第一篇：奥巴马2013俄亥俄州立大学毕业演讲译文

奥巴马2013俄亥俄州立大学毕业演讲译文

Well, thank you so much，Everybody.Please be seated.Thank you, Dr.Gee, for the wonderful introduction.I suspect the good President may have edited out some other words that were used to describe me.(Laughter.)I appreciate that.But I'm going to let Michelle know of all the good comments.非常感谢，各位。请坐。感谢纪博士的精彩介绍。我怀疑这个好校长事先准备好了一些话描述我。（笑声）对此我深表感谢。但是我要挑好的评价告诉米切尔。

To the Board of Trustees;Congresswoman Beatty;Mayor Coleman;and all of you who make up The Ohio State University for allowing me to join you--it is an incredible honor.感谢各位校董，彼迪议员，卡尔曼市长，以及俄亥俄州立大学所有教职员工邀请我出席这个典礼—这是一个无尚荣光。

And most of all, congratulations, Class of 2013!(Applause.)And of course, congratulations to all the parents, and family, and friends and faculty here in the Horseshoe--this is your day as well.(Applause.)I've been told to ask everybody, though, please be careful with the turf.Coach Meyer has big plans for this fall.(Laughter.)I very much appreciate the President’s introduction.I will not be singing today.(Laughter.)

最重要的是，祝贺2013届毕业生！（掌声）当然还要祝贺所有家长们，所有亲友们和在场的所有教职员工们—这也是你们的节日。（掌声）但是，有人让我要求你们注意保护草坪。麦耶教练今年秋天要在这里大显身手。（笑声）

我非常感谢校长的介绍。今天我不想唱歌。(笑声)

It is true that I did speak at that certain university up north a few years ago.But, to be fair, you did let President Ford speak here once--and he played football for Michigan!(Laughter.)So everybody can get some redemption.我的确在几年前在北方的一所大学做过演讲。但是，公平地讲，你们也邀请福特总统在这里演讲过一次—他还代表密歇根队参加了棒球赛！（笑声）所以各位也该得到一些安慰了吧。

In my defense, this is my fifth visit to campus in the past year or so.(Applause.)One time, I stopped at Sloppy’s to grab some lunch.Many of you--Sloopy’s--I know.(Laughter.)It’s Sunday and I'm coming off a foreign trip.(Laughter.)Anyway, so I'm at Sloopy’s and many of you were still eating breakfast.At11:30 a.m.(Laughter.)On a Tuesday.(Laughter.)So, to the Class of 2013, I will offer my first piece of advice: Enjoy it while you can.(Laughter.)Soon, you will not get to wake up and have breakfast at 11:30 a.m.on Tuesday.(Laughter.)And once you have children, it gets even earlier.(Laughter.)我解释一下，这是我在过去的几年里第十五此来到这个校园。（掌声）有一次我到Sloppy’s饭店对付一口饭。你们中很多人—啊，是Sloopy’s—我知道。（奥巴马读错了饭店名引发哄笑）那是一个星期天，我刚刚出国访问回来。（笑声）不管怎么说，我在Sloopy’s看到你们很多人还在吃早饭，已经是上午11:30啦。（笑声）在一个周二。（笑声）2013届毕业生们，我的第一个忠告就是：能享受就享受吧。（笑声）不久，你们就再也不能在周二上午11:30才起床去吃早饭了。（笑声）一旦你们有了孩子，你们还得起床更早。（笑声）

But, Class of 2013, your path to this moment has wound you through years of breathtaking change.You were born as freedom forced its way through a wall in Berlin, tore down an Iron Curtain across Europe.You were educated in an era of instant information that put the world’s accumulated knowledge at your fingertips.And you came of age as terror touched our shores;and an historic recession spread across the nation;and a new generation signed up to go to war.但是，2013届毕业生们，你们的人生轨迹到此因多年的惊天动地的变革带给你们挥之不去的阴影。你们出生在自由之神冲破柏林墙，打破横贯欧洲的铁幕的时代。你们受教育的时代是源源不断的信息使你们可以在指尖上获得日益增长的知识的时代。你们成年的时代是恐怖主义打到我们的家门口；历史性的经济衰退席卷全国；新一代应征参战的时代。

So you’ve been tested and you’ve been tempered by events that your parents and I never imagined we’d see when we sat where you sit.And yet, despite all this, or perhaps because of it, yours has become a generation possessed with that most American of ideas--that people who love their country can change it for the better.For all the turmoil, for all the times you’ve been letdown, or frustrated at the hand that you’ve been dealt, what I have seen--what we have witnessed from your generation--is that perennial, quintessentially American value of optimism;altruism;empathy;tolerance;a sense of community;a sense of service – all of which makes me optimistic for our future.你们受到了你们的父母和我无法想象而站在你们的角度已经看见的一系列事件的考验和砺练。然而不管这些，或者恰恰是因为它，你们这一代是拥有美国理想人数最多的一代—热爱自己的国家并且能把她变得更好的人们。经历了所有的**，所有你们失望的时刻，或遭受了别人等待你们的方式带给你们的挫折的时刻，我们在你们这代身上看到的是—我们目睹的是永恒的精髓的乐观、利他、推己及人、宽容、集体意识和服务意识的美国价值—所有这一切让我对你们的前途充满信心。

Consider that today, 50 ROTC cadets in your graduating class will become commissioned officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.(Applause.)A hundred and thirty of your fellow graduates have already served--some in combat, some on multiple deployments.(Applause.)Of the 98 veterans earning bachelor’s degrees today, 20 are graduating with honors, and at least one kept serving his fellow veterans when he came home by starting up a campus organization called Vets4Vets.And as your Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of all of you.(Applause.)今天我们还要想想，你们这一届毕业生中的50位预备役军官训练营的学员们将在陆军、海军、空军和海军陆战队担任指挥官。（掌声）你们的130位同学已经戎装在身了—有些参加了战斗，有些执行过多次驻防任务。（掌声）今天毕业的98位退伍军人中有20位获得嘉奖，至少一位在退伍之后创立了一个叫做Vets4Vets校园组织继续为他的退伍战友们服务。作为你们的总司令，我感到无比骄傲。（掌声）

Consider that graduates of this university serve their country through the Peace Corps, and educate our children through established programs like Teach for America, startups like Blue Engine, often earning little pay for making the biggest impact.Some of you have already launched startup companies of your own.And I suspect that those of you who pursue more education, or climb the corporate ladder, or enter the arts or science or journalism, you will still choose a cause that you care about in your life and will fight like heck to realize your vision.想想在和平营为国家服务、在诸如“为美国教书”和启动“蓝引擎” 行动中教育我们的孩子们的本校毕业生们，他们收入微薄、影响巨大。你们中有些人已经开始自己创业了。我想你们中打算继续深造的，进入大公司按部就班升级的，或进入艺术、科学和新闻届的，你们还要选择关乎你们一生的路线并且为实现你们的理想过关斩将。

There is a word for this.It’s citizenship.And we don’t always talk about this idea much these days--citizenship--let alone celebrate it.Sometimes, we see it as a virtue from another time, a distant past, one that’s slipping from a society that celebrates inpidual ambition above all else;a society awash in instant technology that empowers us to leverage our skills and talents like never before, but just as easily allows us to retreat from the world.And the result is that we sometimes forget the larger bonds we share as one American family.以一言毕之，就是公民意识。我们这些天不是过多地谈论这个理念—公民意识—更不要说赞美它了。有时我们把它视为另一个时代、一个遥远的过去的美德，被倡导个人野心高于一切的社会所忽视；视为一个淹没在赋予调动我们过去没有的技能和天赋的能力的速食技术但是同样使我们很容易被开除球籍的社会。结果是我们有时忘了我们作为一个美国大家庭共享的更大的纽带。

But it’s out there, all the time, every day--especially when we need it most.Just look at the past year.When a hurricane struck our mightiest city, and a factory exploded in a small town in Texas, we saw citizenship.When bombs went off in Boston, and when a malevolent spree of gunfire visited a movie theater, a temple, an Ohio high school, a 1st grade classroom in Connecticut, we saw citizenship.In the aftermath of darkest tragedy, we have seen the American spirit at its brightest.但是它就在那里，无论何时，每日每夜—特别是我们最需要它的时候。仅仅是去年，当飓风席卷我们最大的城市、德克萨斯州一个小城的工厂发生爆炸时，我们目睹了公民意识。当炸弹在波士顿爆炸，丧心病狂的枪弹横扫电影院、神庙和俄亥俄的一个高中，康涅狄格州的一个小学一年级教室时，我们目睹了公民意识。在最黑暗的悲剧的余波之中，我们见证了美国精神最光辉的一面。

We’ve seen the petty pisions of color and class and creed replaced by a united urge to help each other.We’ve seen courage and compassion, a sense of civic duty, and a recognition we are not a collection of strangers;we are bound to one another by a set of ideals and laws and commitments, and a deep devotion to this country that we love.我们目睹了渺小的肤色、阶层和信仰不同被共同的互相帮助紧急施救所取代。我们目睹了勇气和同情，公民责任感和认识到我们不是一个陌生人的集合；一系列理想、法律和承诺已经对我们热爱的国家的深沉的奉献把我们一个个紧密相连。

And that's what citizenship is.It’s at the heart of our founding--that as Americans, we are blessed with God-given talents and inalienable rights, but with those rights come responsibilities--to ourselves, and to one another, and to future generations.(Applause.)这就是公民意识。它是我们的立国之本—作为美国人，我们拥有得天独厚的天赋和不可剥夺的权利，但是这些权利也伴随着责任—对我们自己的责任，对他人的责任，对后代的责任。（掌声）

Now, if we’re being honest with ourselves, as you’ve studied and worked and served to become good citizens, the fact is that all too often the institutions that give structure to our society have, at times, betrayed your trust.In the run-up to the financial crisis, too many on Wall Street forgot that their obligations don’t end with what’s happening with their shares.In entertainment and in the media, ratings and shock value often trump news and storytelling.现在，如果不口是心非，当你们努力学习、勤奋工作和保家卫国的时候，事实却是决定我们社会制度的很多法规常常辜负了我们的信任。在那场金融危机的余波之中，很多华尔街的投资人忘了他们的责任并没有他们的股票的表现而结束。在娱乐届，媒体届，评级和震荡价值充斥着新闻和报道。In Washington--well, this is a joyous occasion, so let me put it charitably--(laughter)--I think it’s fair to say our democracy isn’t working as well as we know it can.It could do better.(Applause.)And so those of us fortunate enough to serve in these institutions owe it to you to do better every single day.在华盛顿，这是一个欢乐的时刻，所以我留点口德--（笑声）--我认为恰如其分地讲我们的民主没有我们想象的那么好。它可以更好。（掌声）所以我们这些人有幸投身于这些法规赋予我们的一切，每天都更上一层楼。And I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we can keep this idea of citizenship in its fullest sense alive at the national level--not just on Election Day, not just in times of tragedy, but all the days in between.And perhaps because I spend a lot of time in Washington, I’m obsessed with this issue because that sense of citizenship is so sorely needed there.And I think of what your generation’s traits--compassion and energy, and a sense of selflessness--might mean for a democracy that must adapt more quickly to keep up with the speed of technological and demographic, and wrenching economic change.我最近总是在想我们如何把公民意识的理念在民族层面上焕发它全部的光辉—不仅仅是在竞选日，不仅仅是在悲剧发生时，而是在它们之间的每一天。或许是因为我长期生活在华盛顿，我深切地感到那里急需这种公民意识。我思考你们这一代的特点—同情和活力，以及自我意识—可能意味着民主要尽快改变以适应技术和人口特征以及紧迫的经济变革。I think about how we might perpetuate this notion of citizenship in a way that another politician from my home state of Illinois, Adlai Stevenson, once described patriotism not as“short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” That’s what patriotism is.That’s what citizenship is.(Applause.)我考虑如何让我们这个充满公民意识的国家以来自我的故乡伊利诺伊州的另一位政治家—阿德莱-史蒂文森描述的方式永恒，他曾经说过，爱国主义不是“短暂的、疯狂的情感爆发，而是深沉的、坚实的一生奉献”。这就是爱国主义。这就是公民意识。（掌声）

Now, I don’t pretend to have all the answers.I’m not going to offer some grand theory on a beautiful day like this--you guys all have celebrating to do.I’m not going to get partisan, either, because that’s not what citizenship is about.In fact, I’m asking the same thing of you that President Bush did when he spoke at this commencement in 2002: “America needs more than taxpayers, spectators, and occasional voters,” he said.“America needs full-time citizens.”(Applause.)And as graduates from a university whose motto is “Education for Citizenship,” I know all of you get that this is what you’ve signed up for.It’s what your country expects of you.现在，我并不打算获得全部答案。我不想在今天这样的日子讲一大套理论—你们各位今天喜不胜收吧。我今天也不想谈党派，因为这也不是公民意识的内涵。事实上，我要求你们做布什总统在2002年毕业典礼上说的：“美国需要全职公民”。（掌声）作为一个座右铭为“培养公民意识”的大学的毕业生，我知道你们都理解这是你们上大学的目的。你们的国家期望你们如此。

So briefly, I’ll ask for two things from the Class of 2013: to participate, and to persevere.After all, your democracy does not function without your active participation.At a bare minimum, that means voting, eagerly and often--not having somebody drag you to it at 11:30 a.m.when you’re having breakfast.(Laughter.)It means knowing who’s been elected to make decisions on your behalf, and what they believe in, and whether or not they delivered on what they said they would.And if they don’t represent you the way you want, or conduct themselves the way you expect, if they put special interests above your own, you’ve got to let them know that’s not okay.And if they let you down often enough, there’s a built-in day in November where you can really let them know it’s not okay.(Applause.)简而言之，我对2013 届毕业生提出两个要求：参与和坚持。归根到底，你们的民主只有你们的积极参与才能发挥作用。狭义地讲，就是投票，经常热心地投票—不是让别人在你们上午11:30吃早饭时拽你们去投票。（笑声）它意味着弄清谁当选能够代表你们的利益做决策，他们信仰什么，他们是否言行一致。如果他们不能按你们的要求代表你们，按你们的要求规范自己，如果他们把特殊利益凌驾于你们的利益之上，你们应该让他们知道这样不行。如果他们经常让你们失望，在某个11月份的一天你们就可以让他们知道这样不行。（掌声）

But participation, your civic duty, is more than just voting.You don’t have to run for office yourself--but I hope many of you do, at all levels, because our democracy needs you.And I promise you, it will give you a tough skin.I know a little bit about this.(Laughter.)President Wilson once said, “If you want to make enemies, try to change something.”

但是参与—你们的公民义务—远远不止是投票。你们自己不一定想谋求一个职位—但是我希望你们谋求在各个级别的职位，我们的民主需要你们。我向你们保证，这将使你们“脸皮厚”。我就知道这么一点点。（笑声）威尔逊总统曾经说过，“如果你想树敌，那就改变些什么”。

And that’s precisely what the Founders left us--the power, each of us, to adapt to changing times.They left us the keys to a system of self-government, the tools to do big things and important things together that we could not possibly do alone – to stretch railroads and electricity and a highway system across a sprawling continent.To educate our people with a system of public schools and land-grant colleges, including The Ohio State University.To care for the sick and the vulnerable, and provide a basic level of protection from falling into abject poverty in the wealthiest nation on Earth.(Applause.)To conquer fascism and disease;to visit the Moon and Mars;to gradually secure our God-given rights for all of our citizens, regardless of who they are, or what they look like, or who they love.(Applause.)这恰恰就是我们国家的缔造者们留给我们的财富—权力，我们每个人改变自己适应变化的时代的权力。他们留给我们进入自治体制的钥匙，他们留给我们共同做我们单独无法做的大事和要事的利器—他们把铁路、电力和高速公路系统送到这个杂草丛生的大陆的各个角落。他们用公立学校和政府拨地的大学体系教育我们的人民，包括俄亥俄州立大学。关爱老弱病残，提供基本保障防止他们沦为这个世界上最富裕的国家的最悲惨的穷人。（掌声）他们征服了法西斯主义和疾病；登上月球和火星；逐渐让我们的所有公民都享受上帝赋予的权利，不管他们是谁，长得什么样，或他们爱谁。（掌声）

We, the people, chose to do these things together--because we know this country cannot accomplish great things if we pursue nothing greater than our own inpidual ambition.我们，人民，选择齐心协力—因为我们知道如果我们追求事不关己高高挂起我们国家就不能干大事。

Unfortunately, you’ve grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that’s at the root of all our problems;some of these same voices also doing their best to gum up the works.They’ll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner.You should reject these voices.Because what they suggest is that our brave and creative and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.不幸的是，你们成长过程中不绝于耳的却是政府不过是一些支离破碎的邪恶实体、是我们所有问题之源的叫嚣；这些叫嚣还不遗余力地企图把政府的工作搞乱。他们叫嚣专制阴魂不散。你们应该抵制这些叫嚣。因为他们说的是我们的大胆的、创新的和独一无二的自治试验是使我们不可信的骗局。

We have never been a people who place all of our faith in government to solve our problems;we shouldn’t want to.But we don’t think the government is the source of all our problems, either.Because we understand that this democracy is ours.And as citizens, we understand that it’s not about what America can do for us;it’s about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating but absolutely necessary work of self-government.(Applause.)And, Class of 2013, you have to be involved in that process.(Applause.)我们这个民族从来就不要求政府解决我们的所有问题；我们不应该那样。但是我们也不认为政府是一切问题之源。因为我们知道民主是我们自己的。作为公民，我们知道问题不是美国能为我们做什么；问题是我们能做什么，共同通过艰苦卓绝的充满挫折的但是不可替代的自治工作做什么。（掌声）2013届毕业生们，你们一定要投身于这个伟大进程。（掌声）The founders trusted us with this awesome authority.We should trust ourselves with it, too.Because when we don’t, when we turn away and get discouraged and cynical, and abdicate that authority, we grant our silent consent to someone who will gladly claim it.That’s how we end up with lobbyists who set the agenda;and policies detached from what middle-class families face every day;the well-connected who publicly demand that Washington stay out of their business--and then whisper in government’s ear for special treatment that you don’t get.国家的缔造者们赋予我们这个无尚的权威。我们也应该无愧于它。因为如果我们不这样，如果我们偏离、失望和不相信并且放弃这个权威，我们就是默许了有些人欣然接受它。我们就是这样止步于游说者们设立的议事日程；脱离中产阶级家庭每天面对的问题的政治；那些要求华盛顿不要干涉他们的事—然后在政府耳边吹风乞求获得你们得不到的特殊待遇的神通广大的人们。

That’s how a small minority of lawmakers get cover to defeat something the vast majority of their constituents want.That’s how our political system gets consumed by small things when we are a people called to do great things--like rebuild a middleclass, and reverse the rise of inequality, and repair the deteriorating climate that threatens everything we plan to leave for our kids and our grandkids.少数立法者就是这样瞒天过海损害大多数人的利益。我们的政治体系就是这样捡了芝麻丢了我们民族所希望的西瓜—诸如重建中产阶级，逆转不平等的增长势头，治理气候恶化，解除对我们留给的后代的生活基础的威胁。Class of 2013, only you can ultimately break that cycle.Only you can make sure the democracy you inherit is as good as we know it can be.But it requires your dedicated, and informed, and engaged citizenship.And that citizenship is a harder, higher road to take, but it leads to a better place.It’s how we built this country--together.2013届毕业生们，只有你们能最终打破这个怪圈。这样你们能让你们继承的民主如同我们期待的那么好。但是这要求你们无私奉献、博学多才和全心全意的公民意识。这个公民意识充满坎坷，积极向上的道路，通往更加美好的乐土的道路。我们就是这样建设我们的国家—齐心协力。It’s the question that President Kennedy posed to the nation at his inauguration.It’s the dream that Dr.King invoked.It does not promise easy success or immediate progress--but it has led to success, and it has led to progress.And it has to continue with you.这是肯尼迪总统在他的就职演讲中给我们国家的一个命题。这是马丁路德金博士描述的梦想。它不会一蹴而就—但是它通往成功，它走向进步。它将伴随你们。

Which brings me to the second thing I ask of all of you--I ask that you persevere.Whether you start a business, or run for office, or devote yourself to alleviating poverty or hunger, please remember that nothing worth doing happens over night.A British inventor named Dyson went through more than 5,000prototypes before getting that first really fancy vacuum cleaner just right.We remember Michael Jordan’s six championships;we don't remember his nearly 15,000 missed shots.As for me, I lost my first race for Congress, and look at me now--I’m an honorary graduate of The Ohio State University.(Applause.)谈谈我要求你们大家的第二件事—坚持。无论你们自己创业，或谋求公职，或致力于扶贫济困，请记住没有什么有价值的事能一蹴而就。一个叫迪森的英国发明家报废了5,000多个原型机之后才获得了第一个实用的真空吸尘器。我们只记得迈克尔乔丹获得6个冠军；我们都不知道他有15,000个投篮不中。至于我，我第一次竞选国会议员失利，但是看看我现在—我现在是俄亥俄州立大学的荣誉毕业生。（掌声）

The point is, if you are living your life to the fullest, you will fail, you will stumble, you will screw up, you will fall down.But it will make you stronger, and you’ll get it right the next time, or the time after that, or the time after that.And that is not only true for your personal pursuits, but it’s also true for the broader causes that you believe in as well.重要的是，如果你过上最完整的生活，你就会经历失败、摔打、不知所措和跌入低谷。但是它会使你更加坚强，下一次，或再下一次你们就会吃一堑长一智了。这不仅适用于你们的个人追求，而且适用于你们信仰的更广义的事业。

So you can't give up your passion if things don't work right away.You can't lose heart, or grow cynical if there are twists and turns on your journey.The cynics may be the loudest voices--but I promise you, they will accomplish the least.It’s those folks who stay at it, those who do the long, hard, committed work of change that gradually push this country in the right direction, and make the most lasting difference.所以如果你们处于逆境不要放弃激情。如果你们的旅途中出现曲折不要灰心丧气、玩世不恭。玩世不恭者可能叫得最响—但是我保证，他们一事无成。那些锲而不舍，致力于长期的、艰苦的和全心全意的改变世界的工作的人们一步步推动国家沿着正确的道路前进，使我们长期独树一帜。So whenever you feel that creeping cynicism, whenever you hear those voices saying you can’t do it, you can’t make a difference, whenever somebody tells you to set your sights lower--the trajectory of this great nation should give you hope.What generations have done before you should give you hope.Because it was young people just like you who marched and mobilized and stood up and sat in to secure women’s rights, and voting rights, and workers’ rights, and gay rights--often at incredible odds, often at great danger, often over the course of years, sometimes over the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime--and they never got acknowledged for it, but they made a difference.(Applause.)当你感到玩世不恭蠢蠢欲动，当你听到有人说你们干不了，你们无法改变世界，当有人叫你们把眼光放低一点时—这个伟大的国家的发展轨迹会给你们希望。多少代先人的辉煌业绩会给你们希望。因为正是因为像你们一样的年轻人游行宣传、发动民众、挺身而出和静坐示威才使妇女权利、投票权和工人权利和同性恋权利得到保证—通常饱受争议，历尽艰险、奋斗几年，有时甚至要经历一生的深处的奉献—他们一直默默无闻，但是他们改变了世界。

And even if their rights were already secured, there were those who fought to secure those same rights and opportunities for others.And that should give you some hope.尽管他们的权利已经有保障了，他们中还是有些人为了其他人的权利而奋斗。这会给你们希望。

Where we’re going should give you hope.Because while things are still hard for a lot of people, you have every reason to believe that your future is bright.You’re graduating into an economy and a job market that is steadily healing.The once-dying American auto industry is on pace for its strongest performance in 20 years--something that means everything to many communities in Ohio and across the Midwest.Huge strides in domestic energy, driven in part by research at universities like this one, have us on track to secure our own energy future.Incredible advances in information and technology spurred largely by the risk-takers of your generation have the potential to change the way we do almost everything.我们前进的目标会给你们希望。因为尽管对很多人来讲生活还是艰难，你们仍然有理由相信你们的前途光明。你们毕业后将走进一个稳步回暖的经济和就业市场。一度濒临死亡的美国汽车工业正以二十年来最强劲的步伐提高业绩—这几乎意味着俄亥俄州和中西部很多社区的一切。国内能源的巨大进步--部分地由贵校这样的大学的研究成果推动的—使我们走上保证我们的能源未来的轨道。你们这代人中的甘冒风险者激发了信息和技术领域的不可思议的进步可能改变我们解决几乎是任何问题的方法。There is not another country on Earth that would not gladly change places with the United States of America.And that will be true for your generation just as it was true for previous generations.世界上几乎没有那个国家不愿意与美利坚合众国互换地位。在你们这一代也将和你们之前的几代一样。

So you’ve got a lot to look forward to, but if there’s one certainty about the decade ahead, it’s that things will be uncertain.Change will be a constant, just as it has been throughout our history.And, yes, we still face many important challenges.Some will require technological breakthroughs or new policy insights.But more than anything, what we will need is political will--to harness the ingenuity of your generation, and encourage and inspire the hard work of dedicated citizens.To repair the middle class, to give more families a fair shake, to reject a country in which only a lucky few prosper because that’s antithetical to our ideals and our democracy--all of this is going to happen if you are involved, because it takes dogged determination--the dogged determination of our citizens.展望你们的未来事务纷繁复杂，但是未来十年有一件事是确定的，那就是一切都不确定。变化是永恒的，自古如此。我们仍然面对很多重大的变化。有些将要求技术突破或切实可行的新政策。但是我们最需要的是政治意愿—发挥你们这一代的天赋和鼓舞和激励无私奉献的公民们努力工作的意愿。重建重建中产阶级，给更多家庭公平待遇，防止我国成为只有少数幸运者繁荣的国家—因为这与我们的理想和民主背道而驰—如果你们积极投身所有这些都能实现，因为它需要坚定的决心—我们公民的坚定决心。To educate more children at a younger age, and to reform our high schools for a new time, and to give more young people the chance to earn the kind of education that you did at The Ohio State University, and to make it more affordable so young people don’t leave with a mountain of debt--that will take the care and concern of citizens like you.(Applause.)更多的孩子们在早期受到教育，改革高中教育以适应新时代，给你们这样的年轻人进入俄亥俄州立大学这样的大学的机会，使大学学费可接受而使同学们不至于负债如山—都要求关爱像你们一样的公民。（掌声）To build better roads and airports and faster Internet, and to advance the kinds of basic research and technology that’s always kept America ahead of everybody else--that will take the grit and fortitude of citizens.建设更好的道路和机场以及更快的网络，推进使美国领先于其他任何国家的研究和技术—要求公民的勇气和毅力。

To confront the threat of climate change before it’s too late--that requires the idealism and the initiative of citizens.应对气候变化，防止无法挽回的灾难，要求公民的理想主义和主动性。To protect more of our kids from the horrors of gun violence--that requires the unwavering passion, the untiring resolve of citizens.(Applause.)It will require you.保护更多的孩子们不受恐怖的涉枪暴力的伤害—要求公民的长久的激情和不倦的决心。（掌声）这需要你们。

Fifty years ago, President Kennedy told the class of 1963 that “our problems are manmade--therefore, they can be solved by man.And man can be as big as he wants.” We’re blessed to live in the greatest nation on Earth.But we can always be greater.We can always aspire to something more.That doesn’t depend on who you elect to office.It depends on you, as citizens, how big you want us to be, how badly you want to see these changes for the better.五十年前，肯尼迪总统告诫1963届毕业生“我们的问题是人为的—因此它们能够由人来解决。人能够做到想做的一切。”我们有幸生活在世界上最伟大的国家。但是我们可以永远变得更加伟大。我们可以永远渴望更多。这不取决于你们选谁当总统。这取决于你们自己，作为公民，要求我们做得多么伟大，取决于你们多么强烈地希望变得更好。

And look at all that America has already accomplished.Look at how big we’ve been.I dare you, Class of2013, to do better.I dare you to dream bigger.回顾美国已经取得的所有成就。回顾我们有多么伟大。我坚信，2013届毕业生，会做得更好。我坚信你们的梦想更加恢宏。

And from what I’ve seen of your generation, I’m confident that you will.And so I wish you courage, and compassion, and all the strength that you will need for that tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.从你们这一代我看到的，使我相信你们能。我祝你们拥有你们用毕生时间深沉持久地奉献所需要的勇气、激情和实力。

Thank you.God bless you, and God bless these United States of America.(Applause.)谢谢。上帝保佑你们，上帝保佑美利坚合众国。(掌声)

第二篇：奥巴马演讲译文

奥巴马在今天于内华达大学发表演讲时称：“如果一家美国公司希望创造就业岗位和实现增长，那么我们就应该帮助其达成这一目标。”根据白宫公布的内容概要说明书显示，向能源抵税计划补充50亿美元资金将可吸引到大约120亿美元的私人投资，从而为清洁能源制造行业创造数以千计的工作岗位，这将意味着联邦政府所花费的每1美元都将为清洁能源项目换来大约2.40美元的私人资本。奥巴马称，联邦政府提供的50亿美元投资将可创造将近4万个工作岗位，而120亿美元的私人投资活动则将进一步创造9万个工作岗位。

奥巴马目前正处于视察密苏里州和内华达州的两天之旅中，他将利用此次视察来宣传自己的经济政策，并为民主党参议院候选人筹集竞选资金。在11月份的选举活动中，经济、就业和预算赤字很可能将成为首要问题，此次选举将决定美国国会的控制权。在今天的演讲中，奥巴马对其上任不久后推出的总额8620亿美元的经济刺激性计划作出了辩护，这项计划中有一项内容是为清洁能源行业提供价值23亿美元的抵税。奥巴马曾在1月份表示，在这项抵税计划的帮助下，共有183个清洁能源项目创造了1.7万多个就业岗位，这些项目所涉及的产品包括涡轮发电机和太阳能面板等。

奥巴马今天还表示，美国经济正在从20世纪30年代以来最严重的衰退周期中复苏。据劳工部此前公布的非农就业报告显示，6月份私营企业的就业人数增加了8.3万人，但失业率则仍旧高达9.5%。就内华达州而言，5月份该州的失业率为14%。奥巴马称：“就我所知，对于内华达州而言，我们已经走过了艰难的时刻，但并非所有的困难日子都已经被甩在身后。不过我可以作出承诺的是，我们正在朝着正确的方向前进。

我想下载（单击右键）Mp3

我想下载（单击右键）Mp4

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody.Thank you.(Applause.)Please have a seat.Have a seat.(Applause.)Well, thank you, Harry.Thanks for giving me a chance to get out of Washington.It’s very hot there.(Laughter.)It’s hot here, too, but there’s a little more humidity there.And I just love coming to Vegas.(Applause.)I love being here.I mentioned last night, I'm not the only one who loves it, because I noticed that, for some reason, Air Force One is more crowded when we're coming to Vegas.(Laughter.)Somehow I need more staff and logistical support and a couple extra Secret Service guys.(Laughter.)

We've got some wonderful leaders here, and I just want to acknowledge them very quickly.U.S.Representative Dina Titus is here--(applause)--doing a great job.And Nevada’s Secretary of State, Ross Miller, is here.(Applause.)Dr.Neal Smatresk is here, and his family.And they’re doing a great job on behalf of UNLV.(Applause.)And all of you are here.(Applause.)And I am thrilled to see you.But I’m especially here to be with my friend and your Senator, Harry Reid.(Applause.)One of the first stories I heard about Harry was that he was a boxer back in the day here in Nevada.And I was mentioning last--she’s laughing, she’s--oh, I can't believe it.(Laughter.)No, he was.(Laughter.)You wouldn't know that because he’s so soft-spoken.He’s all “well, I'm Harry Reid.”(Laughter.)But when he first told me he was a boxer, he said, “Barack, I wasn’t the fastest, I wasn’t the hardest hitting, but I knew how to take a punch.”(Laughter.)He knew how to take a punch.And Harry Reid became a pretty good boxer because he would simply outlast his opponents.He had a stronger will.I think that tells you something about the kind of person he is, the kind of senator he is, the kind of Senate Majority Leader he is.He’s a fighter, and you should never bet against him.(Applause.)And that’s just what we need right now.That's what Nevada needs right now.(Applause.)That's what Nevada needs, is somebody who’s going to fight for the people of Nevada and for the American people.And you know that he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth--in Searchlight, Nevada.So when you're going through tough times, Harry Reid has been there.He knows what it feels like to be scraping and scrimping, and struggle to make ends meet.And so when his home state is having a tough time, when the country is having a tough time, he knows that he’s got to be fighting on behalf of not those who are powerful, but on behalf of those who need help the most.Now, let me tell you, when we first took office, amidst the worst economy since the Great Depression, we needed Harry’s fighting spirit--because we had lost nearly three million jobs during the last six months of 2008.The month I was sworn in, January 2009, we lost 750,000 jobs in that month alone.The following month we lost 600,000 jobs.And these were all the consequence of a decade of misguided economic policies--a decade of stagnant wages, a decade of declining incomes, a decade of spiraling deficits.So our first mission was to break the momentum of the deepest and most vicious recession since the Great Depression.We had to stop the freefall and get the economy and jobs growing again.And digging out of this mess required us taking some tough decisions, and sometimes those decisions were not popular.And Harry knew they weren’t popular.I knew they weren’t popular.But they were the right thing to do.And Harry was willing to lead those fights because he knew that we had to change course;that to do nothing, to simply continue with the policies that had gotten us into this mess in the first place would mean further disaster.And to fail to act on some of the great challenges facing the country that we had been putting off for decades would mean a lesser future for our children and our grandchildren.Now, as a result of those tough steps that we took, we’re in a different place today than we were a year ago.An economy that was shrinking is now growing.We’ve gained private sector jobs for each of the past six months instead of losing them--almost 600,000 new jobs.But as Harry pointed out, that’s not enough.I don’t have to tell you that.The unemployment rate is still unacceptably high, particularly in some states like Nevada.And a lot of you have felt that pain personally or you’ve got somebody in your family who’s felt the pain.Maybe you found yourself underwater on your mortgage and faced the terrible prospect of losing your home.Maybe you’re out of work and worried about how you’re going to provide for your family.Or maybe you’re a student at UNLV and you’re wondering if you’re going to be able to find a job when you graduate, or if you’re going to be able to pay off your student loans, or if you’re going to be able to start your career off on the right foot.Now, the simple truth is it took years to dig this hole;it’s going to take more time than any of us would like to climb out of it.But the question is, number one, are we on the right track? And the answer is, yes.And number two, how do we accelerate the process? How do we get the recovery to pick up more steam? How do we fill this hole faster?

There’s a big debate in Washington right now about the role that government should play in all this.As I said in the campaign--and as I’ve repeated many times as President--the greatest generator of jobs in America is our private sector.It’s not government.It’s our entrepreneurs and innovators who are willing to take a chance on a good idea.It’s our businesses, large and small, who are making payroll and working with suppliers and distributing goods and services across the country and now across the world.The private sector, not government, is, was, and always will be the source of America’s economic success.That’s our strength, the dynamism of our economy.And that’s why one of the first things Harry Reid did, one of the first things we did, was cut dozens of taxes--not raise them, cut them--for middle class and small business people.And we extended loan programs to put capital in the hands of startups.And we worked to reduce the cost of health care for small businesses.And right now, Harry is fighting to pass additional tax breaks and loan authority to help small businesses grow and hire all across the country.But he has also tried to look out specifically for Nevada.He understands, for example, that tourism is so enormous an aspect of our economy, and so helped to move our trade promotion act that is going to be helping to do exactly what it says--promote tourism--and bring folks here to enjoy the incredible hospitality.The point is, our role in government, especially in difficult times like these, is to break down barriers that are standing in the way of innovation;to unleash the ingenuity that springs from our people;to give an impetus to businesses to grow and expand.That’s not some abstract theory.We’ve seen the results.We’ve seen what we can do to catalyze job growth in the private sector.And one of the places we’ve seen it most is in the clean energy sector--an industry that will not only produce jobs of the future but help free America from our dependence on foreign oil in the process, clean up our environment in the process, improve our national security in the process.So let me give you an example.Just yesterday, I took a tour of Smith Electric Vehicles in Kansas City, Missouri, on the way here.This is a company that just hired its 50th worker, it’s on the way to hiring 50 more, and is aiming to produce 500 electric vehicles at that plant alone.(Applause.)And these are spiffy-looking trucks.I mean, they are--and they’re used by Fortune 500 companies for distribution--PepsiCo, Frito-Lay.They’re also used for the United States military –-electric trucks with a lot of--they’re very strong, great horsepower.And the reason for their success is their entrepreneurial drive.But it’s also partly because of a grant that we’re offering companies that manufacture electric vehicles and the batteries that power them.Because of these grants, we’re going to be going from only having 2 percent of the global capacity to make advanced batteries that go in trucks and cars, run on electricity--we’re going to go from 2 percent of advanced battery market share to 40 percent just in the next five years--just in the next five years.(Applause.)And that will create thousands of jobs across the country--thousands of jobs across the country, not just this year, not just next year, but for decades to come.So it’s a powerful example of how we can generate jobs and promote robust economic growth here in Nevada and all across the country by incentivizing private sector investments.That’s what we’re working to do with the clean energy manufacturing tax credits that we enacted last year, thanks to Harry’s leadership.Thanks to Harry’s leadership.(Applause.)Some people know these tax credits by the name 48c, which refers to their section in the tax code.But here’s how these credits work.We said to clean energy companies, if you’re willing to put up 70 percent of the capital for a worthy project, a clean energy project, we’ll put up the remaining 30 percent.To put it another way, for every dollar we invest, we leverage two more private sector dollars.We’re betting on the ingenuity and talent of American businesses.(Applause.)

Now, these manufacturing tax credits are already having an extraordinary impact.A solar panel company--a solar power company called Amonix received a roughly $6 million tax credit for a new facility they’re building in the Las Vegas area-– a tax credit they were able to match with roughly $12 million in private capital.That's happening right now.And that’s just one of over--(applause)--that's just one of over 180 projects that received manufacturing tax credits in over 40 states.Now, here’s the--the only problem we have is these credits were working so well, there aren’t enough tax credits to go around.There are more worthy projects than there are tax credits.When we announced the program last year, it was such a success we received 500 applications requesting over $8 billion in tax credits, but we only had $2.3 billion to invest.In other words, we had almost four times as many worthy requests as we had tax credits.Now, my attitude, and Harry’s attitude, is that if an American company wants to create jobs and grow, we should be there to help them do it.So that’s why I’m urging Congress to invest $5 billion more in these kinds of clean energy manufacturing tax credits, more than doubling the amount that we made available last year.(Applause.)And this investment would generate nearly 40,000 jobs and $12 billion or more in private sector investment, which could trigger an additional 90,000 jobs.Now, I’m gratified that this initiative is drawing support from members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, including Republican Senators Richard Lugar and Orrin Hatch.Unfortunately, that kind of bipartisanship has been absent on a lot of efforts that Harry and I have taken up over the past year and a half.We fought to keep Nevada teachers and firefighters and police officers on the job, and to extend unemployment insurance and COBRA so folks have health insurance while they’re looking for work.We fought to stop health insurance companies from dropping your coverage on the basis of preexisting conditions, or right when you get sick, or placing lifetime limits on the amount of care that you can receive.We fought to eliminate wasteful subsidies that go to banks that were acting as unnecessary middlemen for guaranteed student loans from the federal government, and as a consequence, freed up tens of billions of dollars that are now going directly to students, which means more than a million students have access to financial aid that they didn't have before.(Applause.)And we’re now on the cusp of enacting Wall Street reforms that will empower consumers with clear and concise information that they need to make financial decisions that are best for them--(applause)--and to help prevent another crisis like this from ever happening again, and putting an end to some of the predatory lending and the subprime loans that had all kinds of fine print and hidden fees that have been such a burden for the economy of a state like Nevada and haven’t been fair to inpidual consumers in the process.So that’s what Harry and I fought for.And, frankly, at every turn we’ve met opposition and obstruction from a lot of leaders across the aisle.And that’s why I’m glad I’ve got a boxer in the Senate who is not afraid to fight for what he believes in.(Applause.)And Harry and I are going to keep on fighting until wages and incomes are rising, and businesses are hiring again right here in Nevada, and Americans are headed back to work again, and we’ve recovered from this recession, and we’re actually rebuilding this economy stronger than before.(Applause.)That’s what we’re committed to doing.(Applause.)

So, Nevada, I know we’ve been through tough times.And not all the difficult days are behind us.There are going to be some tough times to come.But I can promise you this: We are headed in the right direction.We are moving forward.We are not going to move backwards.(Applause.)

And I’m absolutely confident that if we keep on moving forward, if we refuse to turn backwards, if we’re willing to show the same kind of fighting spirit as Harry Reid has shown throughout his career, then out of this storm brighter days are going to come.Thank you very much, everybody.God bless you.(Applause.)

第三篇：米歇尔奥巴马2013俄勒冈州立大学毕业典礼演讲

MRS.OBAMA: Thank you so much.(Applause.)I can't tell you how much this means.I am so proud to receive this honorary degree from this phenomenal university.And I am thrilled to be here today to celebrate the Oregon State University class of 2012!Go Beaves!(Applause.)I want to start by thanking President Ray for that very kind introduction and for the degree.I also want to thank Provost Randhawa.I also want to recognize Mayor Julie Manning, who's here, and all of the outstanding faculty, staff, administrators and university leaders here at OSU.I also want to acknowledge Tonga as well, and all of the student speakers who are going to be on the stage today.We are so proud of you all.And of course, to the stars of today's show, the class of 2012--congratulations!(Applause.)We are all so proud of you.We are proud of how hard you've worked, how much you've grown, and all that you've achieved during your time here at Oregon State.And I know that none of you did this alone.As the President said earlier, you all are here today in large part because of those beautiful people up in the bleachers--the folks who pushed you, and believed in you, and answered the phone every time you called, even when you were just calling for money.(Laughter.)So, graduates, again, let's give another round of applause to your family, especially to all of the fathers out there on this beautiful Father's Day.Today is their day, too.(Applause.)Now, like all of you, I am here today because of my family.As you know, Craig Robinson, your men's basketball coach, is my big brother.(Applause.)And last fall, Craig called me up and he said that if I didn't speak at this year's commencement, he was going to tell mom on me.(Laughter.)And since our mother now lives with me, that threat actually still carries some weight.(Laughter.)But seriously, I'm not here today just because Craig has turned the Obama family into Beaver Believers, which he has.(Laughter and applause.)I am also here, proudly, because of everything this university is doing for this country.You have built one of the most sustainable campuses in America.You're conducting groundbreaking research on everything from agriculture, to nanotechnology, to childhood obesity.You are serving others in so many ways--tutoring children, joining our armed forces, fighting hunger and disease here in America and around the world.So let me just say, I can see why Craig feels so at home here at OSU.Because in so many ways, the values you all embody are the values that he and I were raised with.Craig and I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, and our family was very close--I mean literally close, real close.My mom, my dad, Craig and I, we lived in a little-bitty apartment, and for years Craig and I shared a bedroom pided by a wooden partition to give us the illusion of separate rooms.And at night, Craig and I would whisper to each other through the cracks in that partition until one of us feel asleep, or mom yelled and said, shut up, be quiet--one or the other.(Laughter.)But while we didn't have much space, our little home was bursting with love.We spent lots of time together as a family laughing and sharing stories at dinner each night;playing board games, card games for hours, huddled around the kitchen table.We enjoyed the simple pleasures in life, like getting our report cards because good grades meant pizza for dinner--that was a highlight.Trying to hold in our giggles as Craig put shaving cream on my dad's glasses while he napped.Sleeping on the back porch on hot summer nights when the temperature in our little apartment became unbearable.But it wasn't all fun and games growing up.Our parents were big believers in everyone doing their part around the house.Craig often compared Saturday chores to boot camp.And my parents were even more serious about our academics.My mom taught Craig and I to read long before kindergarten started, and she spent hours volunteering in our neighborhood public school, making sure we got the education she knew we deserved.See, that was the kind of childhood we had.And one day--I will never forget, when my brother was about 10, he asked my dad a simple question.He said, “Dad, are we rich?” To answer this question, my dad took his next paycheck from his job at the city water plant, and instead of depositing that check, he cashed it in small bills.He then came home and dumped out all that money on the kitchen table.Craig was impressed--with all that money, he thought, we must be rich.But then my Dad started explaining where all the money went each month: little bit for rent, that much for gas, this much for groceries.And by the time he was done, there wasn't a penny left on that table.And Craig was shocked, and so was I.I mean, here we were, two kids growing up in a family that was just barely working class, but we were convinced that we were wealthy.We knew it.And, graduates, that's what I'd like to talk with you about today.I'd like to talk about what Craig and I learned from our family about leading a rich life no matter how much money you have.And while there are plenty of lessons I could share, there are three that I'd like to emphasize today.The first: No matter what struggles or setbacks you face in your life, focus on what you have, not on what you're missing.My dad taught us this lesson every day by how he lived his life.My dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when my brother and I were still very young.And as he got sicker it got harder for him to walk, and it took him longer to dress himself in the morning.My dad had been an athlete all of his life;he was a boxer and a swimmer in high school.So it must have been hard for him to feel his body declining--to go from being an active, vibrant young man to barely being able to make it up the stairs.But if he was in pain, if he was at all disappointed with his fate, he never let on.He never stopped smiling and laughing.And even as he struggled to prop himself up on his crutches to teach us to catch a ball, or hold a bat, or throw a punch, no matter how bad he was feeling, he hardly ever missed a day of work because he was determined to be our family's provider and to give me and Craig the kind of opportunities he'd never dreamed of for himself.And there is not a day that goes by that I don't think about how our dad--and how much he sacrificed for me and Craig to be the people we are today.And today, as First Lady, I see that same spirit, that same kind of sacrifice, in people I meet all across this country.I see it in parents like my dad, struggling to support their families.I see it in students like all of you, working so hard to get an education.I see it in young people who are serving this country in uniform, facing challenges that most of us couldn't even imagine.And I've seen this firsthand--the sacrifices that our American heroes are making.As First Lady, I've had the extraordinary privilege of visiting wounded warriors in military hospitals all across this country.Many of them are your age or younger, and they have suffered terrible injuries.Some of them have lost a limb--some of them have lost two limbs, some three.They've endured dozens of surgeries;they've spent months learning to walk again and talk again.But despite the challenges, they persevere.They aren't looking back.They aren't dwelling on what they've lost.Instead, they are making plans for their lives, they're reimagining their futures.They tell me that they're not just going to walk again, they're going to run and they're going to run marathons.I recently met a young Navy Lieutenant named Brad Snyder who'd been blinded by an IED explosion in Afghanistan.He competed in this year's Warrior Games as a runner and a swimmer.And of his service he said this--he said, “I am not going to let my blindness build a brick wall around me.I'd give my eyes 100 times again to have the chance to do what I have done and what I can still do.” And, graduates, more than anything else, that will be the true measure of your success--not how well you do when you're healthy and happy and everything is going according to plan, but what you do when life knocks you to the ground and all your plans go right out the window.In those darkest moments, you will have a choice: Do you dwell on everything you've lost? Or do you focus on what you still have, and find a way to move forward with passion, with determination, and with joy? And I know that many of you in this graduating class have already faced this choice in your own lives--Tonga shared with us today.But there is also one of today's graduates, Vanessa Vasquez.Vanessa's parents are agricultural workers with a grade school education, and she came to Oregon State determined to build a better life for her four-month-old daughter.In addition to being a single mom, she's juggled a full course load and a part-time job.But it all paid off, and today she's receiving her degree in Construction Engineering and Management.(Applause.)Yes, indeed.Her advice to other young people is very simple.She says, “with hard work and dedication, anything is possible.” And then there's another member of the class of 2012, Nicolas Sitts, who's earning his degree in Chemical Engineering.I understand that as a member of OSU's Solar Vehicle Team, Nicolas spent two years painstakingly building a solar car.But when he took it out for a test drive last summer, it caught fire and exploded, and Nicolas sustained second and third degree burns on his arm, face and leg.But instead of throwing in the towel, within a month, the team was back at work, building another, hopefully less explosive car.(Laughter.)Vanessa and Nicolas and the OSU Solar Team didn't give up when things got hard.Instead, they just dug deeper, and worked harder, and refused to give up on the success that they dreamed of.And that actually brings me to the second lesson I want to share about leading a rich life, and that is to define success on your own terms.Now, growing up, my parents always told me and Craig to be true to ourselves.But really, when you're a kid, it's hard to know what that means, right? And as you grow older, often it's just easier to grab for those gold stars and try to get that brass ring.And Craig and I both know this from experience.After graduating from college, we did everything we thought we should do to be successful--Craig went to business school, I went to law school, we got prestigious jobs at an investment bank and me at a law firm.We soon had all the traditional markers of success: the fat paycheck, the fancy office, the impressive lines on our resumés.But the truth is, neither of us was all that fulfilled.I didn't want to be up in some tall office building writing legal memos.I wanted to be down on the ground helping the folks I grew up with.I was living the dream, but it wasn't my dream.And Craig felt the same way, unbeknownst to me.So eventually we quit those corporate jobs.I went to work in the mayor's office;Craig got a job coaching basketball.And we both took salary cuts that made our mother cringe.(Laughter.)But we were excited about our new careers.We looked forward to going to work every morning, and we both realized that success isn't about how your life looks to others, it's about how it feels to you.We realized that being successful isn't about being impressive, it's about being inspired.And that's what it means to be your true self.It means looking inside yourself and being honest about what you truly enjoy doing.Because graduates, I can promise you that you will never be happy plodding through someone else's idea of success.Success is only meaningful--and enjoyable--if it feels like your own.But of course, a successful career alone does not make for a rich life.As you've all learned from the friends you've made and the relationships you've formed here at OSU, what makes life truly rich are the people you share it with.And that brings me to the final lesson I want to offer today, and that is, wherever you go, whatever you do, don't leave behind any unfinished business with the people you love.You see, our dad died of complications from his MS when I was in my mid-twenties.And let me tell you, for months I felt like I couldn't breathe.I had this physical sense of grief, this emptiness in my life that I just couldn't fill.But as hard as it was to lose my dad, and as much as I still miss him every day, I knew that I had never missed a chance to tell my Dad I loved him, and he'd always done the same for me.And whenever Craig and I saw him struggling to walk and we worried that life was getting too hard for him, my Mom would always reassure us that he was so proud of us, so proud to be our father that he felt like the luckiest guy ever to walk the earth.And all of that gave me a sense of peace--a sense that I had no unfinished business with my Dad.And that's what allowed me to move forward.So graduates, as you make your way in the world, I urge you not to leave behind any unfinished business.If you're in a fight with someone, make up.If you're holding a grudge, let it go.If you hurt someone, apologize.If you love someone, let them know.And don't just tell people that you love them, show them.And that means showing up.It means being truly present in the lives of the people you care about.“Liking” them on Facebook doesn't count--(laughter)--nor does following them on Twitter.(Laughter.)What counts is making the time to be there in person.Because I can promise you that years from now, you will not remember the texts you've exchanged with your friends here at OSU, but you will remember how they cheered you on at your game, right? You will remember how they brought you chocolate and spent hours comforting you when your boyfriend or girlfriend dumped you.What jerks.(Laughter.)You will remember all the