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. 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. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. 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. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, by the way, 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.

　　因此，我今天呼吁你們每一個(gè)人為自己的教育設(shè)定目標(biāo)，并盡自己的最大努力來實(shí)現(xiàn)這些目標(biāo)。你的目標(biāo)可以是一件十分簡(jiǎn)單的事情，例如完成家庭作業(yè)、上課專心聽講、或每天花一點(diǎn)時(shí)間讀一本書。也許你會(huì)決定要參加課外活動(dòng)或在你的社區(qū)提供志愿服務(wù)。也許你會(huì)決定挺身而出保護(hù)那些因?yàn)樯矸莼蜷L相而受人戲弄或欺負(fù)的孩子，原因是你和我一樣認(rèn)為所有的年輕人都應(yīng)該享有一個(gè)適合讀書和學(xué)習(xí)的安全環(huán)境。也許你會(huì)決定更好地照料自己，以便有更充沛的精力來學(xué)習(xí)。順便提一下，除了這些事情外，我希望大家要勤洗手，身體感到不舒服的時(shí)候要呆在家里不去上學(xué)，這樣我們能防止人們?cè)诮衲昵锒竟?jié)染上流感。

　　But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.但無論你決定做什么，我希望你保證去做。我希望你腳踏實(shí)地地去做。

　　I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star. Chances are you’re not going to be any of those things.我知道有時(shí)候你會(huì)從電視上得到這樣的印象：你不用做任何艱苦的工作就能發(fā)財(cái)致富并取得成功，唱小調(diào)、打籃球或成為真人秀明星是走向成功的途徑。但實(shí)際情況是：你可能不會(huì)成為其中的一員。

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

　　事實(shí)上，取得成功不是輕而易舉的事情。你不會(huì)喜歡你學(xué)習(xí)的每一門課目。你不會(huì)與你的每一位老師都很投契。不是所有的家庭作業(yè)似乎都與你眼前的生活完全有關(guān)。你第一次嘗試做每件事的時(shí)候，不一定成功。

　　That’s okay. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. J.K. Rowling’s -- who wrote Harry Potter -- her first Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that’s why I succeed.”

　　這些都沒關(guān)系。世界上最成功的人士中有一些是遭遇失敗最多的人。作者J•K•羅琳(J.K. Rowling)所寫的系列小說《哈利•波特》(Harry Potter)第一部在獲得出版之前被退稿12次。邁克爾•喬丹(Michael Jordan)曾被他的高中籃球隊(duì)除名。在喬丹的籃球生涯中，他輸過數(shù)百場(chǎng)比賽，有成千上萬個(gè)球沒有投中。但他曾說過：“在我的一生中，我失敗了一次又一次、一次又一次。這就是我成功的原因。”

　　These people succeeded because they understood that you can’t let your failures define you -- you have to let your failures teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently the next time. So if you get into trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to act right. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

　　這些人士獲得成功，因?yàn)樗麄兌茫耗悴荒茏屖硐拗颇?，而必須讓失敗來開導(dǎo)你。你必須讓失敗向你展示下次如何以不同的方式去做這件事情。因此，如果你遇到麻煩，那并不表示你是麻煩的制造者，而意味著你需要更加努力去把它做對(duì)。如果你有一門課分?jǐn)?shù)低，那不表示你比別人笨，而只表示你需要花更多的時(shí)間學(xué)習(xí)。

　　No one’s born being good at all things. You become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. The same principle applies to your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right. You might have to read something a few times before you understand it. You definitely have to do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

　　沒有一個(gè)人天生擅長做各種事情。你通過勤奮而變得擅長于各種事情。第一次從事新的體育項(xiàng)目時(shí)，你不可能是一位主力隊(duì)員。第一次唱一首歌曲時(shí)，你不可能唱準(zhǔn)每個(gè)音。你必須練習(xí)。同樣的道理適用于你的學(xué)業(yè)。你可能要把一道數(shù)學(xué)題做幾次才把它做對(duì)。你可能要把一些材料閱讀幾遍才能理解。在交出一篇優(yōu)美的作文之前，你肯定需要打幾遍草稿。

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