金墉美国东北大学2013届毕业典礼演讲

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 2013 2013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 20s

30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