Up until high school, I shared a small apartment with my extended family, which included my grandmother, my sister and my nephew.
直到高中毕业,我一直和我庞大的家庭分享一套小小的公寓,这一大家人包括了我的奶奶,我的妹妹和我的侄儿。
But looking back, I grew up in a world of unlimited opportunity.
但是回过头看看,我是在一个有着无限机遇的世界长大。
Each night I would read, and reading opened up the world to me.
我每天晚上都会读书,阅读向我展开了整个世界。
I love reading history and especially biography.
我喜欢读历史,尤其是传记。
In biographies, you are almost always reading about people who started out unimportant but ended up having a significant life.
在传记里面,你总是能看到开始无足轻重的人,最终拥有与众不同的人生。
What I liked most about biographies then and now is that the person you are reading about in his or her early life on page 50,
不管是过去还是现在,传记最吸引我的一点是,书中的人物在自己生命的初期,也就是前五十页当中的他
doesn't know about the success he or she will achieve by page 300.
不会知道他或者是她会在第三百页的时候取得成功。
They couldn't see the greatness that lay ahead.
他们并不知道将会出现在自己面前的伟大。
If you think about it, that's a great justification for the optimism that you should have for the life ahead of you.
仔细想想这点吧,这是对你们自己未来的生活保持乐观的一个极好理由。
All of you are only on about page 50 of your biography, with hundreds of pages to go.
你们所有人都仅仅在自己那本传记的前五十页,还有几百页的路要走。
Growing up, my biggest goal was just to get out of East New York.
在漫长的成长中,我最大的目标就是走出纽约东区。
I took the college entrance exam and committed myself to getting into college. I did.
我参加了大学入学试,发誓一定要进大学。我成功了。
The day I left for college was one of the first trips I made out of New York City.
我去读大学的时候也是我第一次离开纽约市。
College was an intimidating place for me.
大学是一个令我心生敬畏的地方。
The other students seemed naturally confident; many had traveled and seemed to understand the world.
其他学生似乎很自然的充满信心,很多人都曾到处旅行,看起来对这个世界十分了解。
To this day, I can't forget how insecure I felt, but it made me work harder.
直到今天,我还是没有办法忘记我当时的不安全感,但是这种感觉让我更加努力地工作。
Once I realized I belonged, I became more ambitious.
当我在这里产生归属感后,我变得更有野心了。
Ambition is your inner voice that tells you you can and should strive to go beyond your circumstances or station in life.
野心是你内心的声音,告诉你可以而且应该努力去超越人生的处境或者是限制。
You have overcome obstacles, pressures and self-doubt and you have done it because you have ambition.
你必须克服障碍,扛住压力,打消自我怀疑,你能做到这些都是因为你有足够的野心。
You want to succeed for your families and yourselves.
你想要为了你的家人以及你自己而成功。