奥巴马开学演讲 我们为什么要上学？

摘要：还对暑假恋恋不舍吧？还不想进入一周五天告别懒觉日子吧？醒来吧孩纸们！真的勇士，敢于直面惨淡人生，敢于正视严肃的开学。听听奥巴马在全美开学季对学生的演说—《我们为什么要上学？》值得借鉴！

开学季来了，很多同学应该还在适应期，来看看美国总统奥巴马当年开学演讲的致辞吧，是不是会振奋精神，迎接新学期的到来呢?和澳际君一起来感受一下吧。

以下为奥巴马演讲视频，中英文字幕。16分钟建议在wifi下观看，土豪除外。

以下节选自演讲：

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world -- and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. That's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.

但是，即使把一切做到最好，即使有最尽职的老师、鼎力支持的家长和最澳际的教学设施，如果你们不恪尽自己那一份责任，一切也都会归于徒劳——除非你们能每天按时上学、注意听讲、把师长们的谆谆告诫铭记在心、付出成功所必需的努力，否则，一切都无济于事!这就是今天我要锁定的主题：对于你们所受的教育，你们每一个人都有责任，而且责无旁贷!

Every single one of you has something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

你们每一个人都有自己的专长。每一个人都会有所作为和贡献。发现自己——发现自己的潜质或潜能——首先就是你们自己的责任!教育给了你们发现自己的机会。

And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to train for it and work for it and learn for it.

我可以向你们保证，不管你将来想要做什么工作和现在生活条件怎样，你都需要接受相应的教育，来实现自己的理想。你想成为一位医生、教师或警官?还是想成为一位护士、建筑师、律师或是军人?无论你选择哪一种职业，接受良好的教育都是必由之路，别无选择。不完成学业就得不到一份称心的工作。无论做什么，你都需要接受培训，都需要勤奋工作，都需要努力学习。

We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that -- if you quit on school -- you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

我们需要你们每一个人都充分开发自己的聪明才智，以帮助我们老一代人，解决我们最困难的问题。如果你不去做，如果你辍学，你的自弃，不仅是在抛弃自己，更是在抛弃你的祖国。

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life -- what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home -- none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. There is no excuse for not trying.

但无论如何，你的生活现状——你的外表、出身、家境——都不是你忽视家庭作业或在校表现不好的借口。你们没有顶撞老师、旷课或辍学的借口。你们没有不努力学习的借口。

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you, because here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

你将来的地位和澳际不取决于现在的处境。没有人能改写你的命运，只有你才会写下你自己的历史和命运，因为这是在美国。你的将来就在你自己的把握之中。

I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star. Chances are you're not going to be any of those things.

我知道，有时候电视节目会给你们带来一种错觉，似乎无需努力也能成功或致富——以为只要饶舌、打球或作个电视真人秀明星就能一步登天。但在现实生活中，那些神话几乎无法复制。

The truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject that you study. You won't click with every teacher that you have. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right at this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

事实上，成功更像是一项艰巨的系统工程。你不会对每门课程都情有独钟，也难以与每一位老师都合作默契，每次布置给你的家庭作业未必都能正中下怀、恰到好处。而且，并不是做每件事，你都能一步到位。所有这一切，环环相扣，都离成功太远太远。

And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you, don't ever give up on yourself, because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

即使是在和逆境拼搏，即使是失落彷徨、有被抛弃的感觉，你都绝不要抛弃自己。你抛弃了自己，你也就抛弃了你的祖国。