9月5日哈佛大學校長勞倫斯·巴考（Lawrence S. Bacow）為歡迎新生致辭。這是這位新任校長第一次為新生做演講。
面對哈佛遇到的多重困境，在此次新生演講中，移民後裔的Bacow用其自身經歷，鼓勵每一位對即將到來的大學生活感到不安的新生，並建議所有新生用開放包容的心態去接觸周圍的一切，用大學四年21,000小時，瞭解同學，請教老師，追求知識，以及探索校園外的世界。
演講丨Lawrence S. Bacow
下午好，2021屆畢業班的同學們。我是拉里·巴考（Larry Bacow），可以輕鬆一點叫我拉里（Larry），我很榮幸歡迎你們正式加入哈佛。
Good afternoon, Class of 2022. I am Larry Bacow — and please feel free to call me Larry — and it is my great honor to welcome you officially to the Harvard community.
我們有一些非常特殊的共同點，這是我擔任校長的第一年，這使我成為你們的同學，而不是其他人的，並將一直如此。所以，我希望（演講被掌聲打斷），我的同學們。
We have something very special in common: This is my first year as president, which makes me a member of your class — and no other — for all time. So I hope you [speech is interrupted by applause]. My classmates!
和你們一樣，我最近搬進了哈佛校園。和你們一樣，我放棄了熟悉的生活步調來尋找新的挑戰和新的機遇。並且，和你們一樣，我來到這裡，是希望能為這個特別的地方做出獨特的貢獻。
Like you, I’ve recently moved into Harvard Yard. Like you, I’ve given up familiar routines in search of new challenges as well as new opportunities. And, like you, I’ve arrived here in the hope that I can make a unique contribution to this very special place.
但與你們不同的是，我沒有必要決定今天穿什麼。擔任校長的好處之一就是，我可以穿上這件非常時髦的長袍。順便說一下，這是朝聖者的傳教士長袍。不過不用擔心，在我們下次見面時，你們將穿上類似的衣服，準確的說，是在2022年你們畢業前兩天。
But unlike you, I didn’t have to decide what to wear today. Because one of the benefits of being president is that I get to wear this very stylish robe — a pilgrim’s preachers robe, by the way. Don’t worry, though. You’ll be wearing something very similar when we next meet as a group, exactly two days before you graduate in 2022.
從今天到那一天，中間恰好有1,358天。考慮到你們睡覺的時間（我希望你會嘗試每晚睡八小時，並且強烈建議你們這樣做。）你將擁有大約21,000個小時來探索這個非凡的機構；用這21,000小時來尋找你們的激情，看它將帶你去哪裡；用這21,000小時去探索什麼對你最重要，並確定如何讓世界變得更美好。
There are exactly 1,358 days between this day and that one. And accounting for the hours you will spend sleeping — and I do hope that you will try to get eight hours of sleep a night, I highly recommend it — you have approximately 21,000 hours to explore this extraordinary institution, 21,000 hours to find your passion and to see where it will take you, 21,000 hours to discover what matters to you most and to determine how you can make the world a better place.
那麼，你將從這個旅程中的哪裡開始？我的建議是，可以從坐在你旁邊的人開始。因為他或她現在最有可能正在經歷很多事。我知道這些，是因為今年夏天的早些時候，我收到了你們中的一封電子郵件。在我看來，這是一封非常誠實的信。它告訴我對於即將到來的前景感到興奮和快樂，但也感到焦慮和害怕。一想到要與陌生人一起搬到一個新地方，就很傷腦筋，擔心無法融入，這些既令人生畏又真實。
Where will you begin in this journey? If I can offer a suggestion, I think you should start with the person sitting next to you, because he or she is most likely going through a lot right now. I know because I received an email from one of you earlier this summer. It was a very honest message to me about feeling excited and joyful — but also anxious and scared — at the prospect of coming. The thought of moving to a new place with new people was nerve-wracking, and the thought of not fitting in was both daunting and real.
對於正坐在你們中間的這位學生來說，非常肯定的是，他正得知我們之間的一個共同點，即我們都是移民的後裔。現在，看著我，穿著這件長袍，你可能不會認為或者推斷出，我和家人是作為難民來到這個國家的，還有，我在密歇根的一個藍領小鎮長大，以及我高中的空閒時間都花在組裝業餘收音機和參加科學博覽會上。好吧，也許你會這樣想，但其他人大概不會。
What put everything in perspective for this particular student, who is sitting among you, was learning that he and I actually have something in common: parents who had immigrated to the United States. Now, looking at me, dressed in this robe, you might not have assumed or gathered that my folks came to this country as refugees, or that I grew up in a blue-collar town in Michigan, or that I spent my free time in high school building ham radios and entering science fairs. OK, maybe you might that, but not the other stuff.
我想說的是，不要以貌取人， 這是我得到的最好的建議之一。在哈佛，沒有人是完美的，包括你們的校長。我和其他人一樣，經歷過絕望和希望，失敗和勝利，失去和愛。你在這裡遇到的每個人都是獨一無二的，每個人都有自己的故事。你們每個人都被錄取了，因為我們在你們身上看到了一些東西，並且相信這會豐富這個特殊的群體。
My point — and this is some of the best advice that I have ever been given — is that you should never judge your insides by other peoples’ outsides. No one you will meet at Harvard is perfect, and that includes your president. I have experienced despair and hope, defeat and triumph, and loss and love just like anyone else. Everyone you meet here is unique; and everyone has his or her own story — and every single one of you was admitted because we saw something in you that we believed would enrich this special community.
當你們在接下來的幾周裡開始探索自己的方法，投入21,000個小時裡的一些時間去了解別人。不要只是和你的同學們傾訴，傾聽他們，向他們學習。你們要認識到，在任何情況下，無論是經濟上的、社交上的或是其它什麼，都有其複雜之處。畢竟我們都是普通人，沒有人是完美的。
As you begin to find your way over the next few weeks, invest some of your 21,000 hours in getting to know one another. Don’t just talk to your classmates, listen to them; learn from them. Recognize that every kind of circumstance — financial, social, or otherwise — comes with its own set of complications. After all, we are all human, none of us is perfect.
從另一種角度，突破自己的認知去理解世界是一項充滿挑戰性的工作，擁抱它，接受它，你會成為一個更好的人。並且，我可以向你們保證，你們會因此結識一生的摯友。
Embrace the challenging work of trying to understand the world from a perspective other than your own. You’ll be a better person for it and I guarantee you, you’ll also make some lifelong friends.
我最親近的朋友之一就是我成為大學新生時的室友，我們已經彼此依靠走過了49年，還會更長。其實他是我人生中非常特殊的人，因為他介紹了我和我妻子Adele相識，Adele正坐在那裡，Adele？請站起來。
One of my closest friends is someone I roomed with as a freshman, and we have been part of each other’s lives for 49 years and counting. Actually, he is a very, very special person in my life because he introduced me to my wife, Adele, who is sitting somewhere over there. Adele? Stand up, Adele.
我希望你們也能花費一點時間去了解你們的老師。我在本科期間做的最棒的決定之一就是去找我的一位經濟學教授，問他一個關於課後閱讀中腳註的問題。最後我們就博弈論進行了長時間的討論，這在當時還是一個新興的領域，後來變成了一門閱讀課程，而這門課程改變了我的人生。時至今日，我仍然和那位教授保持著聯繫。
I hope you will spend some of your hours getting to know your teachers, too. One of the best decisions I ever made as an undergraduate was to approach one of my economics professors to ask a question about a footnote in a reading after class. We ended up having a long conversation about game theory — an emerging field at the time — that turned into a reading course that actually changed the course of my life. I am still in touch with that professor today.
我相信，最能預測你們能否在這裡收穫一段非凡體驗的就是，你們能否結識一位、至少一位老師，可能更多，但至少有一位你確定可以在接下來的人生中保持聯繫的。I believe the single greatest predictor of whether or not you have an extraordinary experience here is whether or not you get to know one at least one of your teachers, just one, at least one, you can get to know more, but at least one well enough that you will stay in touch with him or her for the rest of your life.
如果你不知道該如何開始，就利用辦公時間，邀請老師史密斯校園中心或拉蒙特咖啡館喝杯下午茶，也可以就在這裡或附近的臺階上談談。如果你有一點緊張或者焦慮以至於不知道該問他們什麼，那就問問關於他們研究的事，學院的教職員們很樂意討論自己的研究。我保證你們能相談愉快。
If you don’t know where to start, go to office hours. Invite your teacher to have a cup of coffee either at the Smith Campus Center or the Lamont Café or just get together with them right here on these steps or somewhere else nearby. And if you’re a little nervous or anxious and you don’t know what to ask them, ask them about their research. Faculty love talking about their research. I guarantee you’ll have an interesting conversation.
現在，哈佛可以提供很多機會來滿足你們的好奇心。事實上，你們可以花相當長一段時間在這裡獨處，在這裡學習一切，瞭解三百年劇院裡所有壯觀的樹，柏迪橡樹，蜂蜜蝗蟲，紅楓，棵羅漢松，如果還不夠，那就去波士頓的阿諾德樹木園看看更多的物種，甚至可以去哈佛森林。
Now, Harvard will give you many opportunities to satisfy your curiosity. In fact, you could spend a considerable amount of your time just in this space alone, learning everything there is to know all the magnificent trees in Tercentenary Theatre — bur oaks, honey locusts, red maples, yellowwoods —if that’s not enough, got to Arnold Arboretum in Boston and see many more species, or you could even travel to the Harvard Forest.
你們還可以去我身後的紀念堂，被那些為國家做出犧牲的哈佛的男男女女們的名字所所激勵，或感到不知所措，但這可能會激勵你們想要學習關於他們為了鬥爭做出犧牲那種情形下的歷史。
You could enter Memorial Church, just behind me, to be inspired and even overwhelmed by the names of Harvard men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, something which is likely to inspire some of you to want to learn more about history, about the circumstances that gave rise to the conflicts for which they sacrificed.
或者你可以進入哈佛威德納圖書館，也就是我們會將你們的班級合照集中起來的地方。你們可以在這裡探索非凡的藏品，沉醉在書的海洋。或者你可以走到哈佛廣場外面，向右走就能到達哈佛藝術博物館。在那裡有25萬件藏品，你在任何地方都能找到最非凡的藝術藏品。或者你可以去哈佛科學文化博物館探尋美國第三大的植物標本館，亦或是世界上唯一真人大小的玻璃花收藏。
Or you could enter Widener Library, where we’re going to assemble for your class picture in a little bit, and you could explore our extraordinary collections, get lost in the stacks. Or you could venture beyond the Yard to the Harvard Art Museums right over there, 250,000 items in our collection, one of the most extraordinary art collections you can find anywhere; or the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture to find the third largest herbarium in the United States or the only collection of life-size glass flowers in the world.
如果你還沒見過它們，你應該去看看，真的很神奇。去吧，去更遠的地方探索美國大學影院或哈佛舞蹈中心，去河對岸的運動場，去哈佛創新實驗室，去即將建成的藝術實驗室，以及科學和工程綜合實驗室。從這裡開始，你選擇的每一個方向都將可能引領你走向非凡的機遇。
If you haven’t seen them you should, truly amazing. Go farther afield to explore the American Repertory Theater or the Harvard Dance Center, across the river to the athletic fields, the Harvard Innovation Labs, the soon-to-be art lab, as well as the Science and Engineering Complex. Every direction that you might choose to wander from here will lead you to extraordinary opportunities.
當然，校園之外還有一個更大的世界，一個我們每個人都有潛力以某種方式變得更好的世界。所以，2022年的同學們，我現在要給你們佈置第一份作業，你的第一個任務並不難，如果你有資格投票，我們希望你去登記，瞭解候選人和問題，然後投出你的選票。 在一個民主國家，公民的首要責任就是投票，我們已經讓你們很容易做到這一點。至少肯尼迪學院的政治學院已經做到了。
And there is, of course, a greater world beyond campus, a world that each of us has the potential to make better in some way. So class of 2022, I’m actually now going to give you our first homework, your very first assignment, not that difficult. If you are eligible to vote, we expect you to register, to inform yourself of the candidates and the issues, and then cast your ballot. The very first responsibility of citizenship in a democracy is to vote, and we have actually made it quite easy you to do so. At least the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School has done so.
所以，拿出你的手機。我知道你們都有，現在你們就可以拿出來了，因為我要告訴你們，你們要去的網站。記下這個地址：政府研究所，iop.turbovote.org。讓我重複一遍，iop.turbovote.org。如果你符合條件，登記並投票。這是你們作為美國公民和哈佛學子的責任。
So take out your phones. I know all you have them, this is the time when you actually get to take them out, because I’m going to give you the website where you’re going to go. Take down this address: iop — for Institute of Politics — .turbovote.org. Let me repeat that: iop.turbovote.org. If you’re eligible, register and vote. It is your responsibility as a citizen of this country and as a citizen of Harvard.
投票只是你可以做的很多事之一，以確保你生活的世界更接近你希望的樣子。我希望在接下來的21000個小時裡，你們會有足夠的時間來決定如何運用你們的天賦，併為他人創造更好的生活。
Voting is just one thing you can do to ensure that the world in which you live is much more like the world in which you would like to live. I hope in the next 21,000 hours you will find ample time to determine how you might use your considerable talents to make life better for others.
我還沒見過有人認為我們生活的世界是完美的。這不是一個政治聲明，它同樣適用於民主黨和共和黨，自由派和保守派。如果你們同樣不認為世界是完美的，那麼只有像你們這樣的好人努力去改善它，世界才能變得更好。哈佛經歷了幾個世紀，不是因為它偉大，而是因為它美好。在接下來的四年裡，我期待著觀察，你們將選擇怎樣在善良和智慧中成長。
I have yet to meet anyone who thinks that the world that we live in is perfect. This is not a political statement, it is equally true Democrats and Republicans, of liberals and conservatives. And if you don’t think that the world is perfect, the only way it gets better is if good people like you work to repair it. Harvard has endured over centuries not because it is great but because it is good, and I look forward to learning about the ways in which you choose to grow in goodness — and in wisdom — over the next four years.
現在，你們得到的最重要的建議是，與那些愛你的人為善同樣也是明智之舉，特別是你的父母和你的家庭。你們離家來到大學，對他們來說也是一次巨大的調整。你們剛才鼓掌歡迎了很多幫助實現這個轉變的人，但是你們的家庭需要依靠自己（適應這個轉變）。感謝他們用各種方式支持你和犧牲，這樣你才有機會在這裡學習。
And now the most important unsolicited advice you will receive from anyone today: It is also wise to be good to the people who love you, especially parents and your family. You going off to college is a huge adjustment for them too. You’ve just applauded been introduced many of the people who help you make with this transition, but your families are on their own. Be grateful for the ways in which they have supported you and sacrificed so that you may have the opportunity of studying and learning here.
通過支持他們來表達你的感激，因為他們現在適應了你不再是一個恆定的物理存在的生活狀態。尤其是你的父母，他們永遠不會厭倦聽到你在做什麼，無論是通過電話、電子郵件還是短信。不要忘記問問他們過得怎樣。我向你保證，這些時間都是值得的。
Express your gratitude by supporting them as they now adjust to a life in which you are no longer a constant physical presence. Your parents, in particular, will never tire of hearing how you’re doing, be it by phone, email, or text. Just make sure to ask how they are doing. I assure you it will be time well spent.
當然，當我和Adele在院子裡、在校園裡或者在其他地方看到你們時，會問你們在做什麼。我相信你們會向我們介紹你們的興奮和快樂，甚至是你們的焦慮和關切。今天在這裡的每一個人，以及大學裡的很多其他人都將在這裡為你們服務，希望你們能成功。接受我們的建議，在你需要的時候向我們尋求幫助。
And of course Adele and I will ask how you are doing when I see you in the Yard or at events on campus or elsewhere, and I trust that you will update us on your excitements and joys — even your anxieties and concerns. Everyone here today — and lots and lots of other people across the University — are here for you and want you to succeed. Take us up on our offer and ask us for help whenever you need it.
你們很快就會知道哈佛不是一個地點，而是一個理念，是那些秉持這個理念前行的人。在接下來的21000個小時裡，哈佛將無處不在，並且，你此後人生中的每一個小時都會如此。
You will soon learn that Harvard is not a place: It’s an idea, and it’s the people who carry that idea with them. Harvard will be everywhere you go for the next 21,000 hours — and every hour after that for the rest of your life as well.
2022屆畢業生們，我的同學們。願你好好利用這段美好的時光。我很榮幸能與你們分享這段旅程。謝謝！
Welcome, fellow members of the Class of 2022, my class. May you make the most of this wonderful time in your lives. It’s my privilege to share this journey with you. Thank you.
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