一场疫情，使得今年这届美国高中和大学的毕业生们拥有了一个共同的名字：”Pandemic Class of 2020（2020 疫情届毕业生）”。这是句调侃，也是种无奈。大部分毕业生们都失去了亲自走过毕业典礼台接受毕业证书的机会，也失去了拨穗、扔毕业帽、彼此拥抱欢笑的乐趣。但是，总有些传统被保留的下来，比如邀请重要人士来为毕业生们做毕业演讲。而作为毕业季受欢迎的政治领导人和社会名流，喜欢并擅长演讲的前总统奥巴马先生，今年也应邀为这批不能参加传统毕业典礼的学生做了一场十分特殊的毕业演讲。美国时间 5 月 16 日，奥巴马在由智囊团 XQ Institute 与勒布朗·詹姆斯基金会、慈善组织娱乐产业基金会（Entertainment Industry Foundation）合作举办的 “一起毕业：2020 年高中毕业班（#Graduation Together）” 直播节目中担任了毕业演讲嘉宾。对 2020 届高中毕业生，奥巴马给出了三点建议：1、不要害怕2、做你认为正确的事3、建立一个社区奥巴马还说：“你会像我们所有人一样犯错误。但是，即使很困难，很不方便，如果你听从自己的内心，人们也会注意到。他们会欣赏你。你将成为解决方案中的一部分，而不是成为问题中的一部分。”
以下是奥巴马对 2020 届高中毕业生的演讲全文翻译及原文：
我为 2020 届的高中毕业生们，你们所有人，感到无比的骄傲，还有为你们的老师和教练，尤其是一直指导你们的父母和家人，感到自豪。
I couldn’t be prouder of all of you in the graduating class of 2020 — as well as the teachers and the coaches and, most of all, parents and family who have guided you along the way.
在任何情况下，毕业都是个人人生的一项重大成就。你们当中有些人不得不为此迈过一些严重的阻碍，这可能包括面对疾病或者父母失业带来的困难，或是生活在一个常被人拒之门外的社区中。除了成长过程中常见的挑战，你们所有人也都不得不应对社交媒体带来的更大压力，诸如校园枪击事件的报道以及气候变化的阴影。然后，就在你们即将庆祝成功的时候，就在你们一直期待的毕业典礼、舞会、毕业生之夜和一大堆派对到来之际，我们又不得不面对现实 —— 整个世界都被全球瘟疫的大流行颠覆。我敢肯定你们都深爱自己的父母，但我打赌，你们对毕业季最后几个月的生活的设想，一定不是与父母在家一起玩棋盘游戏或跟他们一起看《老虎王》电视剧这类方式。
Now, graduating is a big achievement under any circumstances. Some of you have had to overcome serious obstacles along the way, whether it was an illness or a parent losing a job or living in a neighborhood where people too often count you out. Along with the usual challenges of growing up, all of you have had to deal with the added pressures of social media, reports of school shootings and the specter of climate change. And then, just as you’re about to celebrate having made it through, just as you’ve been looking forward to proms and senior nights, graduation ceremonies — and, let’s face it, a whole bunch of parties — the world is turned upside down by a global pandemic. And as much as I’m sure you love your parents, I’ll bet that being stuck at home with them and playing board games or watchingTiger Kingon TV is not exactly how you envisioned the last few months of your senior year.
不过我也可以诚实地告诉你们，你们对这种打破常规的毕业季和现场毕业典礼缺失的失望感很快就会过去的。我对自己高中毕业的大部分过程就不记得。我知道的是，不坐在那里听人做毕业致辞，也不一定是件坏事。我自己的演讲就经常太长了。而且，也没有多少人在戴着毕业帽时看起来很好看，尤其是像我这样有一对大耳朵的人。放心，一旦当下的公共卫生危机结束，你们会将有足够的时间与你的朋友们聚会的。
Now I’ll be honest with you, the disappointments of missing a live graduation, those will pass pretty quick. I don’t remember much from my own high school graduation. I know that not having to sit there and listen to a commencement speaker isn’t all that bad. Mine usually go on way too long. Also, not that many people look great in those caps, especially if you have big ears like me. And you’ll have plenty of time to catch up with your friends once the immediate public health crisis is over.
但有一个事实是，毕业标志着你们步入成年，开始掌管自己的未来人生。你将开始尝试决定一些未来的重要事情，包括思考以后从事的职业，想与谁建立家庭，要追求的人生价值。鉴于目前整个世界的状况，这过程可能会有点吓人。
But what remains true is that your graduation marks your passage into adulthood, the time when you begin to take charge of your own life. It’s when you get to decide what’s important to you: the kind of career you want to pursue, who you want to build a family with, the values you want to live by. And given the current state of the world, that may be kind of scary.
如果你打算去上大学，那么你很可能没办法在这个秋天被你的家长送到校园里。如果你打算边工作边读书，那么第一份工作的到来将变得很困难。即使是相对优越的家庭，他们也面临着巨大的不确定性。而那些曾经就在挣扎中的人们，现在则是更加得命运未卜。所有的这些处境都意味着，你们将不得不比前浪们更快地成长。这场大流行击碎了现状，暴露了许多深层次的问题 —— 从严重的经济不平等，持续的种族差距，到缺乏全民基本医疗保健。许多年轻人意识到，旧的做事方式根本行不通。如果你们身边的人都贫困交加，那么你们挣多少钱都意义不大。我们的社会和民主制度，只有当我们不仅考虑自己，而且考虑彼此时，才能有意义地运作。
If you’d planned on going away for college, getting dropped off at campus in the fall, that’s no longer a given. If you were planning to work while going to school, finding that first job is going to be tougher. Even families that are relatively well-off are dealing with massive uncertainty. Those who were struggling before, they’re hanging on by a thread. All of which means that you’re going to have to grow up faster than some generations. This pandemic has shaken up the status quo and laid bare a lot of our country’s deep-seated problems — from massive economic inequality to ongoing racial disparities to a lack of basic healthcare for people who need it. It’s woken a lot of young people to the fact that the old ways of doing things just don’t work; that it doesn’t matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick; and that our society and our democracy only work when we think not just about ourselves, but about each other.
这也带出了另一个残酷的事实，一个一旦少年时代结束，我们都必须最终接受这个事实。所有那些你们曾认为负责任的成年人，他们都知道自己在做什么吗？事实证明，他们并不知道一切的答案。他们中的很多人甚至没有提出正确的问题。所以，世界能否变得更好，取决于你们。这种领悟可能会吓到你们，但是我希望它也能激励你们。面对我们国家现在所面临的各种挑战，没有人能再说“不，你们还太年轻，不能理解。”、“以前也是如此。” 这么多的不确定性，一切问题突然都近在眼前，这是需要你们这代人去改变的世界。
It’s also pulled the curtain back on another hard truth, something that we all have to eventually accept once our childhood comes to an end. And all those adults that you used to think were in charge and knew what they were doing Turns out that they don’t have all the answers. A lot of them aren’t even asking the right questions. So, if the world’s going to get better, it going to be up to you. That realization may be kind of intimidating. But, I hope it’s also inspiring. With all the challenges this country faces right now, nobody can tell you “No, you’re too young to understand” or “This is how it’s always been done.” Because with so much uncertainty, with everything suddenly up for grabs, this is your generation’s world to shape.
作为前浪，我不会告诉你们如何使用你们手中的能量，但我将为你们提供三个简单的建议。
Since I’m one of the old guys, I won’t tell you what to do with this power that rests in your hands. But I’ll leave you with three quick pieces of advice.
首先，不要害怕。美国经历过各种艰难的时期 —— 奴隶制，内战，饥荒，疾病，大萧条和 9·11，每次我们坚强地走过来了。究其原因，就是因为新一代，像你们这样的年轻人，从过去的错误中学到了经验教训，并想出了更好的解决方法。
First, don’t be afraid. America’s gone through tough times before — slavery and civil war, famine and disease, the Great Depression and 9/11. And each time we came out stronger, usually because a new generation, young people like you, learned from past mistakes and figured out how to make things better.
第二，做你认为正确的事。做感觉良好、方便、容易的事情，这是 “孩子们的想法”。不幸的是，许多所谓的 “大人”，包括一些拥有花哨头衔和重要工作的大人，仍然是这样想的，这就是为什么现状会如此混乱的原因。我希望你们能坚持诚实，勤奋，责任，公平，慷慨，尊重他人的价值观。你不会每次都正确，你会像我们所有人一样犯错误。但是，如果你愿意倾听你内心所坚持的真理，即使这很难、很不容易，终有一天人们会注意到你。他们会向你靠拢，你将成为解决方案的一部分，而不是问题的一部分。
Second, do what you think is right. Doing what feels good, what’s convenient, what’s easy — that’s how little kids think. Unfortunately, a lot of so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs, still think that way—which is why things are so screwed up. I hope that instead, you decide to ground yourself in values that last, like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others. You won’t get it right every time, you’ll make mistakes like we all do. But if you listen to the truth that’s inside yourself, even when it’s hard, even when its inconvenient, people will notice. They’ll gravitate toward you. And you’ll be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
最后，要有建设社区的意识。没有人能独自做成大事。现在，当人们感到害怕时，很容易愤世嫉俗地说：“就让我只关心自己，我的家人或那些跟我想法、做事、信仰一致的人吧。” 但是，如果我们要度过这些艰难的时期，要创建一个人人都有机会找到工作并负担大学学费的世界，要拯救环境并战胜未来的流行病，那么我们将不得团结起来一起做。因此，你们要理解别人的困境，要对别人有同理心。你们要捍卫彼此的权利。抛开所有旧的思维方式、偏见、性别歧视、种族偏见、地位、贪婪，去开创不同的道路。
And finally, build a community. No one does big things by themselves. Right now, when people are scared, it’s easy to be cynical and say let me just look out for myself, or my family, or people who look or think or pray like me. But if we’re going to get through these difficult times; if we’re going to create a world where everybody has the opportunity to find a job and afford college; if we’re going to save the environment and defeat future pandemics, then we’re going to have to do it together. So be alive to one another’s struggles. Stand up for one another’s rights. Leave behind all the old ways of thinking that divide us — sexism, racial prejudice, status, greed — and set the world on a different path.
当你需要帮助时，我和米歇尔已经成立了基金会，我们的使命就是旨在为像您这样的年轻人提供技能和支持，帮助你们领导自己的社区，并与全国以及全球的其他青年领袖建立联系。事实是，你们不需要我们告诉你该怎么做，因为你们已经开始展现了自己各具特色的领导能力。
When you need help, Michelle and I have made it the mission of our foundation to give young people like you the skills and support to lead in your own communities, and to connect you with other young leaders around the country and around the globe. But the truth is that you don’t need us to tell you what to do. Because in so many ways, you’ve already started to lead.
恭喜毕业，2020 届高中毕业生们，请始终让我们为你们感到骄傲！
Congratulations, class of 2020. Keep making us proud.
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