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RebecaHwang_2018-_多元化的自己，很有力量_
We're holding hands, staring at the door. 我们手牵着手, 盯着门口。
staring:adj.凝视的,目不转睛的;显眼的;v.凝视;盯着看;显眼;(stare的现在分词)
My siblings and I were waiting for my mother to come back from the hospital. 我和兄弟姐妹们在等着妈妈 从医院回来。
siblings:n.兄;弟;姐;妹;(sibling的复数)
She was there because my grandmother had cancer surgery that day. 因为那天是我的外婆 做癌症手术的日子。
cancer:n.癌症;恶性肿瘤; surgery:n.外科;外科手术;手术室;诊疗室;
Finally , the doors opened, and she said, "She's gone. 终于,门开了, 她说, “外婆走了。
Finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
She's gone." 她走了。”
She started sobbing and immediately said, "We must make arrangements . 她开始哭泣,然后很快说到, “我们要做好安排。
sobbing:v.哭诉;泣诉;抽噎着说;(sob的现在分词) arrangements:n.安排;筹备;布置;商定;(arrangement的复数)
Your grandmother's dying wish was to be buried back home in Korea." 你们外婆的遗愿 是要葬回韩国老家。”
I was barely 12 years old, and when the shock wore off, my mother's words were ringing in my ears. 我当时也就12岁吧, 当震惊慢慢退去, 妈妈的话仍在耳中回响。
barely:adv.仅仅,勉强;几乎不;公开地;贫乏地;
My grandmother wanted to be buried back home. 我的外婆想落叶归根。
We had moved from Korea to Argentina six years prior , without knowing any Spanish, or how we were going to make a living . 外婆去世的6年前, 我们从韩国搬到阿根廷, 完全不懂西班牙语, 也不知道要如何生存。
Argentina:n.阿根廷(位于拉丁美洲); prior:adj.先前的; n.(小隐修院)院长; v.居先; make a living:谋生,维持生活;
And upon arrival, we were immigrants who had lost everything, so we had to work really hard to rebuild our lives. 抵达的时候, 我们是身无分文的移民, 因此必须要非常努力地 工作来开始新生活。
immigrants:n.移民(immigrant的复数);
So it hadn't occurred to me that after all these years, back home was still in Korea. 这么多年过去了,我从未想过, 韩国才是我的家乡。
occurred:v.发生;出现;存在于;出现在;(occur的过去分词和过去式)
It made me ponder where I would want to be buried someday, where home was for me, and the answer was not obvious . 我开始琢磨,将来我想被葬在哪里, 哪里是我的老家, 但我却找不到答案。
ponder:vt.仔细考虑;衡量;vi.考虑;沉思; obvious:adj.明显的;显著的;平淡无奇的;
And this really bothered me. 这件事令我很困扰。
bothered:adj.烦(恼)的; v.使(某人)烦恼;
So this episode launched a lifelong quest for my identity . 这件事开启了我一生中 寻找自己的身份的旅程。
episode:n.一段经历;片段,插曲;一集; launched:v.发射;发起;开展;开始;(launch的过去式和过去分词) quest:n.追求;寻找;vi.追求;寻找;vt.探索; identity:n.身份;同一性,一致;特性;恒等式;
I was born in Korea -- the land of kimchi; raised in Argentina, where I ate so much steak that I'm probably 80 percent cow by now; and I was educated in the US, where I became addicted to peanut butter . 我在泡菜之国——韩国出生; 在阿根廷长大, 可能因为吃太多牛排, 我觉得现在我80%的成分是牛; 然后我在美国接受教育, 在这儿又对花生酱爱得无法自拔。
addicted:adj.上瘾的;上瘾;成瘾;有瘾;入迷; peanut butter:n.花生酱;
(Laughter) （笑声）
During my childhood , I felt very much Argentinian, but my looks betrayed me at times. 小时候,我觉得自己 是个地道的阿根廷人, 但我的外表时不时会背叛我。
childhood:n.童年;幼年;孩童时期 betrayed:v.出卖;泄露机密;辜负;对…不忠;(betray的过去分词和过去式)
I remember on the first day of middle school , my Spanish literature teacher came into the room. 我还记得上中学的第一天, 我的西班牙文学老师走进教室。
middle school:n.初中;(英国为9到13岁儿童所设的)中间学校; literature:n.文学;文献;文艺;著作;
She scanned all of my classmates, and she said, "You -- you have to get a tutor, otherwise, you won't pass this class." 她扫了一眼全班同学, 说到, “你,你要请一个家教, 否则,你肯定过不了这门课。”
But by then I was fluent in Spanish already, so it felt as though I could be either Korean or Argentinian, but not both. 但当时我的西班牙语 已经非常流利了, 当时给我的感觉就是, 我要么是韩国人,要么是阿根廷人, 但不可能两者都是。
fluent:adj.流畅的,流利的;液态的;畅流的; Korean:n.朝鲜族;韩国人;朝鲜话;adj.朝鲜的;朝鲜族的;朝鲜话的;
It felt like a zero-sum game , where I had to give up my old identity to be able to gain or earn a new one. 这种感觉就像是非此即彼的博弈, 我必须放弃自己的旧身份, 才能获得新身份。
zero-sum game:零和博奕;
So when I was 18, I decided to go to Korea, hoping that finally I could find a place to call home. 18岁那年,我决定去韩国, 希望找到一个能称之为家的地方。
But there people asked me, "Why do you speak Korean with a Spanish accent ?" 但有人问我, “为什么你说韩语有西班牙口音？”
accent:n.口音;重音;强调;特点;重音符号;v.强调;重读;带…口音讲话;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And, "You must be Japanese because of your big eyes and your foreign body language ." “你肯定是日本人,因为你眼睛很大, 肢体动作也像外国人。”
body language:n.身势语;
And so it turns out that I was too Korean to be Argentinian, but too Argentinian to be Korean. 原来,作为阿根廷人, 我太韩国范儿, 作为韩国人,我又太阿根廷范儿。
And this was a pivotal realization to me. 对我来说这是一个非常关键的认识。
pivotal:adj.关键的;中枢的;枢轴的;n.关键事物;中心事物; realization:n.实现;领悟;
I had failed to find that place in the world to call home. 我找不到一个可以称作老家的地方。
But how many Japanese-looking Koreans who speak with a Spanish accent -- or even more specific , Argentinian accent -- do you think are out there? 但是看起来像日本人的韩国人, 讲话又带着西班牙口音, 或者更确切地说,带着阿根廷口音, 这样的人你们觉得有多少呢？
specific:adj.特殊的,特定的;明确的;详细的;[药]具有特效的;n.特性;细节;特效药;
Perhaps this could be an advantage . 也许这是一个优势。
advantage:n.有利条件:优势:优点:
It was easy for me to stand out, which couldn't hurt in a world that was rapidly changing, where skills could become obsolete overnight . 我更容易在人群中凸显出来, 在这个变化迅速的世界, 你的技能也许一夜之间就被淘汰了。
obsolete:adj.废弃的;老式的;n.废词;陈腐的人;vt.淘汰;废弃; overnight:adj.夜间的; v.在夜间; n.(美)前一天的晚上;
So I stopped looking for that 100 percent commonality with the people that I met. 因此我不再在遇到的人身上, 寻找100%的共性。
commonality:n.公共;共性;平民;
Instead, I realized that oftentimes , I was the only overlap between groups of people that were usually in conflict with each other. 取而代之的是,我常常意识到, 自己正好处于交叉地带, 位于常常有冲突发生的人群中间。
oftentimes:adv.时常地; overlap:n.重叠;重复;v.部分重叠;与…同时发生; conflict:n.冲突;矛盾;争执;抵触;v.抵触;
So with this realization in mind, 带着这种认识,
I decided to embrace all of the different versions of myself -- even allow myself to reinvent myself at times. 我决定接受一个截然不同的自己, 甚至允许自己以全新的面貌出现。
embrace:n.拥抱,怀抱;v.拥抱;乐意采纳(思想、建议等);信奉;包括; reinvent:v.以新形象示人;以新形式出现;
So for example, in high school, 比如,在高中的时候,
I have to confess I was a mega-nerd. 我不得不承认我是个书呆子。
confess:v.承认;坦白;忏悔;供认;
I had no sense of fashion -- thick glasses, simple hairstyle -- you can get the idea. 对于时尚一窍不通—— 戴着厚眼镜,留着简单的发型, 相信你们能想象出来。
hairstyle:n.发型;
I think, actually, I only had friends because I shared my homework. 我觉得,那时候我之所以有朋友, 是因为我借作业给他们抄。
That's the truth. 是真的。
But once at university, 但在大学的时候,
I was able to find a new identity for myself, and the nerd became a popular girl. 我找到了自己新的身份, 从书呆子变成了受欢迎的女孩。
nerd:n.呆子;讨厌的人;
But it was MIT, so I don't know if I can take too much credit for that. 但因为我在麻省理工, 所以我也不知道 这种改变到底有多大用处。
As they say over there, "The odds are good, but the goods are odd." 他们那儿有句话, “数量挺多的, 质量却不好。”
odds:n.几率;胜算;不平等;差别;
(Laughter) （笑声）
I switched majors so many times that my advisors joked that I should get a degree in " random studies." 我换了很多次专业, 最后我的顾问开玩笑说, 我应该去修一个“随机专业”学位。
advisors:n.顾问,指导教授,劝告者(advisor的复数形式); random:adj.[数]随机的;任意的;胡乱的;n.随意;adv.胡乱地;
(Laughter) （笑声）
I told this to my kids. 我把这件事告诉了我的孩子们。
And then over the years, I have gained a lot of different identities . 这些年我有了许多不同的身份。
identities:n.身份;本身;本体;特征;同一性;相同;(identity的复数)
I started as an inventor, entrepreneur , social innovator . 最开始我是作为一名发明者, 企业家,社会革新者。
entrepreneur:n.企业家;承包人;主办者; innovator:n.改革者,创新者;
Then I became an investor , a woman in tech, a teacher. 之后我成为了投资人, 技术女性, 老师。
investor:n.投资者;
And most recently , I became a mom, or as my toddler says repeatedly , "Mom!" day and night. 最近我成为了一名母亲, 或者像我的小家伙不停叫着的, “妈～妈～”,从早到晚。
recently:adv.最近;新近; toddler:n.学步的小孩;幼童装; repeatedly:adv.反复地;再三地;屡次地;
Even my accent was so confused -- its origin was so obscure , that my friends called it, "Rebecanese." 就连我的口音也很奇怪—— 它是如此复杂, 以至于我的朋友管它叫“瑞贝卡语”。
confused:adj.困惑的; v.使糊涂; (confuse的过去分词和过去式) origin:n.起源;起因;源头;出身; obscure:n.朦胧; adj.无名的; v.使模糊;
(Laughter) （笑声）
But reinventing yourself can be very hard. 但是重塑自己是非常难的。
reinventing:v.以新形象示人;以新形式出现;(reinvent的现在分词)
You can face a lot of resistance at times. 你时常会遇到许多阻碍。
resistance:n.电阻;抵抗;阻力;抗力;
When I was nearly done with my PhD, 在我快拿到博士学位的时候,
I got bitten by that entrepreneurial bug . 我开始心心念念想创业。
entrepreneurial:adj.企业家的,创业者的;中间商的; bug:n.臭虫,小虫;故障;窃听器;v.烦扰,打扰;装窃听器;
I was in Silicon Valley , and so writing a thesis in the basement didn't seem as interesting as starting my own company. 我当时在硅谷, 在地下室写论文无趣极了, 跟自己开公司没法比。
Silicon Valley:n.硅谷(美国加利福尼亚州一处计算机和电子公司聚集地,有时用以指任何计算机公司聚集地); thesis:n.论文;论点;
So I went to my very traditional Korean parents, who are here today, with the task of letting them know that I was going to drop out from my PhD program. 因此我去找我那非常传统的父母, 他们今天也在现场, 我想告诉他们 我打算放弃自己的博士学位。
traditional:传统的,惯例的,
You see, my siblings and I are the first generation to go to university, so for a family of immigrants, this was kind of a big deal . 事实上,我和我的兄弟姐妹 是第一代上大学的人, 而对于一个移民家庭来说,这是件大事。
first generation:adj.出生在美国的;原件第一代; a big deal:na.要人;重要的事;
You can imagine how this conversation was going to go. 不难想象这次对话会变成什么样。
But fortunately , I had a secret weapon with me, which was a chart that had the average income of all of the graduates from Stanford PhD programs, and then the average income of all the dropouts from Stanford graduate programs. 但幸运的是,我有秘密武器, 那是一张图表,上面展示的是 斯坦福博士毕业生的 平均收入水平, 还有从斯坦福退学的人的 平均收入水平。
fortunately:adv.幸运地; dropouts:n.退学学生;脱落;信号失落;(dropout的复数)
(Laughter) （笑声）
I must tell you -- this chart was definitely skewed by the founders of Google . 我必须得说,这张图表的 数据分布绝对发生了偏移, 因为谷歌的创始人们。
definitely:adv.清楚地,当然;明确地,肯定地; skewed:adj.歪斜的;曲解的; founders:n.创办人;造物者(founder的复数); Google:谷歌;谷歌搜索引擎;
(Laughter) （笑声）
But my mom looked at the chart, and she said, "Oh, for you -- follow your passion ." 但是我妈妈看着那张图表, 对我说, “哦,我支持你！追随你的激情吧。”
passion:n.激情;热情;酷爱;盛怒;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Hi, Mom. 谢了,妈妈。
Now, today my identity quest is no longer to find my tribe . 现在我对自己身份的追寻 不再是为了找到我的部族。
tribe:n.部落;族;宗族;一伙;
It's more about allowing myself to embrace all of the possible permutations of myself and cultivating diversity within me and not just around me. 而是为了允许我 接受自己所有的可能性, 形成自身的多元化, 而不仅仅是周边环境的多元化。
permutations:n.[数]排列(permutation的复数); cultivating:v.培养(cultivate的现在分词); diversity:n.差异(性):多样性:多样化:
My boys now are three years and five months old today, and they were already born with three nationalities and four languages. 我的儿子已经3岁5个月了, 他们出生就有3个国籍, 4种语言。
I should mention now that my husband is actually from Denmark -- just in case I don't have enough culture shocks in my life, 对,现在我应该告诉大家, 我丈夫是丹麦人, 就是为了防止生活给我的 文化冲击还不够猛烈,
just in case:以防万一;作为准备;
I decided to marry a Danish guy. 因此我嫁给了一个丹麦人。
Danish:adj.丹麦的;丹麦人的;丹麦语(文)的;n.丹麦语;
In fact, I think my kids will be the first Vikings who will have a hard time growing a beard when they become older. 我想我的孩子应该是第一批 长不出络腮胡的维京人吧。
Vikings:n.维京人;北欧海盗(Viking的复数);
(Laughter) （笑声）
Yeah, we'll have to work on that. 没错,我们得解决这个问题。
But I really hope that they will find that their multiplicity is going to open and create a lot of doors for them in their lives, and that they can use this as a way to find commonality in a world that's increasingly global today. 但我真的希望,他们的多样性, 能给他们的生活带来多一点可能, 他们可以好好利用这一点 在今天这个越来越全球化的 世界中找到共性。
multiplicity:n.多样性;[物]多重性; increasingly:adv.越来越多地;渐增地; global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的;
I hope that instead of feeling anxious and worried that they don't fit in that one box or that their identity will become irrelevant someday, that they can feel free to experiment and to take control of their personal narrative and identity. 我希望他们不用感到焦虑和担心, 自己无法适应陈规, 或者自己的身份某天变得不再重要, 他们可以自由地去尝试, 掌控自己的个性和身份。
irrelevant:adj.不相干的;不切题的; personal:adj.个人的;身体的;亲自的;n.人事消息栏;人称代名词; narrative:n.叙述;故事;讲述;adj.叙事的,叙述的;叙事体的;
I also hope that they will use their unique combination of values and languages and cultures and skills to help create a world where identities are no longer used to alienate what looks different, but rather, to bring together people. 我还希望他们充分利用 自己独特的优势, 把不同价值观、语言、 文化和技能结合起来, 帮助建立一个世界, 让身份不再使得 不同外表的人相互疏远, 相反的,让他们相互靠近。
unique:adj.独特的,稀罕的;[数]唯一的;n.独一无二的人或物; combination:n.结合;组合;联合;[化学]化合; alienate:vt.使疏远,离间;让与;
And most importantly , I really hope that they find tremendous joy in going through these uncharted territories , because I know I have. 最重要的是,我真心希望他们 在探索这个未知领域的时候 能够得到巨大的快乐, 因为我知道我是快乐的。
And most importantly:最主要的是…; tremendous:adj.极大的,巨大的;惊人的;极好的; uncharted:adj.未知的;图上未标明的; territories:n.地区;领土;边疆区(territory的复数);
Now, as for my grandmother, her last wish was also her last lesson to me. 对于我外婆来说, 她的遗愿也是她给我上的最后一课。
It turns out that it was never about going back to Korea and being buried there. 其实是否回到韩国, 安葬在那里, 并不重要。
It was about resting next to her son, who had died long before she moved to Argentina. 重要的是跟她的儿子葬在一起, 她的儿子在她来阿根廷之前 就已经去世了。
What mattered to her was not the ocean that divided her past and new world; it was about finding common ground . 对她而言,重要的不是那海洋, 分隔了她的旧生活和新生活, 而是找到那一片共同的土地。
common ground:n.共同点;
Thank you. 谢谢大家。
(Applause) （掌声）