美版“蝸居”：杜克大學研究生爲還貸款兩年住貨車

The Duke university graduate student who spent TWO YEARS living in his van so he could avoid more student loan debt
杜克大學研究生爲避免更多學生貸款、兩年來住貨車

Ken Ilgunas paid off a $32,000 student loan and finished a second degree with money to spare by secretly living in his van for two years.
肯·艾古納斯兩年來悄悄住在自己的小貨車裏，以此節省的錢他用以還清了3萬2千美金的學生貸款、還拿到了自己的第二個學位。

By braving roadside public toilets, a bean-heavy diet and mice scampering where he slept, the native New Yorker gained a masters degree at Duke University and a lifetime of incredible memories.
肯是土生土長的紐約人，這兩年來他忍受了恐怖的公共廁所、吃的食物以豆子爲主、睡的地方還有老鼠，但他最終拿到了杜克大學的碩士學位，也有了一段難忘的人生經歷。

But one of the many downsides was that he couldn't tell other students, in case they reported him to security who would have kicked him off the campus parking lot.
所有這些不快中，最讓他難過的是他不能告訴同學自己住哪兒。以防有人向學校保安報告，他就會被趕出停車場。

Ilgunas made the dramatic decision after he graduated with 'unmarketable' English and history majors in 2005 and was rejected from 25 paid internships.
肯2005年本科畢業於水牛城大學英語和歷史雙專業，成績並不出彩。隨後他投遞的25份實習工作都被拒，他才做出了住貨車的決定。

Fearing his $8-an-hour job pushing carts at Home Depot wouldn't help him pay off his $32,000 University of Buffalo undergraduate degree loan, Ilgunas became 'frantic'.
那時，他在傢俱超市裏做運貨的工作，他覺得自己無法靠這個償還那3萬2千美金的本科貸款，非常抓狂。

'That was a wake-up call,' he told Business Insider. 'I had no idea what I was getting into at the time. I didn't even know what interest was when I was 17. I just think that's awfully indicative of the incredibly poor personal finance education young people have at that time in their lives.'
“那時我意識到了問題的嚴重性，”他告訴記者說，“我不知道自己將面臨什麼，我17歲選大學專業的時候也不曉得自己喜歡什麼。我只是覺得一個年輕人太窮實在不怎麼好。”Instead of asking his parents for the cash or declaring forbearance, he moved interstate, enrolled in a liberal arts graduate course at Duke University and bought a $1,500 van.
他沒有問父母要錢還債，也沒有沮喪，他搬到了另一個州，買了一輛1500美金的小貨車，開始在杜克大學學習自由主義藝術的研究生學位。

Determined to get his degree debt-free and inspired by the frugal philosophy of Henry Thoreau, he lived out of his 1994 Ford Econoline van - fitted out like a dorm-room - on the campus parking lot.
他決定自己的研究生學位絕不能再貸款負債，同時也受到《瓦爾登湖》作者亨利梭羅的啓發，他住在了自己1994年產的小貨車裏。把裏面裝飾成了宿舍的樣子，平常就停在學校的停車場裏。

While he saved a lot of money, van-dwelling had its drawbacks.
儘管剩下了很多錢，但住在貨車裏的確有諸多不便。

'Mice would move into my ceiling upholstery, washing pots and pans became so inconvenient I stopped washing them altogether, and the bathroom was a quarter-mile sprint from my parking space,'
老鼠會鑽進車廂頂裏，洗鍋子和碗具也很不方便，我只能一個一個單獨洗。廁所距離我停車的地方大概有400米（四分之一英里）

Freezing winters, hovering campus police and living in a confined space tested Ilgunas’ limits over two years.
兩年來，極冷的冬天、巡邏的校警和密閉的空間都在挑戰肯的極限。

He survived by cooking in a makeshift kitchen, eating simple meals of beans and cereal, and showering at the gym.
他用簡易鍋具煮飯、吃豆子和麥片度日、洗澡也在健身房湊合。

He kept his van-dwelling a secret from fellow students and security, and took a range of casual range of jobs.
他不敢告訴同學自己的祕密，平常就打一些零工當做家用。

But Ilgunas said his simple mission became a life-changing experience. And he got his degree, debt-free.
但肯最終將這一切變成了改變他一生的體驗。他也拿到了他的碩士學位，不用再還貸款了。