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Powers校長、McRaven校監與前校監、令人尊敬的教職員與來賓,當然,最重要的是2015年畢業生,恭喜。因此這是一個重要的夜晚,一個進入人生下一階段的紀念儀式,一個特別、稍縱即逝、將深印於你記憶中的時刻。相信我,我清楚記得我畢業那天的情形:驕傲、喜悅、不確定以及最後的如釋重負。我也記得第一次踏入這個神奇校園的情形,當時我是個來自德州小鎮、孤陋寡聞、骨瘦如柴的鄉巴佬,我拖著腳步行走,經過各式各樣不曾見過的人。我看見嬉皮,我家鄉沒有嬉皮。我看見一家古怪、奇特、不起眼、名叫「全食」的雜貨店,我記得我走進店裡,心想:「這種店絕對不會流行。」但我一直知道我想成為UT(德州大學)的一份子,儘管我走遍世界各地,我的心不曾遠離這個地方。就讀這所神奇學校期間,我飢渴地汲取所有生活中的美好,一點一滴都不放過。以許多方面來說,抵達這所學校後我的人生才真正開始。想瞭解我的意思,我想應該先瞭解我的背景。
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To President Powers; to our distinguished regents; to President-Elect Fenves; esteemed deans; members of the faculty and staff; honored guests; family and friends of the graduates; and, most importantly to the class of 2015: Congratulations!This is a momentous evening — a monumental rite of passage — one of those special, fleeting moments that will radiate in your memories for the rest of your lives. Take it from me. I can vividly recall almost everything about my commencement day. The pride. The joy. The uncertainty. The relief.I also remember when I first set foot on this campus in 1978, I was a clueless, naïve, skinny version of myself. There I was, walking past new kinds of people (I had never seen hippies before); walking on the drag and into this weird, funky, hole-in-the-wall grocery store (a place called “Whole Foods”).I always knew I wanted to be a part of the UT community — and, though I’ve traveled far and wide, I’ve never been apart from it.My first semester here, I believe I responded to every sign-up sheet I saw on the West Mall. During my time on this magical campus, I drank UT life from a firehose. Every drop. In many ways, it was only when I arrived here that my life finally started.Now, to understand what I mean, you have to understand where I was coming from.
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如Powers校長所言,我是一位單親媽媽在慈善醫院產下的孩子,住在路易斯安那一個偏僻的小鎮。但我母親意識到這裡並非能提供我和妹妹機會的地方,因此她帶著我們搬到德州某處落腳,一個位於自由郡、名叫Ames的德州小鎮,人口約1,400,與Beaumont相距不遠。我母親努力學習,成為一名助理護士,一份她從事數十年、令她擁有自豪與尊嚴的工作。我就讀公立學校,我們擁有的不多,但已經足夠,這就是我的起點。畢業生們,我告訴你們這些有兩個理由,第一個理由是:或許畢業證書寫的是你的名字,這個學位並非只屬於你。我告訴你們這個故事的第二個理由是:這是屬於我們的故事,一位男孩在德州Ames盒式小屋展開人生的故事,一位青年在陌生城市力爭上游的故事,如今有幸領導一個旨在消除全球貧困與不公的機構。這是一個屬於德州的故事,確切來說,這是一個屬於美國的故事。這是一個關於超越與克服的故事,一個關於尋找出路與前進道路的故事,簡言之,這是一個關於橋樑的故事。跨越它們、建立它們、成為它們。
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I was born to a single mother in a charity hospital, and we lived in a small, segregated Louisiana town. But my mother realized that this community was not a place of opportunity for my sister and me, and so we moved to Texas, where we had family — specifically to a town called Ames, population 1,400, in Liberty County.My mom studied to become a nurse’s assistant, a job she worked — with pride and dignity — for decades. I attended public schools. We didn’t have a lot. But we had enough. And these were my beginnings.Class of 2015: I tell you all this for two reasons. First, your name is on the degree, but it doesn’t belong only to you. The second reason I tell you this story is because my story is your story. The story of a boy, who started life in a little shotgun house in Ames, Texas; the story of a young man who made his way up the ladder in a new city, who has the great privilege of leading an institution committed to ending poverty and injustice in the world — this is a Texas story. This is an American story. It’s a story about transcending and overcoming; about the pathway out and the roadway forward. In short, it’s a story about bridges. About crossing them. Building them. Being them.
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你看,我跨越一座橋,從路易斯安那來到德州,我永遠不會忘記第一次跨越科羅拉多河大橋來到奧斯汀。我跨越一座橋來到紐約,將德州大學的教育傳播到外面的世界。事實上我生命中每一個重要的轉折點、每一座象徵性橋樑都伴隨著真正的橋樑,然而,我們生命中最重要的橋樑並非總是由纜繩、水泥和鋼鐵構成,我們生命中的橋樑以多種形式呈現。在我的人生中,使我從貧困邁向機會的橋樑是我的母親和社會,但也包括反映美國慷慨的公共政策。這是我們熱愛的國家,也是世上唯一能讓我的故事成真的國家。我曾於1965年參與一個名為「Head Start」計畫的首期課程,那個計畫是使我從尚未規劃的人生邁向準備入學的橋樑,德州慈善家提供的私人獎學金與佩爾助學金是使我從低期望群體邁向高等教育的橋樑。在成長階段,我一直知道德州是我的支柱,我的每一個毛孔都清楚地感受到這一點。在奧斯汀,我有像John Trimble教授這樣的指導者,他告訴我:「達倫,你唸大學的目的並非找工作,你唸大學的目的是接受教育。」我擁有許多支持者,那些人展現他們的仁慈,提供我一個通往我不曾想像之世界的橋樑,沒有他們,我今天就無法站在這裡。
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You see, my mother crossed a bridge to take my sister and me into Texas. I’ll never forget crossing the bridge over the Colorado River on my first visit to Austin. I crossed a bridge into New York, when I took my University of Texas education out into the world.In fact, every major turning point in my life — every figurative bridge — has been accompanied by a literal one.Yet, the most important crossings in our lives are not always made of cables, and concrete, and steel. The bridges in our lives take many forms.On my journey, there was my mother — a bridge from poverty into possibility. But there also were public policies that reflected the generosity of America, the country we love — the only country in the world where my story could even be possible. A program called Head Start was my bridge between being unready for life and prepared for school. Private scholarships from Texas philanthropists and Pell grants were my bridge between lower expectations and higher education.And during my formative years, I always knew — with every fiber of my being — that Texas had my back; that Texas was cheering me on.In Austin, I had mentors like my English Professor, John Trimble, who told me that, “you don’t come to college to get a job. You come to college to get an education.” I had champions — women and men who, through their kindness, offered me a bridge to a world I could not have imagined on my own. Without them, I wouldn’t be here. Period.
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因此畢業生們,就像我一樣,你們是社會培育下成長茁壯的產物。在紐約,我身處由預備學校畢業生與常春藤盟校校友構成的世界,我居住的曼哈頓小島充斥著世上最有才華、最具競爭力、最有野心的人,但我在UT所受的教育-是的,我在公立學校所受的教育讓我做好準備,使我踏上這座小島、參與競爭、獲得成功,最後成為領導者。它也為你們做好準備,這是德州兼容並蓄的特質,也是德州橋樑的承諾。我的橋樑屬於白人、黑人、棕色人種、同性戀、異性戀、富人、窮人與任何事物。你知道,這正是橋樑的特質,它們不會歧視任何事物,它們參與擁有不同宗教背景與膚色的人群,參與所有的類別與群體,它們帶領我們邁向一段旅程,一段共同的旅程,希望前往更美好的地方,以下是我僅僅幾個月前在阿拉巴馬州塞爾瑪一座非常特殊的橋上想到的事。
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Graduates: Just like me, you’re the product of a community that has prepared you to prosper and to thrive.In New York, I inhabit a world of prep school grads and Ivy League alums. The tiny island of Manhattan is densely packed with some of the most talented, ambitious people on the planet. But my UT education — my public school education — prepared me to compete, to succeed, and, ultimately, to lead. And it has prepared you, too.
This is the privilege of Texas bigheartedness — the promise of Texas bridges.My bridges were black, white, gay, straight, rich, poor, and everything in between. And like all bridges, they don’t discriminate. They join people and places of all creeds and colors, of all communities and categories. They take us on a journey, together — hopefully, somewhere better. And this is something of which I was reminded only a few months ago, on a very special bridge in Selma, Alabama.
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如在座許多人所知,今年是民權運動「血腥星期日」50周年紀念,一個美國歷史上的關鍵時刻。我有幸受邀參加三月舉行的紀念典禮,這是一個令我相當感動的經驗,因為我有幸與心目中的英雄-國會議員約翰.路易斯一起前往塞爾瑪。50年前他曾在艾德蒙.佩特斯橋上遊行,當約翰於1965年大膽領導一群遊行者前進時,他只是個25歲的大孩子,跟你們的年紀差不多。他不僅嚮往一個更美好的世界,也願意為此付出一切。同時,距此幾百英哩的我當時只有五歲,我不知道約翰.路易斯為我做了什麼,他和橋上其他人走向一群手持棍棒、騎在馬上的人,直接面對一場迅速而必然的毆打,免於我經歷這一切。因此我今天能站在這裡,是因為約翰.路易斯和無數人冒著生命危險,為了他們的信念所做的犧牲。然而,還有更多必須由我們共同完成的事。我們必須繼續縮短文化、經濟、發言權、政治等方面不平等的差距,因為事實是,今日社會中不平等現象隨處可見,無論是根據研究報告或統計資料,無論在校舍、法院或監獄,還有在巴爾的摩與弗格森等地的街頭。
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As many of you know, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement’s Bloody Sunday, a defining moment in American history. I was honored to attend the celebration back in March. It was incredibly, profoundly moving.I traveled to Selma with one of my personal heroes, Congressman John Lewis, who marched on the Edmund Pettis Bridge, a half century ago. When John boldly led the group of marchers forward in 1965, he was a twenty-five year old kid, more or less, your age. He not only yearned for a better world; he was willing to give everything for it.Meanwhile, a few hundred miles away, I was just five years old, and I had no idea what John Lewis was doing for me. He and the others on the bridge marched into men on horses with clubs — straight into a swift and certain beating — so that I wouldn’t have to. Indeed, I am here today because John Lewis, and countless others, put their lives on the line, and made sacrifices for what they believed in. And yet, there is more that we must do together.We must continue to bridge gaps of inequality — in our culture, in our economy, in our discourse, and in our politics. Because the truth is, we see inequality virtually everywhere — in studies and statistics; in schoolhouses, and courthouses, and jailhouses; and, yes, on the streets of Baltimore and Ferguson and elsewhere.
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對我來說,我們體制所面臨的挑戰相當個人化。我童年好友是我的表兄弟,和我一樣擁有天賦、熱情與潛力的男孩,但如我提過的,母親帶著我們從那個小鎮搬到德州,那些留下來的男孩有何遭遇?他們發現自己陷入與太多非裔美籍年輕人同樣的絕望循環中。根據我的統計,其中有五個人曾經入獄,很難瞭解其中原因。對某些人來說,生命朝既定方向展開;對另一些人來說則完全不同。但就我而言,我知道其中的差異為何:我擁有能帶來變化的橋樑,我擁有在背後支持我的人,我擁有讓我繼續前進的社會與制度,我擁有德州搭建的橋樑,我擁有通往希望的橋樑。因此我選擇抱持希望,抱持堅定的希望,因為在社會的進步中我們看見許多希望,這證明取得更大進步仍是可能的。我的故事提供了你需要的所有證明:一位像我這樣的孩子,來自德州Ames由工人階級組成的偏僻小鎮,現在成為我國代表性慈善機構總裁。當人們放下彼此差異、建立聯繫橋樑時會發生的結果,我就是最好的證明。
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To me, the challenges of our system are intensely personal. My childhood friends were cousins — boys with talents, and passions, and potential no different from my own.As I mentioned, my mother moved my sister and me from Louisiana to Texas. But what happened to my cousins who stayed behind? They found themselves in the same cycle of despair that has caught too many young black men. By my count, five of them have spent significant time in prison. It’s hard to know why, for some of us, life unfolds in one way — and, for others, completely differently. But, in my case, I think bridges made the difference. People had my back, and institutions kept me moving forward. I had bridges built in Texas, and beyond. I had bridges to hope.And so, I choose to be hopeful — radically hopeful — because there is hope in the progress we have seen, which affirms that more progress is possible. My story is all the evidence you need: A black kid from a working-class, rural Texas town, now president of one of our nation’s flagship institutions. I am proof of what happens when people set aside differences, and build bridges instead.
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我將我的人生故事轉化成生命的熱情所在,將生命的熱情所在轉化成人生目標:確保我國與全球所有男孩和女孩都能做到我所做的事,擁有夢想,建立他們能跨越的橋樑,讓夢想成真。但這並非新的嚮往,也並非新的想法,美國精神一直是人們選擇「彼此融為一體」主動的選擇。我們是「合眾國人民」,我們是「e pluribus unum」-合而為一的國家,我們是所有最初跨越海洋或河川的父母的希望和夢想,我們是橫貫大陸的鐵路,我們是跨大西洋航班,我們是州際公路系統,我們是網際網路,我們是埃利斯島,我們是埃德蒙.佩蒂斯大橋。我知道你們每個人都有自己想建立和跨越的橋樑:畢業與找工作之間的橋樑,使面臨危機之環境與生態系統回歸平衡的橋樑,迫切需要協助之族群與資源豐富族群之間的橋樑。因此今晚當你們跨越畢業典禮這座象徵性橋樑,當你們跨越科羅拉多河、留下身後40英畝校園,當你的人生旅程在眼前展開,思考一下你該如何建立一座通往更美好世界的橋樑。
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And I’ve made my life’s story into my life’s passion — and my life’s passion into my life’s project: Ensuring that every boy and girl in this country and around the world can cross the same bridges that I did.This is not a new aspiration. These are not new ideas.
America always has been about people choosing to bind themselves together. Actively choosing.We are “We, the people.” We are e pluribus unum — out of many, one. We are the hope of mothers and fathers of every origin crossing an ocean — or a river. We are the transcontinental railroad, and transatlantic flights, and the interstate highway system, and the Internet. We are Ellis Island, and the Edmund Pettis Bridge.I know each of you has your own bridges to build, and to traverse. The bridge between graduation and getting a job. The bridge between an environment in peril and ecosystems back in balance. The bridge between communities desperate with need and those rich in abundance.And so, tonight, as you cross the figurative bridge that is your commencement day — as you cross that bridge over the Colorado River and leave the 40 Acres behind; as your journey unfolds before your very eyes — think about how you can build a bridge to a better world.
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你知道,我在福特基金會的辦公室充滿來自這些「意外旅程」的紀念品。去年我進行的旅程超過十萬英哩,從會議室到搖搖欲墜的貧民窟,從底特律到德里,從聯合國到最貧困的國家。但無論前往何處,我都喜歡帶點東西回來,即使只是一個想法。在我辦公室裡許多重要的東西當中包括兩張我貼在電腦螢幕上的便利貼,上面寫著兩則我的座右銘,一則是:「壓力是一種特權。」另一則是:「休息會讓你生鏽。」因此毫無疑問,橋樑承受極大壓力,橋樑會腐朽、崩裂,當然,也會生鏽。作為橋樑是一輩子的工作,但現在你們已取得德州大學學位,你們已做好準備,擁有改變世界的特權。是的,銀行家可以成為橋樑,老師可以成為橋樑,社會工作者或科學家、醫生或外交官、警察或程式設計師都可以成為橋樑。法學院畢業生們:即使律師也能成為橋樑。
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You know, my office at the Ford Foundation is overflowing with mementos and memories from my unlikely journey — artifacts from global megacities and rural villages alike.I traveled more than 100,000 miles last year — from boardrooms to battered slums; from Detroit to Delhi; from the United Nations to the most impoverished of countries. Everywhere I visit, I try to bring something back, even if it’s just an idea. Among the many important things I keep are two sticky notes, affixed to my computer monitor. On them are written a pair of personal mottos. One says “pressure is a privilege.” The other, “you rest, you rust.”No doubt, bridges endure a lot of pressure. Bridges corrode, and crumble. They rust. Being a bridge is the work of a lifetime. But you’re prepared. Privileged, but poised to change the world.Yes, a banker can be a bridge. A teacher can be a bridge. A social worker or a scientist, a doctor or diplomat, a police officer or a computer programmer can be a bridge. And for you law-school grads and hopefuls out there: Even a lawyer can be a bridge.
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因此每當你感到壓力,請珍惜這項特權。每當你因自滿而懈怠,請讓那一天過得值得。因為以下的箴言是事實:「改變世界,從這裡開始。」但想要改變世界,從這裡開始的事不能止於這裡。走遍世界各地的過程中,我意識到德州為我所做的準備多麼充分,讓我足以應對每一個挑戰、跨越每一座橋樑、建立尚不存在的橋樑。無論走到哪裡,我都發現這個世界需要多一點德州精神。2015年畢業生:你們的未來就在這裡,你們的未來從現在開始,我等不及看見你們所跨越與建立的橋樑,以及誰將伴隨你進行這趟旅程。恭喜2015年畢業生,加油!
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So, every time you feel pressure, embrace the privilege. Every time you feel tempted to rest on your laurels, make that day matter. Because, yes, “what starts here changes the world,” but in order to change the world, what starts here cannot stop here.As I’ve travelled the globe, I’ve seen how Texas has prepared me for every challenge, to cross every bridge, to build bridges where they didn’t yet exist. And everywhere I go, I know that the world needs a little more of that Texas spirit.Class of 2015: Your future is here.
I cannot wait to see what bridges you cross, what bridges you build, and who you bring together on your journey.Oh, and one last thing, Hook 'em horns!Thank you. Congratulations.