【荐读】红遍全美的高中毕业演讲:你并不特别

2015年11月24日 美国新阳光国际



这真是一篇独特的毕业演讲,是一篇对美国教育反思的演讲。观看请点击以下视频!



通常我们认为,孩子在全国最好的高中之一毕业了,作为老师和家长,肯定是要说,你们是最棒的,是独一无二了,你们在这里获得了真才实学,锻炼了生活能力,一定能在社会上建功立业云云。尤其在美国,赏识教育是我们认为他们用得最熟练的地方,所谓“好孩子都是夸出来的”不就是西方的教育方式吗?


可是就是这位老师,以一种非常幽默的方式,在孩子们最志得意满的时候给他们一盆冷水。You are not special. You are not exceptional (你们并不特别,你们并不出色).


他说,从小到大,你们都是在纵容、溺爱、偏袒、保护、甚至过分爱护的环境中长大…你们被表扬和赞誉声包围,习惯了被称作‘小甜心’。但是你们不应该由此就认为你们是特别的,因为在今天美国就诞生了320万高中毕业生。即使你是百万里挑一的人,地球上也有7000人和你齐平。如果每个人都是特别的,那么谁也不是特别的了;每人都有奖杯,那奖杯也就毫无意义了。进而他说,人们为了人与人得竞争而害怕失败,美国人的一个致命弱点,就是热爱荣耀胜过真实的成就。我们变得乐于妥协,忽视现实。人们做任何事,不是如何做,甚至不再是赢或输,学习或成长,抑或是享受其中,而是能给我带来什么。这样即使一些有价值的事也被贬值了。他举例说,在危地马拉建一间诊所,仅仅是为申请Bowdwin College而非为危地马拉了。他说这就像瘟疫一样传染,连Welleslly这样的高中也不能幸免。B成了新的C,而中级的课程却变成了AP


他对即将毕业的学生提出了他的建议,他希望大家学到真正的所得是学习的乐趣,通过学习知道自己所知甚少。因为喜爱或者相信重要而去做事,抵抗自满的安慰、现实的恩惠和自我的麻醉。将读书作为人生的原则和一种自我尊重。要有梦想并努力工作。要过一段充实、与众不同又与外界联系紧密的生活,这就是一种成功。登上山顶并不是为了插上旗帜,而是要拥抱挑战,去看见世界而不是让世界看见你最终你将发现无私奉献就是你对你自己能做的最好的事。人生最美妙的乐趣就是在于承认自己并不特别。因为每个人都并不特别。


这位老师说的美国人现在的弱点,不正是我们中国教育的问题吗?一方面,说明教育的功利性,全球都一样,美国也不例外。我不知道这是不是中国移民越来越多给美国带来的影响,但我知道美国的孩子,甚至香港、新加坡等等,一样也是周末学这个学那个,但有多少是孩子真正喜欢的呢,还不是为了升学多一些砝码。参加社区慈善义工等等,有多少不是为了将来申请大学essay的分量可以重一点。每个孩子是不是都能拿出不少的奖状奖杯,这些又浪费了孩子多少从事自己热爱的活动的时间。


另一方面,我们一再强调学习的西方教育的理念,可人家也已经在反思了。是预先让孩子知道现实的残酷呢,还是让他们自己先沉浸在自我满足的虚荣里呢?David老师在孩子即将走向社会时,及时给了他们一个提醒,给了他们珍贵的建议。不管早晚,再晚也不迟!


真羡慕卫斯理高中的孩子们,他们可以在人生重要的时刻,聆听到如此精彩的演讲。



以下是演讲中英文全文:


王博士、Keough博士、Novogroski女士和Curran小姐;教育委员会委员和毕业生的亲朋好友;韦斯利高中2012年毕业班的女士先生们;有机会能在这个下午对你们演讲令我感到十分荣幸与感激,谢谢。好,进入主题吧!


毕业典礼-生命中重要的前瞻性仪式。别问说,“那婚礼呢?”婚礼是单方面的,而且效率不高。婚礼是以新娘为中心的盛会,除了同意一长串无理的要求外,新郎只能呆站在一旁。没有庄严的、“大家看着我”的过程;没有像新娘被长辈送出的仪式;没有改变身份的宣告。你们能想象一个专门看男人试穿燕尾服的电视节目吗?他们的父亲坐在那里,泪汪汪的眼中透着喜悦和不可置信的神情;他们的兄弟躲在角落,羡慕地喃喃自语。对男人来说,在挑战极限的拖延后,婚礼就像自发性地,几乎是无意识地,在球赛中场休息时间去冰箱拿饮料。然而,婚姻的失败率如下:统计数据显示,现场观众有一半会离婚;这样的胜率会让你荣登美国联盟东区的炉主。巴尔的摩金莺队的胜率都比婚姻成功率来得高。


但这个仪式-毕业典礼,总是能圆满结束。从今天开始-确实如此;无论你生病或健康;经历过财务困境、中年危机;在辛辛那提贸易展遇见还算迷人的销售代表-家长了解我的意思;对恼人之事的容忍度越来越低;历经过每次的改变、自我矛盾和其它种种;你从高中毕业这个事实永远不会改变,你的文凭一生都会与你相伴。


不,毕业典礼代表生命中一个伟大仪式的开始,它有其本身的附加价值和高度的象征意义;例如象征让我们在这个下午找到自己定位的美妙仪式。通常我会像避瘟疫似地避免陈腔烂调,闪得远远的,但现在我们处于平等的竞技场上;这点很重要,它代表某些意义。你们的毕业礼服-毫无造型、外观统一、尺码相同;无论男女、高矮、会不会读书;无论是晒成一身古铜色的舞会皇后或Xbox的星际刺客;你会发现,每个人的穿著都一模一样。而你们的文凭…除了名字以外,其它完全一样。这一切本应如此,因为,你们没有任何人是特别的。你并不特别,你并非与众不同;尽管你有U9足球奖杯、辉煌的七年级成绩单;尽管你确信世上必定有肥胖的紫色恐龙、亲切的罗杰斯先生(著名儿童电视节目主持人)和古怪的Sylvia阿姨;无论女蝙蝠侠曾奋不顾身地救过你多少次;你依然没什么特别。


是的,你被骄纵、溺爱、宠爱、保护、呵护;是的,忙碌不堪的大人抱着你、亲吻你、喂养你,替你擦嘴、擦屁股;训练你、教导你、指引你、辅导你、倾听你、规劝你、鼓励你、安慰你,并一再地鼓励你。你们被轻拥在怀里,好言哄诱和恳求;你们被赞美讨好,还被称为甜心派。是的,你确实有。当然,我们曾参加你的比赛、戏剧演出、演奏会、科学展览;当然,当你走进房里时,每个人都露出微笑;对你贴出的每一则twitter讯息发出千百次兴奋的惊叹。为什么?也许你的照片曾登上Townsman(韦斯利高中校内刊物)。


现在你们已经征服了高中阶段,无疑地,我们全都是为了你们而聚在这里。你们是这个优秀小区的骄傲和喜悦,第一批从那栋宏伟新大楼里走出的人。但不要认为你有什么特别,因为你并不特别。


实证无所不在,这个数字大到连一位英语老师都无法忽视。NewtonNatickNee…(均为邻近高中);我可以提Needham,对吗?总共有两千名高中毕业生-大约这个数目,这只是邻近地区。现在,全国共有不止320万名高中生正从37000多所高中毕业,也就是说,有37000名毕业生代表、37000名学生会长、92000名合唱团团员、34万名趾高气扬的运动健将,和2,185,967双靴子。但为何要局限在高中?毕竟你们即将离开它。所以想想:即使你是百万中选一的菁英,以地球上68亿人口来说,这意味着有将近7000人跟你一样。想象一下,在星期一马拉松大赛时站在华盛顿街某处,观看6800个“你”跑过。再以更宏观的角度来想:我得提醒大家,你的星球不是太阳系的中心;你的太阳系不是银河的中心;你的银河不是宇宙的中心。事实上,天文物理学家肯定地说,宇宙没有中心。因此,你也不会是宇宙的中心。(笑声)(掌声)


即使唐纳.川普也不会是;应该有人告诉他这件事。(笑声)


虽然他的头发确实蔚为奇观。“但Dave,”你喊道,“惠特曼(美国诗人)告诉我,我是自己的完美版本!Epictetus(古希腊哲学家)告诉我,我有宙斯的火花!”我不反对这一点。因此,这代表68亿个完美的例子、68亿个宙斯的火花。你们知道,如果每个人都是特殊的,就没有任何人是特殊的;如果每个人都能拿到奖杯,奖杯就变得毫无意义。


虽然我们并未明说,但显而易见地,在达尔文的物竞天择理论中-我认为它源于我们对自身渺小的恐惧和对死亡的忧虑。最近我们美国人-这对我们造成很大的损害-对赞美的喜爱更胜于真正的成就;我们必须认真看待这一点。我们乐于向标准妥协,或忽略事实,如果我们认为这是最快或唯一的方式,让我们能得到某种放在壁炉上炫耀的东西;某种能让我们装腔作势、自吹自擂的东西;某种能让我们在社会图腾柱上爬到更佳位置的东西。我们不再在乎如何比赛、结果是赢是输;是否能藉此学习成长或乐在其中。现在我们在乎的是,“这能给我什么好处?”结果是,我们贬低了努力的价值。建立危地马拉医疗中心的目的更倾向于对鲍登学院的应用,而非危地马拉人的福祉。


这是一种传染病,以它传染的程度来说,连历史悠久的韦斯利高中都无法幸免。全国37000所高中最好的之一-韦斯利高中。在这里,“良好”已算不上够好;B被视为新的C;中等程度的课程被称为大学先修课程。我希望你们注意到我刚刚所说的“最好的之一”;我说“最好的之一”,是因为这样我们才能对自己感觉良好;才能沉浸在这微不足道的差异中,无论这多么地含糊不清、无法验证;才能将自己视为菁英之一,无论菁英可能是谁;并享受在自我认定的竞争中自以为是的领先。但这句话并不合逻辑。以定义来说,最好的只有一个;是就是,不是就不是。


如果你在高中岁月里有学到任何东西,我希望是教育的本质-乐在学习,而不是物质上的优势。我也希望你们学习到,如Sophocles(古希腊悲剧作家)所说的,智能是快乐的首要元素;第二个是冰淇淋-仅供参考。我也希望你所学的足以使你体认到自己的不足,了解自己目前所知的是多么地少。因为今天只是一个开始,重要的是今后的学习。


当你们毕业后,准备大展鸿图之前,我建议你们,不管做任何事,都应基于热爱和相信它的重要性。别费心理会你根本不相信的事,就像你不会跟一位你并未疯狂爱上的伴侣结婚;也避免让自己在巴尔的摩金莺队的比赛中站错边。别志得意满;别被物质主义华而不实的光芒蒙蔽;别被自我满足麻痹;别愧对自己的优势。并阅读…养成阅读习惯;阅读跟原则和自重有关,把阅读当成生活中的精神食粮。培养及保持道德感,并展现道德品格;拥有远大梦想,并努力实现;进行独立思考;全心全意地爱你所爱的一切人事物。请一定要把握时间,及时行动,因为时间正一分一秒地流逝。


凡事有开始必有结束;无论你们这个下午过得多么愉快,这场典礼终究会结束。充实的人生、与众不同的人生、有意义的人生是一项成就;这不是某种只因为你是好人就会从天而降,或妈妈能为你提供的东西。你会注意到,开国元勋们费尽心力地确保你不可剥夺的权力,包括生命、自由和对幸福的追求。“追求”-一个相当积极的动词;我想,懒懒地躺着观看Youtube上的鹦鹉怎么溜冰应该算不上。


老罗斯福总统-一位老练的骑士,提倡艰苦的生活;梭罗先生尽力简化生活,希望活得深刻并吸取生命的精髓;诗人Mary Oliver告诉我们向前划,划进漩涡和湍流中;本校有个人-我忘了是谁,不时鼓励年轻学子们把握当下。这些话的重点都相同:动起来,付诸行动;别枯等灵感或热情来找你。站起来、走出门外、进行探索、靠自己的力量寻找,并好好把握。


现在,在你们匆匆离开,去纹上YOLO刺青之前,请容我指出这个流行语的不合逻辑处。因为你不可能也不应只活一次,而是得好好地度过每一天。不是你只能活一次(YOLO),而是人生不能重来(YLOO),但因为YLOO的发音不太一样,所以我们耸耸肩,决定这无关紧要。把握当下-YLOOing-不应被曲解为自我放纵的许可。就像被称赞一样,充实的生活是结果;一个令人愉快的副产品。这就是当你思考更重要的事物时会发生的结果。


爬山不是为了插上旗帜,而是迎接挑战、享受新鲜空气、欣赏眼前的美景。爬山是为了看世界,而不是让世界看见你。去巴黎,就好好体验巴黎的一切;不是为了将它从你的清单上划去,然后庆祝自己又到过一个新国家。运用自由意志和创造力、进行独立思考,不是为了替自己带来满足感,而是为了替其它68亿人及后代子孙带来福祉。然后,你会发现人类体验到的伟大而奇妙的真理-无私是你能为自己所做最棒的事。


要体会生命中最甜美的喜悦,只有当你体认到,你并不特别。因为每个人都是特别的。恭喜各位,祝大家好运。请为自己,也为我们,创造你精彩的人生。(掌声)


We’d been hearing good things over theweekend about Wellesley High School English teacher David McCullough, Jr.’sfaculty speech to the Class of 2012 last Friday. Here it is, in its entirety,courtesy of Mr. McCullough:


Dr. Wong, Dr. Keough, Mrs. Novogroski, Ms.Curran, members of the board of education, family and friends of the graduates,ladies and gentlemen of the Wellesley High School class of 2012, for theprivilege of speaking to you this afternoon, I am honored and grateful. Thank you.


So here we are… commencement… life’s greatforward-looking ceremony. (And don’tsay, “What about weddings?” Weddings areone-sided and insufficiently effective. Weddings are bride-centric pageantry. Other than conceding to a list of unreasonable demands, the groom juststands there. No stately,hey-everybody-look-at-me procession. Nobeing given away. No identity-changingpronouncement. And can you imagine atelevision show dedicated to watching guys try on tuxedos? Their fathers sitting there misty-eyed withjoy and disbelief, their brothers lurking in the corner muttering withenvy. Left to men, weddings would be,after limits-testing procrastination, spontaneous, almost inadvertent… duringhalftime… on the way to the refrigerator. And then there’s the frequency of failure: statistics tell us half ofyou will get divorced. A winningpercentage like that’ll get you last place in the American League East. The Baltimore Orioles do better thanweddings.)


But this ceremony… commencement… acommencement works every time. From thisday forward… truly… in sickness and in health, through financial fiascos,through midlife crises and passably attractive sales reps at trade shows in Cincinnati,through diminishing tolerance for annoyingness, through every difference,irreconcilable and otherwise, you will stay forever graduated from high school,you and your diploma as one, ‘til death do you part.


No, commencement is life’s great ceremonialbeginning, with its own attendant and highly appropriate symbolism. Fitting, for example, for this auspiciousrite of passage, is where we find ourselves this afternoon, the venue. Normally, I avoid clichés like the plague,wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole, but here we are on a literal levelplaying field. That matters. That says something. And your ceremonial costume… shapeless,uniform, one-size-fits-all. Whether maleor female, tall or short, scholar or slacker, spray-tanned prom queen orintergalactic X-Box assassin, each of you is dressed, you’ll notice, exactlythe same. And your diploma… but for yourname, exactly the same.


All of this is as it should be, becausenone of you is special.


You are not special. You are not exceptional.


Contrary to what your u9 soccer trophysuggests, your glowing seventh grade report card, despite every assurance of acertain corpulent purple dinosaur, that nice Mister Rogers and your batty AuntSylvia, no matter how often your maternal caped crusader has swooped in to saveyou… you’re nothing special.


Yes, you’ve been pampered, cosseted, dotedupon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped. Yes,capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you,wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you,coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged you, consoled you andencouraged you again. You’ve beennudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored. You’ve been feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie. Yes, you have. And, certainly, we’ve been to your games,your plays, your recitals, your science fairs. Absolutely, smiles ignite when you walk into a room, and hundreds gaspwith delight at your every tweet. Why,maybe you’ve even had your picture in the Townsman! [Editor’s upgrade: Or TheSwellesley Report!] And now you’ve conquered high school… and, indisputably,here we all have gathered for you, the pride and joy of this fine community,the first to emerge from that magnificent new building…


But do not get the idea you’re anythingspecial. Because you’re not.


The empirical evidence is everywhere,numbers even an English teacher can’t ignore. Newton, Natick, Nee… I am allowed to say Needham, yes? …that has to betwo thousand high school graduates right there, give or take, and that’s justthe neighborhood Ns. Across the countryno fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating about now from more than37,000 high schools. That’s 37,000valedictorians… 37,000 class presidents… 92,000 harmonizing altos… 340,000swaggering jocks… 2,185,967 pairs of Uggs. But why limit ourselves to high school? After all, you’re leaving it. Sothink about this: even if you’re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billionthat means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you. Imagine standing somewhere over there onWashington Street on Marathon Monday and watching sixty-eight hundred yous gorunning by. And consider for a momentthe bigger picture: your planet, I’ll remind you, is not the center of itssolar system, your solar system is not the center of its galaxy, your galaxy isnot the center of the universe. In fact,astrophysicists assure us the universe has no center; therefore, you cannot beit. Neither can Donald Trump… whichsomeone should tell him… although that hair is quite a phenomenon.


“But, Dave,” you cry, “Walt Whitman tellsme I’m my own version of perfection! Epictetus tells me I have the spark of Zeus!” And I don’t disagree. So that makes 6.8 billion examples ofperfection, 6.8 billion sparks of Zeus. You see, if everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies becomemeaningless. In our unspoken but not sosubtle Darwinian competition with one another–which springs, I think, from ourfear of our own insignificance, a subset of our dread of mortality — we have oflate, we Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuineachievement. We have come to see them asthe point — and we’re happy to compromise standards, or ignore reality, if wesuspect that’s the quickest way, or only way, to have something to put on themantelpiece, something to pose with, crow about, something with which toleverage ourselves into a better spot on the social totem pole. No longer is it how you play the game, nolonger is it even whether you win or lose, or learn or grow, or enjoy yourselfdoing it… Now it’s “So what does thisget me?” As a consequence, we cheapenworthy endeavors, and building a Guatemalan medical clinic becomes more aboutthe application to Bowdoin than the well-being of Guatemalans. It’s an epidemic — and in its way, not evendear old Wellesley High is immune… one of the best of the 37,000 nationwide,Wellesley High School… where good is no longer good enough, where a B is thenew C, and the midlevel curriculum is called Advanced College Placement. And I hope you caught me when I said “one ofthe best.” I said “one of the best” sowe can feel better about ourselves, so we can bask in a little easydistinction, however vague and unverifiable, and count ourselves among theelite, whoever they might be, and enjoy a perceived leg up on the perceivedcompetition. But the phrase defieslogic. By definition there can be onlyone best. You’re it or you’re not.


If you’ve learned anything in your yearshere I hope it’s that education should be for, rather than material advantage,the exhilaration of learning. You’velearned, too, I hope, as Sophocles assured us, that wisdom is the chief elementof happiness. (Second is ice cream… just an fyi) I also hope you’ve learned enough to recognize how little you know… howlittle you know now… at the moment… for today is just the beginning. It’s where you go from here that matters.


As you commence, then, and before youscatter to the winds, I urge you to do whatever you do for no reason other thanyou love it and believe in its importance. Don’t bother with work you don’t believe in any more than you would aspouse you’re not crazy about, lest you too find yourself on the wrong side ofa Baltimore Orioles comparison. Resistthe easy comforts of complacency, the specious glitter of materialism, thenarcotic paralysis of self-satisfaction. Be worthy of your advantages. Andread… read all the time… read as a matter of principle, as a matter ofself-respect. Read as a nourishingstaple of life. Develop and protect amoral sensibility and demonstrate the character to apply it. Dream big. Work hard. Think foryourself. Love everything you love,everyone you love, with all your might. And do so, please, with a sense of urgency, for every tick of the clocksubtracts from fewer and fewer; and as surely as there are commencements thereare cessations, and you’ll be in no condition to enjoy the ceremony attendantto that eventuality no matter how delightful the afternoon.


The fulfilling life, the distinctive life,the relevant life, is an achievement, not something that will fall into yourlap because you’re a nice person or mommy ordered it from the caterer. You’ll note the founding fathers took painsto secure your inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit ofhappiness–quite an active verb, “pursuit”–which leaves, I should think, littletime for lying around watching parrots rollerskate on Youtube. The first President Roosevelt, the old roughrider, advocated the strenuous life. Mr.Thoreau wanted to drive life into a corner, to live deep and suck out all themarrow. The poet Mary Oliver tells us torow, row into the swirl and roil. Locally, someone… I forget who… from time to time encourages youngscholars to carpe the heck out of the diem. The point is the same: get busy, have at it. Don’t wait for inspiration or passion to findyou. Get up, get out, explore, find ityourself, and grab hold with both hands. (Now, before you dash off and get your YOLO tattoo, let me point out theillogic of that trendy little expression–because you can and should live notmerely once, but every day of your life. Rather than You Only Live Once, it should be You Live Only Once… butbecause YLOO doesn’t have the same ring, we shrug and decide it doesn’tmatter.)


None of this day-seizing, though, thisYLOOing, should be interpreted as license for self-indulgence. Like accolades ought to be, the fulfilledlife is a consequence, a gratifying byproduct. It’s what happens when you’re thinking about more important things. Climb the mountain not to plant your flag,but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so theworld can see you. Go to Paris to be inParis, not to cross it off your list and congratulate yourself for beingworldly. Exercise free will andcreative, independent thought not for the satisfactions they will bring you,but for the good they will do others, the rest of the 6.8 billion–and those whowill follow them. And then you too willdiscover the great and curious truth of the human experience is thatselflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself. The sweetest joys of life, then, come onlywith the recognition that you’re not special.


Because everyone is.


关于这场演讲(来源Most Watched Today | The Best Online Videos

David McCullough Jr.是马萨诸塞州卫斯利高中的英文老师,在2012523日该校毕业典礼演讲中告诉即将毕业的学生“你并不特别”。这场演讲已成为当周Youtub最受欢迎的影片之一,一天之内的浏览人次高达250,000


关于David McCullough, Jr.(来源The Daily Beast

是普立兹奖得主及知名历史学家David McCullough之子,也是卫斯里高中资深英语教师。


关于卫斯利高中

位于马萨诸塞州的卫斯利高中(Wellesley High School)是一所公立中学,是麻省最好的公立高中之一,2014年在该州排名第四。著名的卫斯理女子学院就在附近,校友包括宋美龄、冰心和希拉里•克林顿等。


演讲者David McCullough Jr.,翻译:洪晓慧,编辑:朱学恒,字幕影片后制:谢旻均。演讲原稿及中文翻译来自MYOOPS开放式课程网站。本文版权归属原作者所有。





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