金墉美国东北大学2013届毕业典礼演讲
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金墉美国东北大学2013届毕业典礼演讲Thank you, good morning谢谢你们早上好Since I was a basketball player in high school我原来在高中是篮球运动员I've always wanted to perform at the Garden, and here I am我总想在花园球场一展身手今天我做到了President Joseph E. Aoun约瑟夫·E·奥恩校长Distinguished faculty members and administrators尊敬的各位教职员工和行政人员Members of the Class of 20132013届的全体毕业生们Ladies and gentlemen女士们先生们It's truly a great privilege for me to be here today with all of you今天在这里与在座各位欢聚一堂是一个莫大的荣幸especially the members of the Class of 2013 and your families and friends 特别是2013届毕业生以及你们的家人和朋友You should be very proud你们应该感到非常自豪This is a day for memories, a day to savor这是难以忘怀的一天值得体味的一天A day, also, to join in honoring those who two weeks ago这一天我们也要对那些在两周前responded so courageously in the face of tragedy--勇敢面对悲剧的人们including Northeastern students and staff包括东北大学的学生和员工致敬who provided critical care and support to victims of the attack他们为爆炸受害者提供了重要的关爱和支持It's an honor to stand before you此时此刻我站在各位面前just at the moment when you are leaving this great University正值你们即将离开这所伟大的学府and about to step into your life即将踏入你们的人生the script of which is yet to be written人生脚本还是一张白纸之际我深感荣幸Throughout my years in the academy, I've loved commencements 在我投身学术界的岁月里我曾很喜欢毕业典礼It's one of the rare moments in our modern culture when ritual 因为它代表着我们现代文化中那些罕见的时刻当仪式tradition and even a bit of pageantry brighten our lives传统和一点点排场照亮了我们的人生But I'm sure many of you are out there today但是我敢肯定你们中许多人concerned about what the future will bring对于未来将会带来什么有点担心and I just want to say to you我只是想对你们说that not only is your future uncertain不仅仅是你们的未来不确定but the overwhelming likelihood is that it's far more uncertain than you know 而最大的可能性是它远比你所知的更不确定And you know what, that's a good thing你们知道吗这是一件好事A recent study by a group of psychologists in the journal Science几位心理学家最近在《科学》杂志上发表了一篇研究论文found that people are extremely poor at predicting their futures他们发现人极其不擅长预测自己的未来The study showed他们的研究显示that, for example, a typical 20-year-old woman's predictions例如一个典型的20岁女性for life changes in the next decade of her life对自己未来十年人生变化的预测were not nearly as radical绝不像一个典型的as the typical 30-year-old woman's recollection of how much she had changed in her 20s30岁女性对自己在20来岁时有多大变化的回忆那么激进In other words, 20-year-olds had little idea of换句话说20岁的人对于自己just how much they would change over the next ten years在未来十年会有多大变化几乎没有概念This discrepancy persisted among respondents all the way into their 60s这种差异在受访者中一直延续到60多岁的人This study's findings are essentially the story of my life这项研究结果基本上也是我的人生故事In fact, even before I was born, given the obstacles my parents faced事实上即使在我出生之前鉴于我父母所面临的重重障碍I would never have predicted that, in fact, I would be born事实上我都不敢预测我会出生My father spent his childhood in North Korea我的父亲在朝鲜度过了他的童年At the age of 17, he escaped across the border into South Korea他在17岁那年偷越边境逃到韩国leaving his parents, his brothers and sisters, his entire extended family --离开他的父母他的兄弟姐妹他的所有亲朋好友everything he had ever known --离开了他所熟悉的一切He had no money. Still他身无分文但是somehow he managed to enroll in the Seoul National University Dental School他还是设法进了首尔国立大学牙科学院and became a dentist后来成为一名牙医He told me stories about how he had so little money他告诉我他口袋里只有一点点钱he often could only afford to buy lunch from the illegal noodle vendors in the street 常常只能买得起街上非法小摊贩卖的面条当午餐Once when he was eating his contraband ramen有一次他正在无照小摊旁边吃面next to the vendor, police started chasing the vendors and all the customers警察来了开始驱赶小摊贩和顾客But my father told me但我的父亲告诉我that as he was running, he kept eating his noodles他一边跑一边还在吃他的面because he knew he wouldn't be able to afford any more因为他知道自己买不起另一碗面了My mother was born in China near Shanghai我的母亲出生在中国上海附近among a small community of Korean expatriates一个韩国侨民居住的小社区After returning to Korea, on a day she will never forget回到韩国后有一天她永远都不会忘记my grandmother went outside to hang the laundry and she never saw here again我的外祖母出去晾衣服就再也没有回来she was probably either taken or killed by North Korean soldiers她可能是被北朝鲜士兵绑架或杀害了With the war closing in around her随着战争的临近at the age of 15, my mother became a refugee我的母亲在15岁时成了难民and literally walked, with her younger brother on her back为了躲避战火她背着她弟弟for 200 miles to escape the fighting徒步走了200英里Luckily, she was able to resume her schooling in a tent in the southern city of Masan幸运的是她在南部马山市的一顶帐篷里得以继续学业She was an excellent student and with great good luck她是一个好学生非常幸运地she received a scholarship from a secret women's society in the United States 获得了美国一个秘密妇女学会提供的奖学金and enrolled as a freshman at Scarritt College in Nashville, Tennessee进入田纳西州纳什维尔的斯卡里特学院Through almost unthinkably divergent and unlikely paths通过几乎是无法想象的完全不同和不可能的路径my parents ended up meeting in New York City at a Christmas party我的父母最终在纽约市的一次圣诞聚会上邂逅相遇that gathered together the few hundred Korean students那次圣诞聚会聚集了几百名当时居住who were living in the United States at that time在美国的韩国学生They fell in love, married他们坠入爱河缔结良缘my older brother was born in New York City在纽约市生下我哥哥and then returned to Korea然后回到韩国I was born in Seoul and when I was five我出生在首尔在我五岁时my family moved back to the United States我们举家搬回到美国and we eventually settled in Muscatine, Iowa我们最终定居在爱荷华州的马斯卡廷My father opened his dental practice我的父亲开了自己的牙科诊所and my mother set to work on her PhD in philosophy at the University of Iowa 我的母亲在爱荷华大学研修哲学博士学位In the late 60's, influenced by my mother's passion for social justice在60年代末受我母亲热衷于社会公正的影响we watched the civil rights and anti-war movements我们看到民权和反战运动unfold from our living room in Muscatine从马斯卡廷我们家的客厅展开We lived, as you can tell你们可以想象我们有着the classic All-American, Korean family grows up in a small town in Iowa story 在爱荷华州一个小镇的经典的韩裔美籍家庭中成长的经历We fully embraced our lives in the heartland of this great country我们完全接受了在这个伟大国家中心地带的生活As you might imagine正如你们可以想象there weren't a lot of Asians in Iowa in the 60's and 70's在60年代和70年代爱荷华州的亚洲人并不多but happily, one of the most popular shows at that time was Kung Fu 但令人高兴的是当时最受欢迎的一个节目是《功夫》the story of a former Shaolin priest故事讲的是一个少林和尚half-American, half-Chinese一半美国血统一半中国血统who comes to the United States to find his American father到美国来寻找他的美国父亲So while we were outsiders in a profound sense in Iowa所以虽然我们从深层意义上讲在爱荷华州属于外人at least the bully kids left us alone但至少爱欺负人的孩子不招惹我们because they thought all Asians knew Kung Fu因为他们认为所有的亚洲人都会功夫even my sister, and she was 3 when we moved to Iowa甚至我妹妹她到爱荷华州的时候才只有三岁I played quarterback on the football team in high school--我在高中橄榄球队打四分卫but don't be too impressed但别以为我们有多了不起we had the longest losing streak in the nation by the time I graduated as a senior 在我毕业那年我们是全国连败最长的队Years and years without a victory一年又一年我们一次都没赢过It was said that grandfathers of my teammates有人说我同学的爷爷们had contributed to the multi-generational loosing streak早就为子孙后代的连败打下了基础After high school, I eventually ended up at Brown University高中毕业后我最终考进了布朗大学and I remember vividly one particular day when I returned from college有一次从大学回家我尤其记忆犹新My father picked me up at the airport我的父亲到机场接我and when we were driving home, he asked me in the most casual way在我们开车回家的路上他很随便地问了我一句Jim, what are you thinking of studying?金墉你想学什么呢I told him I was excited about philosophy and political science我说我对哲学和政治学很感兴趣I thought I could make a difference in the world我认为我可以改变这个世界and I was thinking of going into politics我在考虑从政My father put the blinker on我父亲打开车子的闪光灯slowly pulled over to the side of the road, turned off the car把车缓缓开到路边停下looked back at me and said, "Hey他转过身来看着我说"听着"once you finish your medical residency, you can do anything you want你只要完成了医生实习期就可以做任何你想做的事情Now, I see some Asian parents in audience nodding their heads我看到在座的亚洲家长正在点头saying, what's funny about that?说这有什么好笑的But you see, my father knew all about uncertainty不过你们看到我父亲十分懂得不确定性He knew that it's impossible to be sure about where you might end up in life 他很清楚一个人不可能知道自己最终会做什么And he worried that his own success而且他很担心自己的成功might have deprived his children of the opportunity to understand deeply有可能会使自己的子女没有机会深入理解the meaning of running away from the noodle police 从警察身边跑开当然同时还要while, of course, finishing your noodles吃完剩下的面条意味着什么He wanted me to have a skill他希望我掌握一门本领and he wanted me to butt my head up against the joy 他希望我能冲向自己的兴趣but also the hard reality of finishing medical school 但也希望我能刻苦读完医学院finishing residency完成实习期and caring for patients in life-or-death situations照顾同生与死作斗争患者们I'm so grateful to my father我很感谢我的父亲So far I've told you that life is uncertain到目前为止我告诉你们说人生是不确定的but you already knew that但你们已经了解了这一点What I really want you to know我真正想让你们了解的是is that you have abundant tools to face that uncertainty你们拥有大量的工具来直面这种不确定性and to lead an extraordinary life, even beyond your wildest dreams 成就不平凡的人生甚至超出你最疯狂的梦想Roy Baumeister is a psychologist罗伊·鲍迈斯特是一位心理学家who has devoted his career to studying the qualities in human beings 终生研究能够带领人类取得that lead to what he calls "positive outcomes"他称之为"积极的结果"的人类素质In this fascinating field, researchers have found在这个令人着迷的领域研究人员发现that two traits are most consistently associated with success:有两个特质始终与成功相伴intelligence and willpower智力和意志力In Baumeister's book entitled Willpower从鲍迈斯特所著的《意志力》一书中we learn that efforts to permanently increase intelligence have failed 我们了解到虽然永久地提高智力的努力归于失败but people can in fact improve their willpower但人其实是可以提高自身的意志力的Baumeister and his colleagues鲍迈斯特和他的同事们have shown that taking certain actions to improve willpower已经证明采取某些行动来提高意志力is the surest way to a more successful life是实现更成功的人生的最可靠的途径Moreover, they've shown that willpower is like a muscle此外他们也已证明意志力就像肌肉that can be built with practice可以通过锻炼来强化but also that if you don't actively exercise your willpower而且如果你不积极锻炼你的意志力your capacity to do so will atrophy你的能力就会像你的腹部肌肉一样just like your stomach muscles if you stop doing sit-ups在停止做仰卧起坐之后会出现萎缩They've even learned that because willpower is associated with a certain part of your brain他们甚至还了解到由于意志力与大脑的某些部位有关maintaining glucose levels in your blood to feed that part of your brain保持血液里的血糖水平来滋养大脑的这个部位is critical for sustaining your willpower对于维持意志力至关重要Looked at from another angle从另一个角度看a group of researchers has shown that, more than talent一些研究人员已经证明与天赋相比practice is what determines mastery over any given skill or ability实践才是决定能否掌握任何技能或能力的主要因素Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers马尔科姆·格拉德威尔在他的《局外人》一书中popularized an important body of work that showed推广的一项重要研究成果表明that the path to mastery requires 10,000 hours of practice达到精通之路需要10000个小时的练习Books with titles like "talent is overrated" have been published to make the point 《天赋被高估了》等书的出版就是为了说明这一点Now I want you to know现在我希望你们了解that there's really good news here这里实际上有个好消息especially for Northeastern graduates尤其是对东北大学的毕业生来说By graduating today, you've shown the entire world通过今天的毕业你们已经向全世界证明that you have more than enough IQ points to achieve anything you want 你们有足够的智商去获得任何成就Willpower, discipline and focus --意志力纪律和专注the essential qualities for success that everyone needs --每个人都需要的成功的必备素质are in your hands to develop and build就掌握在你们手中靠你们去开发和建立As Baumeister shows in his book鲍迈斯特在他的书中揭示you can indeed go to the willpower gym你的确可以去意志力健身房and come out mentally buff, ready to take on the world强健精神准备好挑战世界Now about the 10,000 hours it takes to achieve mastery现在来谈谈达到精通所需要的10,000个小时Well, because you've studied here at Northeastern由于你们已完成在东北大学的学业you've got a head start你们已经有了一个良好的开端My own estimate is that, through your cooperative education in which我个人的估计是通过合作式教育you've received both classroom knowledge and practical knowledge你们学到了课堂知识和实践知识you all deserve at least a couple of thousand hours of discount off the standard 10,000你们可以至少从10,000个标准小时中扣除2000个小时Good for you and congratulations干得好祝贺你们But in addition to thinking about uncertainty and willpower但是除了思考不确定性和意志力之外还有一件事there's one more thing I want you to try to will yourself to remember today今天我希望你们能够用自己的意志力记住I want you to think about how you can use time effectively我希望你们想一想怎样才能有效地利用时间and for good in this complex world在这个复杂的世界里持之以恒Back in Iowa早在爱荷华州时my mother used to read to me the writings of Martin Luther King我的母亲曾经读马丁·路德·金的著作给我听In Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"金牧师在"寄自伯明翰监狱的信"中he writes about the need to understand the urgency of the present写了他对现实紧迫性的理解的需要He writes about an experience with a white moderate --他写道与一位白人温和派人士an ally of the civil rights movement --民权运动盟友的交流who wrote to him saying that he, Dr. King was in too great a hurry此人写信给他说他金牧师过于性急and that "the lessons of Christ take time to come to earth"而且"基督的教义传播人世总要花费时日"African Americans, the white moderate said这位温和派人士认为非裔美国人would eventually -- eventually -- be granted their civil rights最终最终会获得民权Dr. King responded, and I quote金牧师回应说我在此引用他的话"Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time"这样的态度乃源自对时间的可悲误解and a strangely irrational notion that there is something in the flow of time源自一种不合理的奇特观念认为在时间之流当中that will inevitably cure all ills会有什么东西必将疗治所有的邪恶Actually, time itself is neutral实际上时间是中立的东西It can be used destructively or constructively它可以用于建设也可以用于破坏More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time我越发觉得邪恶的人之利用时间much more effectively than the people of goodwill将会比善良的人更其有效We will have to repent in this generation not merely我们得在这一代进行忏悔不仅因for the hateful words and actions of the bad people坏人们充满仇恨的言辞与行为but for the appalling silence of the good people也因好人们骇人听闻的沉默For myself, with all the willpower I can muster就我自己而言我集中全部的意志力I try to bring the sense of urgency in Dr. King's words to my work today试图将金博士所说的紧迫感带入我今天的工作I do this with an understanding that I still have no idea of what the future may bring我这样做是因为我了解我仍不知道未来可能会带来什么After all, I had no idea that I would not only get my medical degree毕竟我没有想到我不仅获得了医学学位but also a PhD in anthropology而且还获得了人类学博士学位at an institution that is known as a "small technical school" just我获得博士学位的地方就在东北大学历史传奇校园外just up Huntington Ave from the historic legendary campus of Northeastern University亨廷顿大街往上的那所"小技术学校"(哈佛)I had no idea that I would help found an organization, Partners in Health我没有想到我会和我的同事保罗·法默一起帮助创建了with my colleague Paul Farmer一个机构"健康伙伴"and eventually work in 10 countries并最终在全世界10个国家开展了工作I had no idea that my experience at Partners In Health我没有想到我在"健康伙伴"的工作经历would lead me to take charge of the World Health Organization's HIV/AIDS initiative会为我带来主管世界卫生组织艾滋病计划的工作where we try to get 3 million people treatment by the year 2005并开展了一场到2005年治疗3百万名艾滋病患者的运动And with only minimal academic administrative experience我只有很少的学术管理经验I was given the enormous honor of becoming President of Dartmouth College却得到巨大荣誉被委以达特茅斯学院院长一职Finally, completely out of the blue最后就如晴天霹雳一般President Obama last year asked me to stand as a candidate to lead the World Bank Group去年奥巴马总统邀请我作为领导世界银行集团的候选人之一Always with some trepidation虽然总是有些诚惶诚恐I embraced these unexpected opportunities但我接受了这些意外的机会and now I find myself in one of the most interesting jobs in the world现在我发现自己做的是世界上最有意思的工作之一The World Bank Group is an extraordinary organization世界银行集团是一个非同寻常的机构founded in the 1940's成立于1940年代to rebuild Europe after World War II初衷是在二战之后重建欧洲Over the 66 years of its existence在其存在的66年里it has become the premier development institution in the world它已成为世界上最大的发展机构Just two weeks ago就在两周前The World Bank Group governing body endorsed a target世行理事会批准了一个目标to end extreme poverty by 2030 -- just 17 years from now即到2030年从现在起在短短17年时间里终结极度贫困It's the first time in history that we've been able to see the end of poverty我们将看到贫穷在人类历史上第一次结束Our Governors我们的理事会who are made up of the Ministers of Finance and Development of 188 member countries由188个成员国的财政和发展部长组成also endorsed a goal to boost shared prosperity他们还通过一个目标就是促进共享繁荣so that the bottom 40% of income earners in our member states使我们成员国里处于收入最底层的40％人口can share in economic growth可以分享经济增长的成果Our Governors also emphasized that prosperity must be shared with future generations我们的理事会还强调必须让子孙后代共享繁荣which means that we will be leaders in tackling climate change这就意味着我们将在应对气候变化方面发挥领导作用Because we know that climate change has the potential to wipe out因为我们知道气候变化有可能使many of the development gains of the past decades and plunge people back into poverty过去数十年的发展成果毁于一旦使人民重新陷入贫困By setting such bold targets for our organization通过给我们的机构设定这种大胆的目标and setting an expiration date for extreme poverty为消除世界上的极度贫困设定期限our Governors have given us the gift of focus and urgency我们的理事会赋予我们着眼点和紧迫感We will now use time to drive forward what we hope现在我们要花时间来推进我们的期望will be a signal achievement in human history成为人类历史上的一项标志性成就In closing, my challenge to you is this最后我对你们提出的挑战是set bold goals, deliberately and consciously build your willpower设定大胆的目标有意识和自觉地建立自己的意志力and use your time well. You are so fortunate用好你们的时间你们是如此幸运Northeastern's co-op program and emphasis on experiential learning东北大学的合作教育计划和对体验式学习的重视make this one of the most innovative educational models in the world today是当今世界上最具创新性的教育模式之一With co-op options now in more than 70 countries, in all types of organizations合作模式已在70多个国家各种类型的机构中推广this University has given you an unexcelled preparation for global citizenship这所大学为你们成为全球公民做了极好的铺垫As countries around the world, including the United States世界各国包括美国search for ways to overhaul higher education都在寻找改革高等教育的路径they're looking to Northeastern's example他们也在研究东北大学的案例Through your hard work in these past four years, you've acquired something exceptional通过你们在过去四年的努力你们获得了一些特殊的资质the foundations for critical and self-critical thinking批判和自我批判思维的基础joined to the practical skills to solve tough problems in the real world 结合解决现实世界中棘手问题的实用技能These are extraordinary qualifications这些都是非凡的资质They give you power它们赋予你们力量and responsibility还有责任Like my father on the streets of Seoul --就像在首尔街头的我的父亲though in a different way --虽然以不同的方式you face a world of uncertainty你们都面对着一个充满不确定性的世界Don't fear that uncertainty不要害怕这种不确定性Embrace it. Use it去拥抱它去利用它Uncertainty means that nothing is predetermined不确定性意味着没有什么是预先确定的Uncertainty means that the future is yours to shape --不确定性意味着未来需要你们去塑造with the force of your will, the force of your intellect用你们的意志力量你们的智慧力量and the force of your compassion以及你们的同情心力量Uncertainty is freedom不确定性就是自由Take that freedom and run with it抓住这种自由带着它奔跑吧And please don't forget to eat some noodles along the way 别忘了一边跑一边吃点面条。
