。它总是阻碍了我获得任何好机会。我把它作为避免任何公开演讲的借口，不知不觉地让它支配了我。

Fortunately, as I grew older, there came a turning point. One day a white girl caught my eye on the school bus when she suddenly turned back. To my astonishment, she had a thin sheet of sweat on her nose too, and it was in November! “Wow,” I whispered to myself, “this isn’t a genetic disorder after all. It’s perfectly normal.” Days later, my life took another twist. Searching the internet for stuttering cures, I accidentally learned that such famous people as Isaac Newton and Winston Churchill also stuttered. I was greatly relieved and then an idea suddenly hit me—if I' m smart, 1 shouldn’t allow my stuttering to stand between me and my success.
幸运的是，随着年龄的增长，事情有了转折。一天，一个白人女孩在校车上突然折返，引起了我的注意。令我惊讶的是，她的鼻子上也有一层薄薄的汗水，那是在十一月！“哇，”我低声对自己说，“毕竟这不是遗传的紊乱，这很正常。”几天后，我的生活发生了另一个转折。在互联网上搜索口吃的治疗方法，我偶然发现艾萨克·牛顿和温斯顿·丘吉尔等名人也有口吃。我松了一口气，然后我突然想到了一个想法，如果我很聪明，我就不应该让我的口吃阻碍我的成功。

Another boost to my self-confidence came days later as I was watching the news about Oprah Winfrey, the famous talkshow host and writer—she’s black too! Whenever I think of her story and my former dislike of my color, I’m practically filled with shame.
几天后，当我观看关于著名脱口秀主持人兼作家奥普拉·温弗瑞的新闻时，我的自信心又得到了提升——她也是黑人！每当我想起她的故事和我以前对自己肤色的厌恶时，我几乎都会感到羞愧。

Today, I’ve grown to accept what I am with pride; it simply gives me a feeling of uniqueness. The idea of self-love has taken on a whole new meaning for me: there’s always something fantastic about us, and what we need to do is learn to appreciate it.
今天，我已经开始骄傲地接受自己；它只是给我一种独特的感觉。自爱的想法对我来说有了全新的意义：我们身上总是有奇妙的东西，我们需要做的是学会欣赏它。