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此文節选自奥巴马于2009年9月8日在弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿县韦克菲尔德高中（Wakefield High School）发表的开学演讲，语言平实自然、干练清晰。这位口才出众的美国前总统并未谈及高深的道理，而是将“用心读书”置于一切之首，因为对一个人来说，不管他将来想做什么或成为怎样的人，相应的教育都是必不可少的。
Hello， everybody！
I know that for many of you， today is the first day of school. And no matter what grade you’re in， some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.
I know that feeling. When I was young， I lived in Indonesia for a few years. And my mother， she didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself， 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. And a lot of times， I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. 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， buster.1”
So I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you.
Now， I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. 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. That’s what I want to focus on today： the responsibility each of you has for your education.
I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
Now， I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork. I know what it’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old， and I was raised by a single mom. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn’t fit in.
But I was lucky. I got a lot of second chances， and I had the opportunity to go to college and follow my dreams. My wife， our First Lady Michelle Obama， she has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college， and they didn’t have a lot of money. But they worked hard， and she worked hard， so that she could go to the best schools in this country. Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there’s not enough money to go around2. 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.
But at the end of the day3， 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. There is no excuse for not trying. No one’s written your destiny for you， because here in America， you write your own destiny. You make your own future. That’s what young people like you are doing every day， all across America.
I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz， from Los Altos， California， who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s had to endure all sorts of treatments and surgeries4， one of which affected his memory， so it took him much longer—hundreds of extra hours—to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind. He’s headed to college this fall.
And then there’s Shantell Steve， from my hometown of Chicago， Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods in the city，5 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.
They face challenges in their lives just like you do. They refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their lives. 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.
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.
The truth is， being successful is hard. 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.” These people succeeded because they understood that you can’t let your failures define you—you have to let your failures teach you.6 The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going， who tried harder， who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.
So today， I want to ask all of you， what’s your contribution going to be？
Now， your families， your teachers， and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. But you’ve got to do your part， too. So I expect all of you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down. Don’t let your family down or your country down. Most of all， don’t let yourself down. Make us all proud.
Thank you very much， everybody.
1. 小子，這对我也并不轻松。be no picnic： 不是件轻松愉快的事；buster： 小鬼，小子。
2. go around： 满足人人的需要，人人能分到。
3. at the end of the day： 说到底，根本来说。
4. surgery： 外科手术。
5. bounce： 跳，跃，这里指经常变化；foster home： 寄养家庭。
6. 他们的成功在于他们明白不能让失败左右自己，而是一定要从中吸取教训。
Hello， everybody！
I know that for many of you， today is the first day of school. And no matter what grade you’re in， some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.
I know that feeling. When I was young， I lived in Indonesia for a few years. And my mother， she didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself， 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. And a lot of times， I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. 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， buster.1”
So I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you.
Now， I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. 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. That’s what I want to focus on today： the responsibility each of you has for your education.
I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
Now， I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork. I know what it’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old， and I was raised by a single mom. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn’t fit in.
But I was lucky. I got a lot of second chances， and I had the opportunity to go to college and follow my dreams. My wife， our First Lady Michelle Obama， she has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college， and they didn’t have a lot of money. But they worked hard， and she worked hard， so that she could go to the best schools in this country. Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there’s not enough money to go around2. 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.
But at the end of the day3， 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. There is no excuse for not trying. No one’s written your destiny for you， because here in America， you write your own destiny. You make your own future. That’s what young people like you are doing every day， all across America.
I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz， from Los Altos， California， who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s had to endure all sorts of treatments and surgeries4， one of which affected his memory， so it took him much longer—hundreds of extra hours—to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind. He’s headed to college this fall.
And then there’s Shantell Steve， from my hometown of Chicago， Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods in the city，5 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.
They face challenges in their lives just like you do. They refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their lives. 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.
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.
The truth is， being successful is hard. 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.” These people succeeded because they understood that you can’t let your failures define you—you have to let your failures teach you.6 The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going， who tried harder， who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.
So today， I want to ask all of you， what’s your contribution going to be？
Now， your families， your teachers， and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. But you’ve got to do your part， too. So I expect all of you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down. Don’t let your family down or your country down. Most of all， don’t let yourself down. Make us all proud.
Thank you very much， everybody.
1. 小子，這对我也并不轻松。be no picnic： 不是件轻松愉快的事；buster： 小鬼，小子。
2. go around： 满足人人的需要，人人能分到。
3. at the end of the day： 说到底，根本来说。
4. surgery： 外科手术。
5. bounce： 跳，跃，这里指经常变化；foster home： 寄养家庭。
6. 他们的成功在于他们明白不能让失败左右自己，而是一定要从中吸取教训。