“你并不特別”畢業(yè)致辭
Social media was buzzing about a Boston-area high school teacher's blunt commencement speech that told students they "are not special." Wellesley High English teacher David McCullough Jr. told graduates "You are not special. You are not exceptional," quoting empirical evidence: "Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating about now from more than 37,000 high schools. That's 37,000 valedictorians ... 37,000 class presidents ... 92,000 harmonizing altos ... 340,000 swaggering jocks ... 2,185,967 pairs of Uggs," he said in the speech published in the Boston Herald. He added: "Even if you're one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you." McCullough makes a statement on parents who overdo it in a modern society focused on collecting achievements. "You've been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble wrapped ... feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie." But he adds in a video on Wellesley Channel TV YouTube page, "You see, if everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless. ... We have of late, we Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuine achievement." McCullough's address does push students to recognize real achievement: "The fulfilling life, the distinctive life, the relevant life is an achievement," and he encourages graduates "to do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance." Many expressed their approval of the message on Twitter: This is awesome. I don't remember my HS commencement speech. I think I would remember this one. — S.L. Gray Fantastic speech which sums up the neglected duty of so many Americans in 1 phrase: "Be worthy of your advantages." — Benjamin Yee The greatest commencement speech ever. — Neil Raden My new hero. Tells grads "You're not that Special ... when everyone gets a trophy, the trophy doesn't mean anything." — Jason Dobrolecki The Boston Herald also reported that McCullough's words were very well received by attendees. The teacher, a father of four, admitted he's guilty of the actions he pokes fun at in his speech. But near the end of the address he says, "The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you're not special. Because everyone is." (Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
社交網(wǎng)站上正在熱議美國(guó)波斯頓一所高中的畢業(yè)致辭,致辭的老師很直白地告訴學(xué)生說(shuō)他們“并不特別”。 韋爾斯利高中的英語(yǔ)老師小戴維?麥卡洛告訴畢業(yè)生說(shuō):“你們并不特別。你們并不非凡?!彼€引用實(shí)例為證: “現(xiàn)在全美3.7萬(wàn)所高中至少有320萬(wàn)高年級(jí)生畢業(yè)。其中有3.7萬(wàn)名致告別辭的學(xué)生代表……3.7萬(wàn)名級(jí)長(zhǎng)……9.2萬(wàn)名合唱團(tuán)的男高音和女低音……34萬(wàn)大步走路的學(xué)生運(yùn)動(dòng)員……還有218萬(wàn)5967雙羊皮靴?!边@一演講發(fā)表在《波士頓先驅(qū)報(bào)》上。 他還說(shuō):“就算你是百萬(wàn)里挑一的人才,但是地球上有68億人,這意味著有近7000人和你一樣優(yōu)秀。” 現(xiàn)代社會(huì)中父母?jìng)兌甲⒅厥占⒆拥某删?,?duì)于那些做得過(guò)了頭的父母?jìng)?,麥卡洛還說(shuō)道:“你們(畢業(yè)生)一直被嬌慣著、縱容著、溺愛(ài)著、呵護(hù)著、受到層層保護(hù),總是有人款待、奉承你們,叫你們甜心寶貝?!钡?,他在YouTube上韋爾斯利電視臺(tái)的一段視頻中還說(shuō):“想一下,如果每個(gè)人都是特別的,那么就誰(shuí)也不特別了。如果每個(gè)人都得到獎(jiǎng)杯,獎(jiǎng)杯將變得毫無(wú)意義……近來(lái)我們美國(guó)人越來(lái)越喜歡贊美而不是真正的成就,這對(duì)我們是不利的?!?/p> 麥卡洛的致辭確實(shí)促使學(xué)生們意識(shí)到什么是真正的成就:“充實(shí)的、與眾不同、有意義的人生是一項(xiàng)成就”,他還鼓勵(lì)畢業(yè)生們“去做任何你想做的事,不為別的,就因?yàn)槟銦釔?ài)而且相信它很重要?!?/p> 許多人在微博Twitter上表達(dá)了對(duì)這一致辭的認(rèn)同。 S?L?格雷:“這太震撼了。我已記不起我高中時(shí)的畢業(yè)致辭,但我想我會(huì)記住這一個(gè)畢業(yè)致辭?!?/p> 本杰明?葉:“這一精彩的演講用一個(gè)短句就概括了這么多美國(guó)人忽略的責(zé)任:‘不要辜負(fù)你享有的優(yōu)越條件?!?/p> 尼爾?雷登:“這是有史以來(lái)最偉大的畢業(yè)致辭?!?/p> 杰森?多布羅雷基:“他是我心目中的新英雄。他告訴畢業(yè)生們‘你們沒(méi)那么特別……如果每個(gè)人都得到獎(jiǎng)杯,那么獎(jiǎng)杯就沒(méi)有任何意義’?!?/p> 《波士頓先驅(qū)報(bào)》還報(bào)道說(shuō),麥卡洛的致辭非常受在場(chǎng)者的歡迎。這位有四個(gè)孩子的男教師承認(rèn)說(shuō),他對(duì)自己在演講中開(kāi)玩笑的行為感到愧疚。 不過(guò)在致辭快結(jié)束的時(shí)候,他說(shuō):“人生中最美妙的樂(lè)趣,在于意識(shí)到你并不特別。因?yàn)槊總€(gè)人都是特別的?!?/p> 相關(guān)閱讀 英大學(xué)生“畢業(yè)即失業(yè)”創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄 懂漢語(yǔ)者起薪最高 畢業(yè)即失業(yè) 美國(guó)畢業(yè)生狀告母校索賠學(xué)費(fèi) 英國(guó)欲征“畢業(yè)稅”代替大學(xué)學(xué)費(fèi) (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯:Julie) |
Vocabulary: commencement: 畢業(yè)典禮 valedictorian: (畢業(yè)典禮時(shí))致告別辭的學(xué)生代表 alto: 男高音, 女低音 swaggering: 昂首闊步的,大搖大擺走路的 jock: (大學(xué))運(yùn)動(dòng)員 Uggs: 羊皮靴 pamper: 縱容;嬌養(yǎng) cosset: 寵愛(ài),溺愛(ài),縱容 fete: 盛宴招待;款待 fawn: 奉承,討好 accolade: 稱贊,贊美 relevant: 有意義的 |