Taylor Swift 纽约大学演讲（节选）

背景

Taylor Swift（泰勒·斯威夫特），1989年12月13日出生于美国宾夕法尼亚州，美国女歌手、词曲作者、音乐制作人、演员、纽约大学荣誉博士。
2022年5月19日，泰勒于纽约大学2022届毕业典礼发表演讲并被授予 “艺术博士” 荣誉学位。

荣誉博士学位（Honorary Doctoral Degree），也叫名誉博士学位，是世界多数国家通行授予的一种名誉性学术称号。

演讲稿

You went to NYU during a global pandemic, being essentially locked into your dorms and having to do classes over Zoom. Everyone in college during normal times stresses of about test scores. But on top of that, you also had to pass like a thousand COVID tests. I imagine the idea of a normal college experience was all you wanted to. But in this case, you and I both learned that you don’t always get all the things in the bag that you selected from the menu in the delivery surface. That is life. You get what you get.
你们在全球大流行期间去了纽约大学，基本上被困在宿舍里，不得不通过Zoom上课。在正常时期上大学的人都会担心考试成绩，但除此之外，你们还必须通过数以千次的核酸检测。我可以想象，你们也渴望能够拥有正常的大学经历。但在这种情况下，你和我都学到了，很多时候你难以获得你所选择的。这就是生活。你得到的仅仅是你所能够得到的。

I’m trying to tell you losing things doesn’t just mean losing. A lot of the time we lose things, we gain things too. Now you leave the structure and framework of school and chart your own path. Every choice you make leads to the next choice which leads to next. And I know it’s hard to know which path to take.

我想告诉你失去东西并不仅仅意味着失去。很多时候，失去东西也意味着获得其他东西。现在你要离开学校的结构和框架，开辟自己的道路。你每做出一个选择，都会引导你做下一个选择，然后再下一个选择。我知道很难确定应该选择哪条路。

There will be times in life where you need to stand up for yourself. Times when the right thing is actually back down and apologize. Times when the right thing is to fight. Times when the right thing is to turn and run. Times to hold on with all you have and times to let go with grace. Sometimes the right thing to do is to throw out the old schools of thought in the name of progress and reform. Sometimes the right thing to do is to sit and listen to the wisdom of those who have come before us.

生活中会有那么些时刻，你需要为自己站出来。有时候，正确的事情需要妥协和让步。有时候，正确的事情是战斗。有时候，正确的事情是转身逃跑。有时候，要紧紧抓住一切。有时候，要优雅地放手。有时，正确的事情是，用进步的理念和全新的思想去取代那些过时的观点。有时，正确的事情是坐下来聆听那些已经走在我们前面的人的智慧。

How will you know what the right choice is in these crucial moments. How do I give advice to this many people about their life choices? I won’t. the scary news is you’re on your own now. But the cool news is you’re on your own now.

在这些关键时刻，你如何知道什么是正确的选择呢？我怎么能为这么多人提供关于他们生活选择的建议呢？我不会这样做。有一个坏消息想送给你们，你现在要靠自己了。但令人兴奋的消息是，你现在可以自己决定了。