We were like this on the lawn at Georgetown just across the town
我们就像这样坐在城那边乔治敦的草地上
It started out to be a clear day
一开始还天朗气清
Then all of a sudden, this huge storm cloud came over
突然之间暴风云袭来
And the lightening began to dance in the sky
天空中开始电闪雷鸣
And a Howard graduate, the mayor of Wasington D.C., Walter Washington stood up at the podium as I am
一位霍华德大学毕业生华盛顿特区市长沃特尔·华盛顿就像我一样站在讲台前
He looked to the sky
他仰望天空
He looked to the shivering students and he said,
又看看打颤的学生们说道
Congratulations
祝贺你们
If we don't get out of here, we are all gonna drown
如果我们不离开这儿 我们都得被淹死
If you want a copy of my speech, you write me, and I'll send you one
如果你想要一份我的演讲稿 写信给我 我给你发一份
Good luck
祝你们好运
And off we went
然后我们就走了
Now what did I learn from that?
我从这件事里学到了什么
The most successful commencement speeches are brief and highly relevant
最成功的毕业致辞既简练又有高度的现实相关性
So wherever whoever you are Mr. Mayor, thank you for the memory
所以不管你现在在哪儿市长先生感谢你留下的回忆
When you leave here, it is important for you to remember that you have been empowered to do something most people who ever lived could not do
当你们离开这里的时候千万不要忘了你们已经被赋予了做一些大多数人一辈子都无法做到的事情的能力
Even with the employment situation and the economic challenges, virtually all of you have the power to choose what you will do to earn a living
即便在现在的就业形势和经济挑战之下你们几乎所有人都有能力选择你们谋生的方式
It may sound selfevident, but most people who have ever lived including hundreds of millions, even billions of people on that face of the earth today never had that choice
这看似不言自明 但是大多数生活在地球上的人包括现在的数百万甚至数十亿的人都未能做出这种选择
