耶鲁大学校长2021年毕业典礼演讲

 2021年5月，耶鲁大学（Yale University）校长苏必德（Peter Salovey）在2021届毕业典礼上发表了题为「Gifts from Our Teachers」的演讲。

Graduates of the Class of 2021, family members, and friends: It is a privilege to speak with you as part of this remarkable moment.

2021届的毕业生们，家人和朋友们。我很荣幸能在这个非凡的时刻与你们交流。
You are probably feeling many emotions right now. I often tell graduates that commencement is a “field day” for me as a psychologist, and that has never been more true. For over a year, we have walked a strange and historic path together. We are now at the end of an academic year like no other. But although our traditions may look different this year, they are just as meaningful as ever.

 

你们现在可能思绪万千。我经常告诉毕业生，对我这个心理学家来说，毕业典礼是一个“实地考察日”，而这一点再恰当不过了。一年多来，我们一起走过了一条非同寻常的历史道路。我们现在正处于一个前所未有的学年末尾。但是，尽管我们的传统今年可能看起来不同，但它们和以前一样有意义。
Commencement is a time of celebration. It is a chance for you, our graduates, to revel in your accomplishments. It is also an opportunity to reflect and say thank you. So many people have been part of your journey to this moment. I hope you will find time to tell them how much they have meant to you.

毕业典礼是一个庆祝的时刻。这是一个让你们，我们的毕业生们，陶醉于你们的成就的机会。这也是一个反思和感恩的机会。直至此刻，你们的旅程有许多人的参与。我希望你们能抽出时间来告诉他们，他们对你们意味着什么。

I also would like to say thank you—to you. Graduates of Yale College, you have made history at Yale. Many of you have studied and learned and made a community here under extraordinary conditions; others have studied remotely from around the world. Day after day for more than a year, you have made sacrifices for the greater good, helping keep our neighbors on campus and in New Haven safe. It has not been easy. Your “bright college years” have not always been what you expected. Like people around the world, you have experienced loss, grief, and uncertainty. And yet, you have repaid our community's trust and confidence in you many times over.

 

我也想对你们说谢谢。耶鲁学院的毕业生们，你们在耶鲁创造了历史。你们中的许多人在这里，在非同寻常的条件下学习，并建立了一个共同的社区；其他人在世界各地远程学习。一年多来，你们日复一日地为更大的利益做出了牺牲，帮助维护我们校园和纽黑文市（New Haven）的安全。这并不容易。你们的“光明的大学时代”并不总是你们所期望的那样。像世界各地的人们一样，你们经历了失去、悲痛和不确定性。然而，你们已经多次回报了我们社区对你们的信任和信心。

Today, as we look to the future, I would like to share a personal story about my past and my present. I share it because I hope it will shed some light on your future. It is a story about teachers and the gifts they give us.

 

今天，当我们展望未来时，我想分享一个关于我的过去和现在的个人故事。分享它是因为我希望它能给你们的未来带来一些启示。这是一个关于教师和他们给予我们的礼物的故事。

In the early 1970s, I was a student at Williamsville High School North, outside of Buffalo, New York. It was a pretty typical large public high school; we had a popular football team and a marching band that played at the games. Perhaps it will surprise you to learn that I did not play on the football team, but I did march with the band! Now you might wonder how I fit into a school like this; I actually earned a varsity letter—for the drama club.

 

在20世纪70年代初，我还是纽约州水牛城（Buffalo）外的威廉斯维尔北部高中（Williamsville High School North）的学生。这是一所非常典型的大型公立高中；我们有一个受欢迎的足球队和一个在比赛中演奏的军乐队。也许你会惊讶地发现，我没有参加足球队，而是参加了乐队。现在你可能想知道我是如何融入这样一所学校的；实际上，我还因戏剧社获得了一个校队奖章。

 

I was part of another student organization as well: a poetry club hosted by two beloved English teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Blaisdell. A group of us would go to their home and share poems we had written or come across. We drank coffee; we talked about poetry. It was all very grown-up, especially for kids like us from Buffalo. Our teachers were only in their 20s, perhaps early 30s, but they were sophisticated adults and therefore seemed much older to us. They cared deeply about literature, writing, and poetry, but most of all, they cared about us, their students. (In fact, I am not the only student of the Blaisdells on the faculty here at Yale: they taught English to Chemistry Professor Scott Miller about a decade after me.)

 

我还参加了另一个学生组织：一个由两位敬爱的英语老师布莱斯德尔（Blaisdell）先生和他夫人主办的诗歌社。我们一群人去他们家，分享我们写的或读的诗歌。我们喝着咖啡，谈论着诗歌。这一切，特别是对于像我们这样来自水牛城的孩子来说，都像大人做的事一样。我们的老师只有20多岁，也许30出头，但他们是成熟的成年人，因此在我们看来要老得多。他们非常关心文学、写作和诗歌，但最重要的是，他们关心我们，关心他们的学生。其实，在耶鲁大学教职员工中，我并不是布莱斯戴尔夫妇唯一教过的学生：他们在我之后约十年的时间里给化学教授斯科特·米勒（Scott Miller）教英语。

Fast forward forty-six years. The kids from that poetry club now have families and careers of their own. We have stayed in touch, but usually we only see each other every few years, at best. As a way of coping with the social isolation of the pandemic, we started meeting over Zoom. We shared poems; we drank coffee together again. Our former English teachers from Williamsville North—now retired—joined us! And we found, in the midst of so much grief and loneliness, a way to connect.

 

很快四十六年过去了，那个诗歌社的孩子们现在都有了自己的家庭和事业。我们一直保持着联系，但通常我们最多每隔几年才见面一次。作为应对疫情带来的社交隔离的一种方式，我们开始在Zoom上见面。我们分享诗歌；我们再次一起喝咖啡。我们以前在威廉斯维尔北部高中的英语老师--现在已经退休了--加入了我们。在如此多的悲痛和孤独中，我们找到了一种联系的方式。

 

What does this mean for you, the graduates of 2021? First, my hope for each of you is that you have made a friend here at Yale, perhaps a few friends, who will be there for you in 46 years. That is no small thing.

 

这对你们，2021届毕业生意味着什么？首先，我对你们每个人的希望是，你们在耶鲁结识了一个朋友，也许是几个朋友，他们将在46年后陪伴你们。这不是一件小事。

 

Second, I hope you have found great teachers and developed interests that you will take with you for the rest of your lives. I don’t mean only your professional interests. Many of you, without question, have found important mentors who will continue to advise and guide you. But you have also found interests at Yale that have nothing to do with your careers.

 

第二，我希望你们找到了伟大的老师，培养了兴趣，并将其带入你们的余生。我指的不仅仅是你们的专业兴趣。毫无疑问，你们中的许多人已经找到了重要的导师，他们将继续为你们提供建议和指导。但你们也在耶鲁找到了与你们的职业无关的兴趣。

 

For me, it was poetry, theater, and music, but for you, it may have been an economics class or history seminar that made you reexamine the world. It might have been a certain psychology class that helped you think about happiness in new ways. Or maybe you heard a lecture or attended an event that sparked an interest in the outdoors, or food, or dance. These moments of inspiration and learning can happen anywhere. We now know they can even happen on Zoom.

 

对我来说，是诗歌、戏剧和音乐，但对你们来说，可能是一门经济学课或历史研讨会让你们重新审视世界。可能是某门心理学课，帮助你以新的方式思考幸福问题。或者，也许你听到了一个讲座或参加了一个活动，激发了你对户外活动、食物或舞蹈的兴趣。这些灵感和学习的时刻可以发生在任何地方。我们现在知道它们甚至可以发生在Zoom上。

 

My friends from Williamsville North have gone into music, science, medicine, law, and theater. I am a psychology professor and university leader. My point is, none of us are professional poets, and yet our experiences in the poetry club were transformative.

 

我在威廉斯维尔北部高中的朋友已经进入了音乐、科学、医学、法律和戏剧领域。我是一名心理学教授和大学校长。我想说的是，我们都不是专业的诗人，但我们在诗歌社的经历颠覆了我们的认识。

 

From wonderful teachers, I learned how to ask different questions, bigger questions. In high school, I was always trying to figure out what a poem was “about;” I wanted to unlock the secret meaning. But Mr. Blaisdell would tell me, “Peter, what the poem is about is not always the most interesting question.” He encouraged me to appreciate beauty and occasionally put aside analysis; he pushed me to use different parts of my mind and my emotions. Beyond poetry, my teachers inspired in me and my friends a deep and joyful love of learning. They introduced us to interests that made our lives richer and more rewarding.

 

从优秀的老师那里，我学会了如何提出不同的问题，更大的问题。在高中，我总是试图弄清楚一首诗的“内容”，我想解开其中隐含的意思。但布莱斯戴尔先生会告诉我：“彼得，诗的内容并不一定是最有趣的问题。”他鼓励我欣赏美，偶尔分析的内容放一放；促使我运用不同的心智和情感。除了诗歌之外，我的老师还激发了我和我的朋友们对学习深刻而快乐的热爱。他们向我们介绍了一些兴趣，使我们的生活更丰富，更有价值。

 

I recently had the privilege of interviewing the poet Louise Glück, who won the 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature. Professor Glück has taught at Yale since 2004. She told me she thinks of teaching as a way of repaying her debts: “You can't thank your teachers,” she said, “except by performing as they did for another generation.”

我最近有幸采访了获得2020年诺贝尔文学奖的诗人露易丝·格丽克（Louise Glück）。格丽克教授自2004年以来一直在耶鲁大学任教。她告诉我，她认为教书是一种偿还债务的方式。“你无法感谢你的老师，”她说，“除非像他们那样为另一代人付出。”

 

Soon, you will leave Yale and contribute to every field and profession, as generations of alumni have before you. You will leave here with gifts from your teachers—from Yale professors and from others throughout your lives. And, as Professor Glück says, you can repay your teachers by helping others discover the world.（By LearnAndRecord）

 

很快，你们将离开耶鲁，为每个领域和职业做出贡献，就像你们之前的几代校友一样。你们将带着来自老师的礼物离开这里--来自耶鲁大学教授和你们生命中的其他人的礼物。而且，正如格丽克教授所说，你们可以通过帮助他人发现世界来报答你们的老师。

 

Over the past year, we have learned so much about ourselves and about what we are capable of. And we have been reminded, again and again, that we must keep learning. There will always be new challenges to tackle, unexpected problems to solve. We will have to pivot and adapt. And if we love learning, if we are curious about the world and the people in it, then that task will be so much easier and more fulfilling.

 

在过去的一年里，我们对自己和自己的能力有了很大的了解。而且我们一次又一次地被提醒，我们必须继续学习。总会有新的挑战需要应对，会有意想不到的问题需要解决。我们将不得不转向并适应。如果我们热爱学习，如果我们对世界和世界上的人充满好奇，那么这项任务就会变得如此简单和充实。

 

What will you do with the gifts you have been given? What gifts will you give to the world? I think of Emi Mahmoud, a 2016 graduate of Yale College. Born in Darfur, Sudan, Emi won the International World Poetry Slam Championship, was honored by the BBC, and met with President Obama—all while still a student at Yale. Emi's poems often deal with her experiences of war and displacement. Today, as a United Nations goodwill ambassador, she advocates for peace and human rights, particularly the rights of children. She is sharing her gifts with the world in a very powerful way.

 

你将如何处理你所得到的礼物？你将给世界带来什么礼物？我想到了埃米·马哈茂德（Emi Mahmoud），他是耶鲁大学2016届毕业生。埃米出生在苏丹（Sudan）的达尔富尔（Darfur），在耶鲁大学就读期间赢得了世界诗歌大满贯锦标赛，受到了英国广播公司（BBC）的表彰，并与奥巴马总统会面。埃米的诗歌经常涉及到她的战争和流离失所的经历。今天，作为联合国亲善大使，她倡导和平与人权，特别是儿童的权利。她正以一种非常有力的方式与世界分享她的礼物。

 

In the book Tuesdays with Morrie, the sportswriter Mitch Albom describes reconnecting with his former professor, Morrie Schwartz. The elderly Morrie is suffering with ALS—Lou Gehrig's disease. The book is an extended reflection on life and death, but it is also about the relationship between a student and his teacher.

 

在《相约星期二》（Tuesdays with Morrie）一书中，体育专栏作家米奇·阿尔博姆（Mitch Albom）描述了与他以前的教授莫里·施瓦茨（Morrie Schwartz）的重新联系。年迈的莫里正遭受ALS--卢伽雷氏病（Lou Gehrig's disease）的折磨。这本书是对生命和死亡的延伸思考，但它也是关于学生和老师之间的关系。

 

At the end, Albom says, “Have you ever really had a teacher? One who saw you as a raw but precious thing, a jewel that, with wisdom, could be polished to a proud shine? If you are lucky enough to find your way to such teachers, you will always find your way back.”

 

在结尾处，阿尔博姆说：“你曾真正拥有一位良师吗？一位认为你虽然未加雕琢却弥足珍贵的老师，一位视你为珠宝，认为你充满智慧并能打磨出骄傲光芒的老师？如果你足够幸运能找到这样的老师，你将总会找到回来的路。”

I hope you find your way back—back to your teachers and back to Yale. I hope you will return to campus and walk down Chapel Street, and enjoy the sunshine, or the snow, on Old Campus or Science Hill. And I hope you will find ways of sharing the joy of discovery with others. I hope you share your curiosity with a world that needs questions as much as answers; that needs “light and truth” more than ever.

 

我希望你们找到回来的路--回到你们的老师身边，回到耶鲁。我希望你们能回到校园，走过教堂街（Chapel Street），在老校区（Old Campus）或科学山（Science Hill）享受阳光或雪景。我希望你们能找到方法与他人分享发现的喜悦。我希望你们与这个既需要问题也需要答案的世界分享你们的好奇心；这个世界比以往任何时候都更需要“光明和真理”。

 

I usually conclude my addresses on Commencement Weekend with a few words of verse.  Over the years, I have read from Rabindranath Tagore, Elizabeth Alexander, Billy Collins, Marie Borroff, and Claudia Rankine. But most often, I have turned to the words of John Milton from Paradise Lost. You know, those verses about leaving the Garden of Eden “with wandering steps, and slow” and making one's way into a world that is “all before” you? There are moments when those lines move me to tears. In this challenging year, paradise does not seem the right metaphor for our beloved campus. But I look ahead with great optimism, and I trust you do too.  So perhaps these words of Emily Dickinson seem more appropriate at this moment:

 

我通常以几句诗句来结束我在毕业典礼周末的讲话。多年来，我读过拉宾德拉纳特·泰戈尔（Rabindranath Tagore）、伊丽莎白·亚历山大（Elizabeth Alexander）、比利·柯林斯（Billy Collins）、玛丽·博洛夫（Marie Borroff）和克劳迪娅·兰金（Claudia Rankin）的作品。但最常见的是，我会选择约翰·弥尔顿（John Milton）在《失乐园》（Paradise Lost）中的话。你知道，那些关于离开伊甸园的诗句，“步履蹒跚，缓慢”，并进入一个“一切在你面前”的世界？有的时候，这些句子让我感动得流泪。在这充满挑战的一年里，乐园似乎不是我们深爱的校园的正确比喻。但是我非常乐观地展望未来，我相信你们也是如此。因此，也许艾米莉·狄金森（Emily Dickinson）的这些话在此刻显得更加合适：
***“Hope” is the thing with feathers -That perches in the soul -And sings the tune without the words -And never stops - at all -***

 

***“希望”是长着翅膀的鸟儿栖居在人的灵魂之中吟唱着没有歌词的曲调永无止息***

 

Graduates of the Class of 2021: you are ready to face the future with optimism and determination; you are ready to repay the gifts your teachers have given you and share the joy of discovery with others. You go with our best wishes and our admiration. Congratulations, and good luck!

 

2021届毕业生：你们已经准备好以乐观和坚定的态度面对未来；你们已经准备好报答老师给予你们的礼物，并与他人分享发现的喜悦。你们带着我们最美好的祝愿和敬佩的心情离开。祝贺你们，祝你们好运！