9月8日，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在弗吉尼亞州阿靈頓郡（Arlington, Virginia）韋克菲爾德高中（Wakefield High School）對(duì)全美中小學(xué)生發(fā)表講話，強(qiáng)調(diào)上學(xué)讀書(shū)的重要性，激勵(lì)學(xué)生努力學(xué)習(xí)。以下是講話全文，由美國(guó)國(guó)務(wù)院國(guó)際信息局（IIP）翻譯。

　�。ㄈ�文開(kāi)始）

　　白宮新聞秘書(shū)辦公室

　　2009年9月8日

　　總統(tǒng)對(duì)全美中小學(xué)生發(fā)表講話

　　弗吉尼亞州阿靈頓郡韋克菲爾德高中

　　東部夏令時(shí)中午12:06

　　總統(tǒng)：大家好！謝謝你們。謝謝你們。謝謝你們大家。好，大家請(qǐng)就坐。你們今天都好嗎？（掌聲）蒂姆·斯派塞（Tim Spicer）好嗎？（掌聲）我現(xiàn)在與弗吉尼亞州阿靈頓郡韋克菲爾德高中的學(xué)生們?cè)谝黄稹Ｃ绹?guó)各地從小學(xué)預(yù)備班到中學(xué)12年級(jí)的學(xué)生正在收聽(tīng)收看。我很高興大家今天都能參與。我還要感謝韋克菲爾德高中出色的組織安排。請(qǐng)為你們自己熱烈鼓掌。（掌聲）

　　我知道，今天是你們很多人開(kāi)學(xué)的日子。對(duì)于進(jìn)入小學(xué)預(yù)備班、初中或高中的學(xué)生，今天是你們來(lái)到新學(xué)校的第一天，心里可能有點(diǎn)緊張，這是可以理解的。我能想象有些畢業(yè)班學(xué)生現(xiàn)在感覺(jué)很不錯(cuò)——（掌聲）——還有一年就畢業(yè)了。不論在哪個(gè)年級(jí)，你們有些人可能希望暑假更長(zhǎng)一點(diǎn)，今天早上還能多睡一小會(huì)兒。

　　我了解這種感覺(jué)。我小時(shí)候，我們家生活在海外。我在印度尼西亞住了幾年。我媽媽沒(méi)有錢(qián)送我上其他美國(guó)孩子上的學(xué)校，但她認(rèn)為必須讓我接受美式教育。因此，她決定從周一到周五自己給我補(bǔ)課。不過(guò)她還要上班，所以只能在清晨四點(diǎn)半給我上課。

　　你們可以想見(jiàn)，我不太情愿那么早起床。有很多次，我趴在餐桌上就睡著了。但每當(dāng)我抱怨的時(shí)候，我媽媽都會(huì)那樣地看我一眼，然后說(shuō)：“小子，這對(duì)我也并不輕松�！保ㄐβ暎�

　　我知道你們有些人還在適應(yīng)開(kāi)學(xué)后的生活。但我今天來(lái)到這里是因?yàn)橛兄匾�的事情要和你們說(shuō)。我來(lái)這里是要和你們談?wù)勀銈兊慕逃龁?wèn)題，以及在這個(gè)新學(xué)年對(duì)你們所有人的期望。

　　我做過(guò)很多次有關(guān)教育問(wèn)題的演講。我多次談到過(guò)責(zé)任問(wèn)題。

　　我談到過(guò)教師激勵(lì)學(xué)生并督促他們學(xué)習(xí)的責(zé)任。

　　我談到過(guò)家長(zhǎng)的責(zé)任，要確保你們走正路，完成家庭作業(yè)，不要整天坐在電視前或玩Xbox游戲。

　　我多次談到過(guò)政府的責(zé)任，要制定高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，支持教師和校長(zhǎng)的工作，徹底改善不能為學(xué)生提供應(yīng)有機(jī)會(huì)的、教育質(zhì)量差的學(xué)校。

　　然而，即使我們擁有最敬業(yè)的教師，最盡力的家長(zhǎng)和全世界最好的學(xué)�！�—如果你們大家不履行你們的責(zé)任，不到校上課，不專心聽(tīng)講，不聽(tīng)家長(zhǎng)、祖父祖母和其他大人的話，不付出取得成功所必須的勤奮努力，那么這一切都毫無(wú)用處，都無(wú)關(guān)緊要。這就是我今天講話的重點(diǎn)：你們每個(gè)人對(duì)自己的教育應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任。

　　我首先要講講你們對(duì)自己應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任。你們每個(gè)人都有自己的長(zhǎng)處。你們每個(gè)人都能做出自己的貢獻(xiàn)。你們對(duì)自己應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任是發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的能力所在。而教育能夠提供這樣的機(jī)會(huì)。

　　你或許能成為一名出色的作家——甚至可能寫(xiě)書(shū)或在報(bào)紙上發(fā)表文章——但你可能要在完成那篇英文課的作文后才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的才華。你或許能成為一名創(chuàng)新者或發(fā)明家——甚至可能設(shè)計(jì)出新一代iPhone或研制出新型藥物或疫苗——但你可能要在完成科學(xué)課的實(shí)驗(yàn)后才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的才華。你或許能成為一名市長(zhǎng)或參議員或最高法院的大法官——但你可能要在參加學(xué)生會(huì)的工作或辯論隊(duì)后才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的才華。

　　不論你的生活志向是什么，我敢肯定你必須上學(xué)讀書(shū)才能實(shí)現(xiàn)它。你想當(dāng)醫(yī)生、教師或警官嗎？你想當(dāng)護(hù)士、建筑師、律師或軍人嗎？你必須接受良好的教育，才能從事上述任何一種職業(yè)。你不能指望輟學(xué)后能碰上個(gè)好工作。你必須接受培訓(xùn)，為之努力，為之學(xué)習(xí)。

　　這并非只對(duì)你個(gè)人的人生和未來(lái)意義重大。可以毫不夸大地說(shuō)，教育給你帶來(lái)的益處將決定這個(gè)國(guó)家的未來(lái)。美國(guó)的未來(lái)取決于你們。你們今日在校學(xué)習(xí)的知識(shí)將決定我們作為一個(gè)國(guó)家是否能夠迎接我們未來(lái)所面臨的最嚴(yán)峻挑戰(zhàn)。

　　你們將需要利用你們通過(guò)自然科學(xué)和數(shù)學(xué)課程所學(xué)到的知識(shí)和解決問(wèn)題的能力來(lái)治愈癌癥、艾滋病及其他疾病，開(kāi)發(fā)新的能源技術(shù)和保護(hù)我們的環(huán)境。你們將需要利用你們?cè)跉v史學(xué)和社會(huì)學(xué)課堂上所獲得的知識(shí)和獨(dú)立思考能力來(lái)抗擊貧困和解決無(wú)家可歸問(wèn)題，打擊犯罪和消除歧視，使我們的國(guó)家更公平、更自由。你們將需要利用你們?cè)谒�有課堂上培養(yǎng)的創(chuàng)造力和智慧來(lái)創(chuàng)辦新公司，增加就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)，振興我們的經(jīng)濟(jì)。

　　我們需要你們每個(gè)人發(fā)揮你們的聰明才智和技能，以便幫助老一輩人解決我們面臨的最棘手問(wèn)題。如果你們不這樣做，如果你們輟學(xué)，你們不僅僅是自暴自棄，也是拋棄自己的國(guó)家。

　　我自然知道要做到學(xué)業(yè)優(yōu)秀并非總是易事。我知道你們?cè)S多人在生活中面臨挑戰(zhàn)，難以集中精力從事學(xué)業(yè)。

　　我明白這一點(diǎn)。

我有親身感受。兩歲時(shí)，我父親離家而去，我是由一位單親母親撫養(yǎng)成人的，母親不得不工作，并時(shí)常為支付生活費(fèi)用而苦苦掙扎，但有時(shí)仍無(wú)法為我們提供其他孩子享有的東西。有時(shí)，我渴望生活中能有一位父親。有時(shí)我感到孤獨(dú)，感到自己不適應(yīng)社會(huì)。

　　我并非總是像我應(yīng)該做到的那樣專心學(xué)習(xí)，我也曾做過(guò)我如今不能引以為豪的一些事情，我曾惹過(guò)不應(yīng)該惹的麻煩。我的人生原本會(huì)輕易陷入更糟糕的境地。

　　但是，我當(dāng)年際遇不錯(cuò)。我有過(guò)許多第二次機(jī)會(huì)，我有幸能上大學(xué)，上法學(xué)院，追求自己的理想。我的妻子，我們的第一夫人米歇爾·奧巴馬，也有著類(lèi)似的經(jīng)歷。她的父母都未曾上過(guò)大學(xué)，家里很窮。但他們非常勤奮 ，她也是如此，因此她得以進(jìn)入一些美國(guó)最好的學(xué)校。

　　你們中有一些人可能沒(méi)有那些有利條件。或許你們生活中沒(méi)有成年人為你們提供你們所需要的支持�；蛟S你們家中有人失業(yè)，經(jīng)濟(jì)非常拮據(jù)�；蛟S你們生活在使你們感覺(jué)不安全的社區(qū)，或有朋友逼迫你們?nèi)プ瞿銈冎�道不�?duì)的事情。

　　然而說(shuō)到底，你們生活的環(huán)境、你們的膚色、你們的原籍、你們的經(jīng)濟(jì)收入、你們家中的境況等等，這一切都不能成為你們不用功或不努力的理由。你們沒(méi)有理由不服從你們的老師、逃學(xué)、或輟學(xué)。沒(méi)有理由不付出努力。

　　你們目前的狀況并不決定著你們的未來(lái)。沒(méi)有人決定你們的命運(yùn)，在美國(guó)，你們決定自己的命運(yùn)。你們掌握自己的未來(lái)。

　　這就是像你們這樣的年輕人每天都在做的事情，全美各地都是如此。

　　來(lái)自得州羅馬城的賈茲敏·佩雷斯（Jazmin Perez）就是一個(gè)例證，她剛開(kāi)始上學(xué)時(shí)并不會(huì)說(shuō)英文。她的父母都沒(méi)有上過(guò)大學(xué)。然而，她非常勤奮，成績(jī)優(yōu)秀，獲得了布朗大學(xué)的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，她如今正在讀研究生，攻讀公共衛(wèi)生專業(yè)，不久將成為賈茲敏·佩雷斯博士。

　　我想起了加州洛斯阿爾托斯城的安多尼·舒爾茨（Andoni Schultz），他從三歲開(kāi)始就一直與腦癌進(jìn)行抗?fàn)�，他不得不忍受各�?lèi)治療和手術(shù)帶來(lái)的痛苦，其中一項(xiàng)手術(shù)曾影響了他的記憶，因此他花在功課上的時(shí)間比一般人長(zhǎng)得多，要多出數(shù)百個(gè)小時(shí)。然而，他從未落后。他今年秋季將邁進(jìn)大學(xué)。

　　我還想起家鄉(xiāng)伊利諾伊州芝加哥市的尚特爾·史蒂夫（Shantell Steve）。她曾在芝加哥最困難的社區(qū)生活，寄養(yǎng)于多個(gè)不同的家庭，但她最終在一家地方醫(yī)療中心找到工作，并開(kāi)始了一項(xiàng)幫助年輕人遠(yuǎn)離流氓團(tuán)伙的計(jì)劃，她即將以優(yōu)異成績(jī)從中學(xué)畢業(yè)，緊接著將上大學(xué)。

　　賈茲敏、安多尼和尚特爾與你們中間的每個(gè)人沒(méi)什么兩樣。跟你們一樣，他們?cè)谏�活中面臨種種挑戰(zhàn)。在某些情況下，他們的處境比起你們?cè)S多人更差。但他們拒絕放棄。他們決定要為自己的一生、自己的教育負(fù)起責(zé)任，為自己設(shè)定各項(xiàng)奮斗目標(biāo)。我期待你們大家都會(huì)這樣做。

　　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(lái)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(tīng)講、或每天花一點(diǎn)時(shí)間讀一本書(shū)。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(zhǎng)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(shū)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(lái)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�季�?jié)染上流感。

　　但無(wú)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。

　　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。

　　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(mén)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。

　　這些都沒(méi)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(xiě)的系列小說(shuō)《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(guò)數(shù)百場(chǎng)比賽，有成千上萬(wàn)個(gè)球沒(méi)有投中。但他曾說(shuō)過(guò)：“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�！�

　　這些人士獲得成功，因?yàn)樗麄兌�得：你不能讓失敗�?lái)限制你，而必須讓失敗來(lái)開(kāi)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(mén)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)。

　　沒(méi)有一個(gè)人天生擅長(zhǎng)做各種事情。你通過(guò)勤奮而變得擅長(zhǎng)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。

　　不要害怕提問(wèn)。不要在需要幫助時(shí)害怕請(qǐng)求別人幫助。我天天請(qǐng)求別人的幫助。請(qǐng)求幫助不是軟弱的表現(xiàn)，它是力量的標(biāo)志，因?yàn)樗�表明你有勇氣承認(rèn)自己對(duì)某些事情不懂，這樣做會(huì)使你學(xué)到新的東西。因此，請(qǐng)確定一位你信任的成年人，例如家長(zhǎng)、祖父母或老師、教練或輔導(dǎo)員，請(qǐng)他們幫助你遵循既定計(jì)劃實(shí)現(xiàn)你的目標(biāo)。

　　即使當(dāng)你苦苦掙扎、灰心喪氣、感到其他人對(duì)你不抱希望時(shí)，也不要對(duì)你自己?jiǎn)适�信心，因�(yàn)楫?dāng)你自暴自棄時(shí)，你也拋棄了自己的國(guó)家。

　　書(shū)寫(xiě)美國(guó)歷史的不是在困難時(shí)刻退縮的人，而是堅(jiān)持不懈、加倍努力的人，他們對(duì)國(guó)家的愛(ài)促使他們?nèi)�力以赴�?/p>

　　書(shū)寫(xiě)美國(guó)歷史的是250年前坐在你們的位置上的學(xué)生，他們后來(lái)進(jìn)行了獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)并創(chuàng)建了這個(gè)國(guó)家。還有75年前坐在你們的位置上的年輕人和學(xué)生，他們走出了大蕭條并打贏了一場(chǎng)世界大戰(zhàn)；
他們?yōu)槊駲?quán)而奮斗并把宇航員送上了月球。至于20年前坐在你們的位置上的學(xué)生，他們創(chuàng)辦了谷歌（Google）、嘰喳網(wǎng)（Twitter）和臉譜網(wǎng)（Facebook），改變了我們交流溝通的方式。

　　而今天，我要問(wèn)問(wèn)你們大家，你們將做出什么貢獻(xiàn)？你們將解決什么問(wèn)題？你們將有什么發(fā)現(xiàn)？20年、50年或100年后來(lái)到這里講話的總統(tǒng)將會(huì)怎樣評(píng)價(jià)你們大家為這個(gè)國(guó)家所做的一切？

　　你們的家人、你們的老師和我正在竭盡全力保證你們接受必要的教育，以便回答上述問(wèn)題。我正在努力工作，以便你們的教室得到修繕，你們能夠得到學(xué)習(xí)所需的課本、設(shè)備和電腦。但你們也必須盡自己的努力。因此，我希望你們大家從今年起認(rèn)真對(duì)待這個(gè)問(wèn)題。我希望你們盡最大努力做好每一件事。我希望你們每個(gè)人都有出色的表現(xiàn)。不要讓我們失望。不要讓你們的家人或你們的國(guó)家失望。而最重要的是，不要辜負(fù)你們自己，而要讓我們都能[為你們]感到驕傲。

　　非常感謝你們大家。愿主保佑你們。愿主保佑美國(guó)。謝謝你們。（掌聲）

　　巴拉克·奧巴馬總統(tǒng)演講的英文原稿：

　　REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN DISCUSSION WITH 9TH GRADERS

　　Wakefield High School

　　Arlington, Virginia

　　11:01 A.M. EDT

　　THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. So this is the first day of high school?(點(diǎn)擊此處閱讀下一頁(yè))

　　STUDENTS: Yes.

　　THE PRESIDENT: Wow. I\"m trying to remember back to my first day of high school. I can\"t remember that far back. But it is great to see all of you here. I\"m really proud of my Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, who is just doing a great job trying to create an environment where all of you can learn. And I know it\"s a little intimidating with all these cameras around and all this --

　　SECRETARY DUNCAN: Don\"t pay any attention to them.

　　THE PRESIDENT: -- so just pretend that they\"re not there.

　　Here\"s the main reason I wanted to come by. As Arne pointed out, when I was growing up, my dad wasn’t in the house. We weren’t poor, but we weren’t rich. My mother had to work really hard, so sometimes my grandparents had to fill in. And my wife, Michelle, who all of you have seen -- the First Lady -- her dad worked in a -- as a -- basically in a blue-collar job, an hourly worker. Her mom worked as a secretary. And they lived in a tiny -- they didn’t even live in a house, they lived upstairs above her aunt\"s house. And so neither of us really had a whole lot when we were growing up, but the one thing that we had was parents who insisted on getting a good education.

　　And I want you all to know that despite the good home training I was getting, that when I was in 9th and 10th grade, I was still kind of a goof-off and I didn’t study as hard as I could have. I was a lot more concerned about basketball. I made some mistakes when I was in high school, wasn’t as focused as I should have been. But the fact that my parents -- that my mother and my grandparents had emphasized education allowed me to make up for some of those mistakes and still get into a good college. And when I got to college, I was then able to really bear down and focus on education.

　　Michelle, she was a good student the whole time. She was sort of a goody-two-shoes. (Laughter.) And she just did well in high school, and then she went to college and then she went to law school, and she just was always really organized and together.

　　But the point is, is that both of us were able to succeed not because of who our parents were, not because we came from a lot of wealth or because we had a lot of connections, but it was mainly just because we ended up getting into good schools and we worked hard and we did well.

　　All of you are in that same position. And as I look out at this class, I say to myself, you guys remind me of me and Michelle. And you\"re in the same position that we were. We were no different. You have the same opportunities that we had. The key is for you to seize those opportunities.

　　And the reason I wanted to come by to talk to students -- and then we\"re going to talk to students all across the country -- Arne is working really hard to make sure that your schools are well equipped; we\"re trying to get more money in the budget for things like computers, and we want to make sure that we\"re getting the very best teachers and that they\"re getting all the training they need -- we\"re doing everything we can as adults to give you a good learning situation. But ultimately, we can\"t force you to learn. Not even your parents can force you to learn. Ultimately, you\"ve got to want to learn. You\"ve got to realize that education is your ticket. And that education is not going to happen just because you show up, although showing up helps, so I want to make sure everybody --

　　SECRETARY DUNCAN: We\"re glad you\"re here.

　　THE PRESIDENT: We\"re glad you\"re here. You\"ve got to be hungry to want to learn more -- whatever the subject is. And if you have that hunger and that drive and that passion, you\"re going to do well. And if you don\"t, you know, you\"re just going to do okay, you\"ll be mediocre. And I don\"t think that\"s what any of you want for your lives.

　　So that\"s the main message that I wanted to send is, take advantage of the opportunity. If you are hungry for learning, you will find teachers that want to help you. You will -- your parents will be there for you. The community will be there. You will be able to finance college. You will be able to get a good job. You will be able to have a successful career. But you\"ve got to want it. And that\"s the main message that we wanted to send.

　　So, with that, we\"ve got about 20 minutes just to go back and forth. And I know, like I said, it\"s a little intimidating having these folks around. But it\"s not every day that you get a chance to talk to the President. (Laughter.) I\"m not going to call on anybody. Just whoever has a question or a comment, a suggestion, an idea about what you think would make school better, things that you think make it tough for some kids, even if it\"s not you, but things that you\"ve heard that you think we should know. Questions about Bo, my dog, that\"s okay, too. (Laughter.) Whatever comes to mind.

　　So who wants to start off? I know -- there you go. That\"s what I\"m talking about. We got a mic, so everybody can hear you.(點(diǎn)擊此處閱讀下一頁(yè))

　　 Introduce yourself.

　　STUDENT: How has your life changed?

　　THE PRESIDENT: What\"s your name?

　　STUDENT: Jimmy.

　　THE PRESIDENT: Jimmy. How has my life changed?

　　SECRETARY DUNCAN: That\"s a good question.

　　THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, when you announce that you\"re running for President -- first of all, I was a U.S. senator before I was President, so people already sort of knew me but just in Illinois, in my home state, in Chicago. And when you announce that you\"re running for President, suddenly a lot more people know you. And then slowly you get Secret Service. And then when you win the nomination you get more Secret Service. And then when you become President, then everything just shuts down. And so one of the biggest changes in my life is that I can\"t just do things normally like I used to be able to do them. And that\"s hard sometimes. I mean, I can\"t just get in my car, go to the store, pick up some -- whatever it is that I feel like picking up. I can\"t go take a walk without shutting down a whole bunch of roads and really inconveniencing a lot of people. (Laughter.)

　　And so in terms of my own personal life, I think the biggest change is that I\"m inside what\"s called the bubble. I can\"t just do things on the spur of the moment. And that\"s actually the toughest thing about being President, because you want to just be able to interact with people normally, right? And these days either people are waving and really happy to see me, or they\"re booing me, saying -- (laughter) -- you know. But nobody just kind of interacts with you in a normal way.

　　The good thing about being President is I\"ve got this really nice home office called the Oval Office -- (laughter) -- and it means that I don\"t have a commute. Basically I walk downstairs, I\"m in my office, I\"m working, and then I can leave to get home in time to have dinner with my family. So I\"m spending a lot more time with my kids now, and my wife now, and having dinner with them every night. That\"s a lot better than it was before when I was traveling a lot and commuting back and forth between D.C. and Chicago. So that\"s really good.

　　Now, obviously the other way my life has changed is just I have so much more responsibility. But that part of the job I really enjoy. I mean, I really like meeting smart people who are passionate about their work; trying to figure out how do we get the schools better, how do we provide health care for people who don\"t have it -- the policy work of thinking through how can we make changes in the country that will give people more opportunity, better jobs, better education. That stuff is what I spend most of my day doing and that\"s really interesting. I really enjoy it.

　　All right, who else? Right here.

　　STUDENT: Hi, my name is Brandon. I was wondering, you said that your father wasn\"t really in your life. That\"s kind of like me -- my parents were divorced. But how do you think your life would have been different if he would have been there for you? Like, if -- how would your education have been and would you still be President?

　　THE PRESIDENT: It\"s an interesting question. You know, you never know exactly how your life would turn out if there was a change in circumstances as big as your dad being around. I think that -- I actually wrote a book about this, called \"Dreams For My Father,\" where I tried to figure out what was he like, who was he. He was a very, very smart man, but he was sort of arrogant and kind of overbearing, and he had his own problems and his own issues. So my mother always used to say that if he had been around, I probably would have been having a lot of arguments with him all the time.

　　I think that I was lucky, though, that my mother always -- she never spoke badly about him, which I think since I was a boy, knowing that even if your dad wasn\"t around, that you still were hearing good things about him I think probably improved my own self-confidence.

　　When I look back on my life, I think that -- Michelle\"s dad was around, and Arne I think knew him. Just a great guy. Wonderful, wonderful man. And he actually had multiple sclerosis, so he had to walk with canes, but went to every basketball game that my brother-in-law played in, was there for every dance recital Michelle was in, was just a great family man. And when I look at her dad, I say to myself, boy, that would be nice to have somebody like that that you could count on who was always there for you.

　　On the other hand, I think that not having a dad in some ways forced me to grow up faster. It meant that I made more mistakes because I didn\"t have somebody to tell me, here\"s how you do this or here\"s how you do that. But on the other hand, I had to, I think, raise myself a little bit more. I had to be more supportive of my mother because I knew how hard she was working. And so, in some ways, maybe it made me stronger over time, just like it may be making you stronger over time.

　　Let\"s get a young lady in here.(點(diǎn)擊此處閱讀下一頁(yè))

　　 Go ahead.

　　STUDENT: Hi. I\"m Lilly. And if you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be? (Laughter.)

　　THE PRESIDENT: Dinner with anyone dead or alive? Well, you know, dead or alive, that\"s a pretty big list. (Laughter.) You know, I think that it might be Gandhi, who is a real hero of mine. Now, it would probably be a really small meal because -- (laughter) -- he didn\"t eat a lot. But he\"s somebody who I find a lot of inspiration in. He inspired Dr. King, so if it hadn\"t been for the non-violent movement in India, you might not have seen the same non-violent movement for civil rights here in the United States. He inspired César Chávez, and he -- and what was interesting was that he ended up doing so much and changing the world just by the power of his ethics, by his ability to change how people saw each other and saw themselves -- and help people who thought they had no power realize that they had power, and then help people who had a lot of power realize that if all they\"re doing is oppressing people, then that\"s not a really good exercise of power.

　　So I\"m always interested in people who are able to bring about change, not through violence, not through money, but through the force of their personality and their ethical and moral stances. And that\"s somebody that I\"d love to sit down and talk to.

　　STUDENT: Hi, my name is Alexis. And I was just wondering what were your main goals before you graduated college, what you wanted to achieve in life?

　　THE PRESIDENT: You know, as I said, when I was your age, I\"ve got to say that I was a little bit of a goof-off, so my main goal was to get on the varsity basketball team, to have fun. And when I was younger, my aspirations were to be an architect, maybe to be a judge. And then I went through this phase where I was kind of rebelling -- this was part of not having a dad around. I think I sort of was trying to work through my issues. But by the time I got to college, A, I realized I was never going to be a pro basketball player. Arne never realized that. (Laughter.) He still doesn’t.

　　SECRETARY DUNCAN: Still trying.

　　THE PRESIDENT: We played this weekend. But so I realized I wasn’t going to be a world-class athlete. I realized that I was good with writing. I was good in sort of analyzing how the world worked, whether it was politics or economic or -- that those were my strengths. I was pretty good at math, but wasn’t great at it. And the problem was the four years in high school that I let my math skills kind of go, it\"s hard to catch up with math once you’ve -- which is why, by the way, we need more scientists, we need more engineers, and if you\"re good at math stay with it and really focus on it. That\"s something that I regret, is having let some of that go, because I was good at when I was young.

　　So I think I figured out at that point that I wanted to be in some sort of job where I was helping people, that -- I was never that interested in just being rich. That wasn’t my -- that wasn’t really my goal. My goal was more to do something that I thought was meaningful. And so in college I became interested in public policy and urban policy. And I started doing some stuff off campus around different issues, which is something -- and doing community service type of work.

　　And I don\"t know what the opportunities here are at Wakefield, but one of the things that is a really great learning opportunity is to -- if there\"s a community service program here, or if you want to do it through your church or your synagogue or your mosque or some other community group, you can really learn a lot about the world not just in the classroom, but also outside of the classroom.

　　Now, you\"ve got to focus on doing what -- your top priority has to be your classroom work. But I found in college that some of the work I did in the community actually opened my eyes and gave me a sense of how I might be able to help people. And that was really important.

　　STUDENT: Why did you decide to come to Wakefield instead of, like, Yorktown or Washington?

　　THE PRESIDENT: You know, Wakefield has a wonderful reputation; this is a good school. I think when I look around the room, I really like the fact that it\"s a diverse school, that there are just people from all different walks of life here. I think that\"s part of the strength of America. And this is basically what America increasingly looks like, people from all different walks of life, different backgrounds, different religions, different ethnic backgrounds. And so we thought that this would be a good representative sample of students. And your questions have proven me right.

　　STUDENT: Hi, I\"m Sam. And I was just wondering how you motivate yourself to do all the work that goes along with your job.

　　THE PRESIDENT: That\"s a great question. You know, some of it -- I\"m just going to be honest with you -- some of it is just you don\"t want to fail. Right? A lot of people are counting on me. And so even when I\"m really tired or things aren\"t going exactly the way I thought they would be going,(點(diǎn)擊此處閱讀下一頁(yè))

　　 or there\"s just a lot of problems that are landing on my desk, I think about all the struggles that a lot of people are going through around the country and I say to myself, it\"s such an honor to be in this job; I can\"t afford to get tired; I just want to make sure that I\"m doing the best that I can do for those folks.

　　And one of the things that we started doing as soon as I came in -- we get thousands of letters -- I think it\"s 40,000 letters a day -- letters or e-mails -- a day from people all across the country, on all different subjects. And one of the things we started doing was trying to get 10 letters every day, sort of a sample of letters that I read personally. So at the end of my day, along with my big briefing book of things I have to read to prepare for the next day -- education policy, or health care, or what\"s happening in Afghanistan -- I have these 10 letters from ordinary folks.

　　And you read these letters and some of them are really inspiring. People talk about how they\"re the first in their family to go to college, and they\"re having to work full-time but they\"re sure that they are going to get a better job and a better career, and so they\"re sticking with it even though that it\"s hard.

　　Some of the stories are really depressing. You hear about people who are sick but don\"t have health care, and suddenly they get a bill for $100,000, and there\"s no way they can pay for it, and they\"re about to lose their house.

　　And you\"re just reminded that the country is full of really good people who sometimes are going through a hard time. They just need a break. They need a little bit of help. Maybe the way things are set up right now isn\"t always fair for people, and that motivates you, because you say, well, I can\"t make everything perfect, I can\"t prevent somebody from getting sick, but maybe I can make sure that they\"ve got insurance so that when they do get sick, they\"re going to get some help.

　　I can\"t make everybody in an inner-city school suddenly not have problems with drugs on the street corner, or maybe parents who aren\"t really parenting well, but I can at least make sure that if they do show up at school that they\"ve got a teacher who is well trained. So that really, really motivates you a lot. That\"s what gets you up in the morning.

　　SECRETARY DUNCAN: Last one. Last question.

　　THE PRESIDENT: Who\"s got the mic? Well, he already had the mic, so we\"ll give two last questions. These two right here. Go ahead.

　　STUDENT: Hi, Mr. President, my name is Jessie. When I grow up, I would like to have your job.

　　THE PRESIDENT: Okay.

　　STUDENT: Is there any advice you can give me, or career paths that I -- things I need to know?

　　THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me give you some very practical tips. (Laughter.) First of all, I want everybody here to be careful about what you post on Facebook -- (laughter) -- because in the YouTube age, whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life. And when you\"re young, you make mistakes and you do some stupid stuff. And I\"ve been hearing a lot about young people who -- you know, they\"re posting stuff on Facebook, and then suddenly they go apply for a job and somebody has done a search and -- so that\"s some practical political advice for you right there. (Laughter.) That\"s number one.

　　Number two, look, obviously, doing well in school is hugely important, especially if you don\"t come from some political family where they\"ve got you all hooked up. If you\"re going to succeed it\"s because people are going to think that -- they have confidence that you can do the job. So really excelling in education is important.

　　Number three, find something that you\"re passionate about and do that well. There are a lot of people who decide to go into politics just because they want to be important or they like the idea of having their name up in lights or what have you. The truth is, is that I think the people who are the best elected officials are the people who they found something they\"re good at; they get really -- whether it\"s they\"re a really good lawyer, they\"re a really good teacher, they\"re a good business person -- they\"ve built a career and learned something about how to organize people and how to motivate people. And then they go into politics because they think that they can take those skills to do some more good -- as opposed to just wanting to get elected just for the sake of getting elected.

　　And we have a lot -- I\"ll be honest with you, I mean, there are a lot of politicians like that who, all they\"re thinking about is just, how do I get reelected, and so they never actually get anything done.

　　But that\"s not just true in politics; that\"s true in life. I think even if you didn\"t want to be President, if you wanted to be a successful -- successful in business, most of the most successful businesspeople I know are people who, they were passionate about some idea about a product or a service,(點(diǎn)擊此處閱讀下一頁(yè))

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