The President Hello, everybody!

主席 大家好！

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you, everybody.

謝謝大家。

All right, everybody, go ahead and have a seat.

好了，大家請坐。

How's everybody doing today?

今天大家都好嗎？

How about Tim Spicer?

蒂姆-斯派塞怎麼樣？

I am here with students at Wakefield High School in

我現在和瓦克菲爾德高中的學生們在一起。

Arlington, Virginia.

弗吉尼亞州阿靈頓

And we've got students tuning in from all across America, from kindergarten through 12th grade.

全美各地從幼兒園到十二年級的學生都在收聽我們的節目。

And I am just so glad that all could join us today.

我很高興大家今天都能加入我們。

And I want to thank Wakefield for being such an outstanding host.

我要感謝瓦克菲爾德如此出色的東道主。

Give yourselves a big round of applause.

掌聲送給你們自己。

Now, I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school.

我知道，對你們很多人來說，今天是開學第一天。

And for those of you in kindergarten or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous.

對於那些上幼兒園、剛上國中或高中的孩子們來說，這是到新學校的第一天，所以有點緊張是可以理解的。

I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now with just one more year to go.

我想，還有一年就要畢業了，有些高年級學生現在一定感覺很好。

And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could have stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.

無論你們是哪個年級的學生，有些人可能都希望現在還是夏天，希望今天早上能在床上多躺一會兒。

I know that feeling.

我知道這種感覺。

When I was young, my family lived overseas.

小時候，我的家人住在國外。

I lived in Indonesia for a few years.

我曾在印度尼西亞生活過幾年。

And my mother, she didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school.

而我的母親，她沒有錢把我送到所有美國孩子上學的地方。

But she thought it was important for me to keep up with an American education.

但她認為我接受美國教育很重要。

So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself,

於是，她決定親自給我補課、

Monday through Friday, but because she had to go to work, the only time she could do it was at 4.30 in the morning.

週一到週五，但因為她要上班，所以只能在凌晨 4 點半做。

Now, as you might imagine, I wasn't too happy about getting up that early.

現在，正如你可能想象的那樣，我並不太樂意那麼早起床。

And a lot of times I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table.

很多時候，我就在廚房的餐桌旁睡著了。

But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and she'd say, this is no picnic for me either,

但每當我抱怨時，母親就會給我一個這樣的眼神，她會說，這對我來說也不是野餐、

Buster.

巴斯特

So I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school.

我知道你們中的一些人還在適應回到學校的生活。

But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you.

但我今天來這裡，是有重要的事情要和你們討論。

I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

我來這裡是因為我想和你們談談你們的教育問題，以及新學年對你們的期望。

I've given a lot of speeches about education, and I've talked about responsibility a lot.

我發表過很多關於教育的演講，也談了很多關於責任的問題。

I've talked about teachers' responsibility for inspiring students and pushing you to learn.

我說過，教師有責任激勵學生，推動你們學習。

I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track and you get your homework done and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox.

我已經說過，父母有責任確保你們按時完成家庭作業，而不是一有時間就守在電視機前或玩 Xbox。

I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards and supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working, where students aren't getting the opportunities that they deserve.

我已經談了很多，貴國政府有責任制定高標準，支持教師和校長，扭轉學校的頹勢，讓學生獲得應有的機會。

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.

但歸根結底，我們可以擁有世界上最敬業的老師、最支持我們的家長、最好的學校，但除非你們所有人都履行自己的責任，除非你們來到這些學校，除非你們關注這些老師，除非你們聽從父母、祖父母和其他成年人的意見，並付出成功所需的艱苦努力，否則這一切都不會有任何改變，都不會有任何意義。

And that's what I want to focus on today, the responsibility each of you has for your education.

這就是我今天要著重談的，你們每個人對自己的教育所負有的責任。

I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

我想從你對自己的責任談起。

Every single one of you has something that you're good at.

你們每個人都有自己擅長的事情。

Every single one of you has something to offer.

你們每個人都能有所作為。

And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is.

你有責任自己去發現那是什麼。

That's the opportunity an education can provide.

這就是教育所能提供的機會。

Maybe you could be a great writer, maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper, but you might not know it until you write that

也許你可以成為一名偉大的作家，甚至足以寫一本書或在報紙上發表文章，但在你寫出這些文章之前，你可能還不知道這一點。

English paper, that English class paper that's assigned to you.

英語論文，英語課上佈置給你的論文。

Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor, maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine, but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class.

也許你可以成為一名創新者或發明家，甚至有能力發明下一代 iPhone、新藥或疫苗，但你可能要到做科學課項目時才知道。

Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

也許你可以成為市長、參議員或最高法院法官，但在你加入學生會或辯論隊之前，你可能還不知道這一點。

And no matter what you want to do with your life,

無論你想在生活中做什麼、

I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it.

我保證，你需要接受教育才能做到這一點。

You want to be a doctor or a teacher or a police officer?

你想成為醫生、教師或警察嗎？

You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military?

你想成為護士、建築師、律師還是軍人？

You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers.

這些職業都需要良好的教育。

You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job.

你不能從學校輟學，然後隨便找份好工作。

You've got to train for it and work for it and learn for it.

你必須為此訓練、工作和學習。

And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future.

這不僅對你自己的生活和未來很重要。

What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country.

你們所受的教育將決定這個國家的未來。

The future of America depends on you.

美國的未來取決於你們。

What you're learning in school today will determine whether we, as a nation, can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

你們今天在學校所學的知識將決定我們這個國家未來能否應對最大的挑戰。

You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment.

你們將需要在科學和數學中學到的知識和解決問題的技能來治療癌症和艾滋病等疾病，開發新的能源技術，保護我們的環境。

You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free.

你們將需要在歷史和社會研究中獲得的洞察力和批判性思維能力，來與貧困和無家可歸、犯罪和歧視作鬥爭，使我們的國家更加公平、更加自由。

You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

你們將需要在所有課程中培養的創造力和聰明才智來建立新的公司，創造新的就業機會，促進我們的經濟發展。

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.

我們需要你們每一個人發展自己的才能、技能和智慧，這樣你們才能幫助我們這些老人解決最棘手的問題。

If you don't do that, if you quit on school, you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

如果你不這樣做，如果你放棄學業，你不僅是在放棄自己，也是在放棄你的國家。

I know it's not always easy to do well in school.

我知道，要在學校取得好成績並非易事。

I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

我知道你們中的很多人現在都面臨著生活中的挑戰，很難集中精力完成學業。

I get it.

我明白了。

I know what it's like.

我知道那種感覺。

My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mom who had to work and who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us the things that other kids had.

我的父親在我兩歲時離開了我們家，我是由單親媽媽撫養長大的，她必須工作，有時為了支付賬單而掙扎，並不總是能給我們其他孩子所擁有的東西。

There were times when I missed having a father in my life.

有時候，我很懷念有父親陪伴的日子。

There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn't fit in.

有的時候，我很孤獨，覺得自己格格不入。

So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been on school, and I did some things that I'm not proud of, and I got in more trouble than I should have.

是以，我並不總是那麼專注於學業，做了一些我並不引以為豪的事情，惹了比我本該惹的更多的麻煩。

And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

而我的生活很容易就會變得更糟。

But I was lucky.

但我很幸運。

I got a lot of second chances, and I had the opportunity to go to college and law school and follow my dreams.

我得到了很多第二次機會，我有機會上大學和法學院，去追逐我的夢想。

My wife, our First Lady, Michelle Obama, she has a similar story.

我的妻子，我們的第一夫人米歇爾-奧巴馬也有類似的故事。

Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have a lot of money.

她的父母都沒有上過大學，也沒有很多錢。

But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

但他們努力工作，她也努力工作，這樣她才能上這個國家最好的學校。

So some of you might not have those advantages.

是以，有些人可能沒有這些優勢。

Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need.

也許你的生活中沒有成年人給予你所需要的支持。

Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there's not enough money to go around.

也許你家裡有人失業了，錢不夠花。

Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.

也許你居住的社區讓你感覺不安全，或者有朋友逼迫你做一些你明知不對的事情。

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.

但歸根結底，你的生活環境、你的長相、你來自哪裡、你有多少錢、你家裡發生了什麼，這些都不能成為你忽視功課或在學校態度惡劣的藉口。

That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school.

這不是跟老師頂嘴、逃課或輟學的藉口。

There is no excuse for not trying.

沒有理由不努力。

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up.

你現在所處的位置並不一定決定你最終的歸宿。

No one has written your destiny for you.

沒有人為你書寫命運。

Because here in America, you write your own destiny.

因為在美國，命運由你自己掌握。

You make your own future.

未來是自己創造的。

That's what young people like you are doing every day all across America.

這就是像你們這樣的年輕人每天在全美各地所做的事情。

Young people like Jasmine Perez, from Roma, Texas.

像來自得克薩斯州羅姆市的茉莉-佩雷斯（Jasmine Perez）這樣的年輕人。

Jasmine didn't speak English when she first started school.

茉莉剛入學時不會說英語。

Neither of her parents had gone to college.

她的父母都沒有上過大學。

But she worked hard, earned good grades, and got a scholarship to Brown University, is now in graduate school studying public health, on her way to becoming Dr. Jasmine Perez.

但她努力學習，成績優秀，獲得了布朗大學的獎學金，現在正在攻讀公共衛生專業的研究所學生，即將成為茉莉-佩雷斯博士。

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz from Los Altos,

我想到了洛斯阿爾託斯的安多尼-舒爾茨、

California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three.

加利福尼亞人，從三歲起就開始與腦癌作鬥爭。

He's had to endure all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer, hundreds of extra hours, to do his schoolwork.

他不得不忍受各種治療和手術，其中一次手術影響了他的記憶力，是以他需要花更長的時間，額外花費數百個小時來完成學業。

But he never fell behind.

但他從未落後。

He's headed to college this fall.

他今年秋天就要上大學了。

And then there's Chantel Steve from my hometown of

還有來自我家鄉的錢特爾-史蒂夫。

Chicago, Illinois.

伊利諾伊州芝加哥

Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods in the city, she managed to get a job at a local health care center, start a program to keep young people out of gangs, and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

即使輾轉於本市最艱苦的寄養家庭，她仍設法在當地一家醫療保健中心找到了一份工作，並啟動了一項旨在防止年輕人加入幫派的計劃，而且她有望以優異成績高中畢業並升入大學。

And Jasmine, Andoni, and Chantel aren't any different from any of you.

而茉莉、安多尼和香特爾與你們沒有任何區別。

They face challenges in their lives just like you do.

他們和你一樣面臨著生活中的挑戰。

In some cases, they've got it a lot worse off than many of you.

在某些情況下，他們的處境比你們中的許多人還要糟糕。

But they refuse to give up.

但他們拒絕放棄。

They chose to take responsibility for their lives, for their education, and set goals for themselves.

他們選擇為自己的生活和教育負責，為自己設定目標。

And I expect all of you to do the same.

我希望你們大家也能這樣做。

That's why today I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education, and do everything you can to meet them.

這就是為什麼今天我呼籲你們每個人制定自己的教育目標，並儘自己所能去實現它們。

Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending some time each day reading a book.

你的目標可以很簡單，比如做完所有作業、上課專心聽講，或者每天花一些時間讀一本書。

Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity or volunteer in your community.

也許你會決定參加課外活動或社區志願者活動。

Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all young people deserve a safe environment to study and learn.

也許你會決定為那些因為自己的身份或長相而被嘲笑或欺負的孩子挺身而出，因為你和我一樣相信，所有年輕人都應該擁有一個安全的學習環境。

Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn.

也許你會決定更好地照顧自己，從而為學習做好更充分的準備。

And along those lines, by the way,

順便說一下，我也是這麼想的、

I hope all of you are washing your hands a lot and that you stay home from school when you don't feel well so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

我希望你們都能多洗手，身體不舒服時就不要去學校，這樣我們就能防止人們在這個秋冬季感染流感。

But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it.

但無論你決心做什麼，我都希望你能全力以赴。

I want you to really work at it.

我希望你能認真努力。

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.

我知道，有時你會從電視上看到這樣的資訊：你可以不費吹灰之力就變得富有和成功，你可以通過說唱、打籃球或成為電視真人秀明星來獲得成功。

Chances are you're not going to be any of those things.

你有可能不會成為這些人中的任何一個。

The truth is, being successful is hard.

事實上，成功很難。

You won't love every subject that you study.

你不會喜歡所學的每一門學科。

You won't click with every teacher that you have.

你不會和每個老師都一見如故。

Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right at this minute.

並不是每門功課都與你的生活息息相關。

And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

而且，不一定每件事第一次嘗試都能成功。

That's okay.

沒關係。

Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures.

世界上一些最成功的人都是失敗最多的人。

J.K. Rawlings, who wrote Harry Potter, her first Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times before it was finally published.

J.K.羅琳斯是《哈利-波特》的作者，她的第一本《哈利-波特》被退稿12次才最終出版。

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.

邁克爾-喬丹曾被高中籃球隊開除。

He lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career.

在他的職業生涯中，他輸掉了數百場比賽，錯過了數千次投籃機會。

But he once said, I have failed over and over and over again in my life, and that's why I succeed.

但他曾經說過，我一生中一次又一次地失敗，這就是我成功的原因。

These people succeeded because they understood that you can't let your failures define you.

這些人之所以成功，是因為他們明白，不能讓失敗來定義自己。

You have to let your failures teach you.

你必須讓失敗教會你。

You have to let them show you what to do differently the next time.

你必須讓他們告訴你下次該怎麼做。

So if you get into trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker.

所以，如果你惹了麻煩，並不意味著你是個麻煩製造者。

It means you need to try harder to act right.

這意味著你需要更加努力，以正確的方式行事。

If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid.

如果你的成績不好，並不意味著你很笨。

It just means you need to spend more time studying.

這隻意味著你需要花更多的時間學習。

No one's born being good at all things.

沒有人生來就樣樣精通。

You become good at things through hard work.

勤能補拙。

You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport.

你不是第一次參加新運動的校隊運動員。

You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song.

第一次唱一首歌時，你不可能唱出每個音符。

You've got to practice.

你必須練習。

The same principle applies to your schoolwork.

同樣的原則也適用於你的課業。

You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right.

一道數學題，你可能要多做幾遍才能做對。

You might have to read something a few times before you understand it.

你可能需要多讀幾遍才能理解。

You definitely have to do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.

論文肯定要打幾稿才能交上去。

Don't be afraid to ask questions.

不要害怕提問。

Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

當你需要幫助時，不要害怕尋求幫助。

I do that every day.

我每天都這樣做。

Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength, because it shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and that then allows you to learn something new.

尋求幫助並不是軟弱的表現，而是力量的象徵，因為這表明你有勇氣承認自己不知道什麼，這樣你就能學到新的東西。

So find an adult that you trust, a parent, a grandparent, or a teacher, a coach or a counselor, and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

是以，請找一位你信任的成年人，如父母、祖父母、老師、教練或輔導員，請他們幫助你實現目標。

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.

即使在你掙扎的時候，即使在你氣餒的時候，即使在你覺得別人已經放棄你的時候，也千萬不要放棄自己。

Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

因為當你放棄自己時，你也就放棄了你的國家。

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough.

美國的故事並不是關於那些遇到困難就放棄的人。

It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

這是關於那些堅持不懈、更加努力、深愛自己的國家而不惜一切代價的人們。

It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago and went on to wage a revolution, and they founded this nation.

這是 250 年前學生們的故事，他們就坐在你們坐的地方，後來發動了革命，建立了這個國家。

Young people.

年輕人

Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago, who overcame a depression and won a world war, who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon.

75 年前坐在你們座位上的學生們，他們戰勝了經濟蕭條，贏得了世界大戰，為民權而戰，並將人類送上了月球。

Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago, who founded Google and Twitter and Facebook, and changed the way we communicate with each other.

這些學生 20 年前就坐在你們的座位上，他們創立了 Google、Twitter 和 Facebook，改變了我們彼此溝通的方式。

So today, I want to ask all of you, what's your contribution going to be?

所以今天，我想問問大家，你們的貢獻是什麼？

What problems are you going to solve?

你們要解決什麼問題？

What discoveries will you make?

你會有什麼發現？

What will a President who comes here in 20 or 50 or 100 years say about what all of you did for this country?