朱迪福斯特演講：不要讓機會從指縫中溜走

• 2026考研英語全程班 6班
• 26考研全科上岸規劃營「擇校▪規劃▪備考」
• 2026考研專業課復習資料「真題▪筆記▪講義▪題庫」

My fellow graduates, I've got the best seat in the house today, a view of the greatest hearts, minds and talents of this generation. You will undoubtedly hear a lot of that kind of talk here today. There are sayings like "the intellectual elite" or "the hope for this country's future" or "the responsibilitythat comes with the privilege of education."

畢業生們，今天我坐在這個大廳最好的位置，看到你們這擁有最偉大的心靈、頭腦和才華的一代。毫無疑問，今天你們將聽到許多這樣的話，像“知識精英”“國家未來之希望”或是“精英教育賦予的光榮使命”等等。

And if you're anything like I was at my Yale graduation in 1984, you'll think, what a load of elitistcrap. You'll look around you, at your friends still bleary eyed and silly from last night's concoctions, the buddies you curl up with, sing stupid songs with, make faces with. These guys? We can't possibly be the ones they're talking about...Do we know where we're going? Hell no! If you're anything like I was you'll spend the next six months in bed watching re-runs feeling like a complete idiot.

如果你們一如我1984年在耶魯畢業時的狀態，就會認為這關于精英的說法簡直就是一堆廢話!你們會望望四周，看著朋友惺松而略帶傻氣的眼睛，其眼角甚至還帶著昨天晚上的分泌物;看著那些密友，他們曾和你相互依偎，和你哼唱愚蠢歌曲，和你互做鬼臉，然后不禁會想就這些人?我們不可能成為人們口中所謂的精英，我們知道該何去何從嗎?見鬼，還真不知道!如果你們此時就像當時的我，就會在接下來的6個月里，縮在床上觀看畢業典禮錄像，然后覺得自己完全像個白癡。

But somewhere in the middle of free from post-graduation survival, the journey of your life has a way of sneaking off the starting line. That is when your Penn education start specking through. You have been given the promise of meaningfulness. You've learned the discipline to "just do it," to apply yourself and lay your guts on the line. You have been inspired and not just by the things you have learned here. (Let's face it. You won't remember a single test question in a few months.) You have been inspired by the experiences you have had, the people you've held, the blood you have shed, all the growing up surrounded by hopefulness of spirit. You have dared, have stuck your hands in the surf and come up with dripping substance? All of that fine and delicious matter has a way of becoming the material of your life. You pick up bits and pieces of treasure and trash, pain and pleasure, passions and disappointments and you start stuffing them in your bag...your big bag of experience. You do some dumb things that don't work out at all. You stumble excitedly on little gems that you never saw coming. And you stuff them all in your bag. You pursue the things you love and believe in. You cast off the images of yourself that don't fit. And suddenly you look behind you and a pattern emerges. You look in front of you and the path makes sense. There is nothing more beautiful than finding your courses you believe you bob aimlessly in the current. Wouldn't you know that your path was there all along, waiting for you to knock, waiting for you to become. This path does not belong to your parents, your teachers, your leaders, or your lovers.

但就在畢業后謀生的過程中，你們不知不覺地跨出起跑線，開始生命的旅程，而那也是你們在賓夕法尼亞大學接受的教育開始發生作用的時候。你們得到的承諾就是生命是充滿意義的。你們熟諳“拋開雜念，動手去做”的告誡。激勵你們的不僅僅是你們在學校里學到的東西(事實上，考試過后沒幾個月你就會忘光所有的試題)，還有你們的經歷，與之交往過的人物，付出的血汗，以及整個被希望之光籠罩著的成長歷程。你們也曾勇敢無畏，小試牛刀，小有建樹，所有這些美好而令人愉快的事物無不構成了你們生活的材料。你們撿拾起所有美好或糟糕的記憶片段，重溫每一次的激情和失望，然后開始將它們塞人你們的行囊—個裝滿著你們經驗的大行囊。你們會做些根本行不通的傻事，你們會懷揣著憧憬一路跌跌撞撞，而那塊小小的寶石卻遲遲不肯出現。所有這一切，你們都收人囊中。你們追逐自己所深愛的和所堅信的，丟棄那些與自己不符的形象，當你們驀然回首，將看到漸漸成型的自己;展望前方，一條道路漸漸明晰。當你們在生活大潮中漫無目的地漂浮游蕩時，沒有什么是比重新找到航線更好的事了。你們難道沒有意識到;路其實一直就在前方，它在靜候你們的腳步，等待你們實現夢想。這條路不屬于你們的父母、老師、領導或愛人。

Your path is your character defining itself more and more everyday like a photograph coming into focus, like a color that becomes more vivid in contrast with its surroundings. And who is this shiny penny rolling towards that bright future, our graduating cliche? Is he or she so shiny? Is the future truly bright? Well, that is only for you to know and for you to find out. You are standing on a freeway and things will happen. How you duck, weave and balance, how you push, twist and choose, well, that is up to you.

這條路一天天地幫助你們認清自我，就如同照片慢慢對準了焦點，也像一種顏色在周圍的映襯下變得更加鮮艷生動。那么，是誰正跌跌撞撞地尋找那個我們在畢業時所謂遠大的前程呢?他們真的如此優秀嗎?未來真的如此光明嗎?這只有你們自己才知道，也只能由你們自己去發現。你們正置身于高速公路上，一切都有可能發生。你們可以疾速行駛，迂回穿行或是兩者并用;你們也可以向前推進，蜿蜒蛇行或是另辟蹊徑，這一切都取決于你們自己。

I'm sure all of you remember your fresh man year of 2002. On the anniversary of the worst September in our nation's history we were all glued to those burning buildings, the screaming confusion, the fiery chaos of the 9 .1lattacks set against a painful drumbeat for war.

我相信你們都還記得初入學的2002年，當時正值我們國家歷史最糟糕的9"11事件發生后一周年，猶記得悲劇發生的那一刻，熊熊燃燒的大樓，驚慌失措的人群，9"11事件的烈焰和喧囂讓我們記憶猶新，驚恐萬分。

And there were the stories. The immigrant window washer working on the Twin Towers that day. How he'd had breakfast that morning with one of those happy grins. "It's gonna be sunny

這其中也涌現出很多故事。那天早上，雙子塔外來務工的窗戶清潔員帶著慣常的憨笑，享用著早飯，并感嘆道;“今天又將是個晴天”。

The preschoolers holding hands as they were hurried down Greenwich Street away from the explosions. The teachers would shout, "If you see their parents tell them they're okay " Firemen climbing up, climbing up into the smoke as the world we'd come to believe in crumbled below them. Grief, unending grief, too hard for one nation to bear. And in that one instant of deep sorrowful mourning the world was with us. We reached out our arms as the world reached out its arms. A terrible moment. A moment of wonder. A moment so true and so beautiful and so exquisitely sad, one that we shared with humankind...And then the moment was gone, in my belief, squandered. So many lives lost, for what? And where are we now?

當幼兒園的孩子們手牽手沿著格林威治大街匆匆離開爆炸現場時，老師們朝大樓高聲喊道;“如果看見孩子們的父母，務必請他們放心，孩子們很安全”。消防隊員們不斷地向上攀爬，沖進滾滾濃煙當中，我們一直以來信任的世界在他們腳下破碎坍塌。悲傷襲來，這是我們的國家不能承受之重。就在那無比沉痛的一刻，整個世界站到了我們這邊，和我們伸手相擁，相互扶持。這是恐怖的一刻，也是神奇的一刻，這一刻如此真實，如此美妙，如此令人心醉。這一刻我們分享人性—然后這一刻消失不見了。依我看，是被我們揮霍殆盡了。這么多的生命葬送了，原因何在?我們目前又是處于怎樣一種狀態?

Your senior year witnessed the terrible wake of Hurricane Katrina, a mark so devastating on our country that words just cannot describe. (Not just the natural disaster but our leader's equally disastrous and shameful reaction.)

你們大三的時候親眼目睹了“卡特里娜”咫風造成的傷害，這一災害給我們國家造成的損失無法用語言表達，不僅僅因為咫風是一場自然災害，更由于我們的領導人災后應對措施不力，他們應對此感到羞愧。

How do you live down that mark, a scar that will haunt America and the fabric of its communities for decades to come? No, this country is not better now than it was four years ago. The world is not better now than it was four years ago. That will be part of your story, graduates of the class of 2006. Not your parents' story, not your teachers', your friends', your lovers' or your leaders'. Where will your story take you? How will your experience pave the way for a new voice in America? I hope it will take you out of these doors, out into the open air. You will breathe it in your lungs and say, "From now on this life will be what I stand for, dammit. Move over. This is my story now"

這塊傷痛將在未來幾十年里一直困擾折磨著美國社會生活的各個方面。我們如何將這一切遺忘?不，相比四年前，這個國家沒有變得更美好。同樣，世界也沒有比四年前變得更美好。2006屆畢業生們，這將成為你們故事的一部分，而不是你們的父母、老師、朋友、愛人或領導故事。這些故事將把你們帶往何方?而這些的經歷將如何幫助你們在美國發出自己的聲音?我希望它能讓你們走出室內，來到戶外，深吸一口氣然后說:“從這一刻起，我將代表這個世界仁嘟L一讓，現在輪到我上場了。”

You will find on your diplomas, and my diploma the motto of the University of Pennsylvania, which in Latin reads: "Leges sine moribus vanae." "Laws without morals are useless." I would add that morals without commitment are empty. Your Penn education has given you a two-by-four. You may build a building or hit someone over the head. The choice is yours. How lucky to find you have the option of filling your life with your passions. And no, not everyone does. You have the privilege of` creating meaning in your life so that others might also come to enjoy that privilege. Do not waste it trying to become someone you're not. Use it to become who you are already. Class of 2006, I'll leave you with a quote you all know by heart. Feel free to chime in. I'm going to say it twice. You better lose yourself in the music, the moment, You own it. You better never let it go. One shot! Do not miss your chance to blow

在你們的學位證書和我的學位證書上，赫然印著賓夕法尼亞大學受人尊崇的格言，從拉丁語翻譯過來就是“法無德不立”。對此，我想稍加補充:沒有奉獻的道德準則是空洞的。你們在賓夕法尼亞大學接受的教育是十分有限的，你們可以建造大樓或是傷害他人，選擇權在于你們自己。當你們發現自己可以選擇讓激情充滿生活時會倍感幸運，因為并非所有人都有選擇的權利。你們有權利為自己創造有意義的生活，而這反過來也能使別人擁有同樣的權利。不 要試圖成為別人，那只是浪費時間，而要花時間成為自己。2006屆畢業生們，我將為你們留下一段你們爛熟于心的引言，你們無需拘謹，可以和我一起大聲說出來， 我將會說兩次—你最好能沉醉在音樂之中，這一刻，屬于你，不要讓它溜走，只 能射擊一次!僅此一次，不要讓機會從你指縫中溜走。

This opportunity comes once in a lifetime.

這個機會一生只有一次。