《Life Attitudes and Value of Social Being》歌词

歌曲： Life Attitudes and Value of Social Being

所属专辑：美国名校励志演说 17篇

歌手： 爱飘的夜

时长： 16:43

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Life Attitudes and Value of Social Being - 英语演讲[00:00:02]

Commencement Address by Katie Couric[00:00:07]

at Princeton University[00:00:10]

Thank you, Neil, for the kind introduction,[00:00:12]

and thank you for inviting me today, [00:00:17]

Madame President, Deans,[00:00:19]

and most of all Graduating Class of 2009.[00:00:21]

It's a tremendous honor to be part of your Class Day.[00:00:24]

When Princeton called to invite me I was thrilled.[00:00:31]

It also gave me a perfect excuse for[00:00:34]

turning down Harvard and Yale![00:00:37]

And since I’ve been called a cougar lately[00:00:39]

in the tabloid press - today I’m very happy [00:00:42]

to be an honorary tiger! [00:00:45]

Coming here was a real no brainer! [00:00:47]

After all, I can see New Jersey from my house![00:00:50]

But, actually, I do have a bone to pick with you.[00:00:53]

I have discovered I am the first female Class Day speaker [00:00:58]

in Princeton's history.[00:01:03]

So, I'd like to officially welcome Princetonto the 21st Century.[00:01:05]

You've embraced the female gender at the perfect time.[00:01:09]

In any event, it is an honor to be here [00:01:13]

and I am moved to be sharing this special moment [00:01:19]

with parents and professors who may have [00:01:22]

woken up to me on the Today show, [00:01:24]

and with students who may wake up in time [00:01:26]

for the CBS Evening News. [00:01:29]

Although based on the average age of our viewers, [00:01:31]

I think you're probably watching "Shot at Love with Tila Tequila" instead.[00:01:34]

But seriously, thanks for inviting me,[00:01:39]

and congratulations to you on your graduation, [00:01:45]

or, more appropriately, your commencement, [00:01:48]

because the fun is just beginning. [00:01:51]

I'm sure you don't need a newsflash [00:01:54]

that getting a job is no stroll down Nassau Street.[00:01:59]

I read a study recently that said only 20 percent[00:02:02]

of graduates who've applied for jobs have one right now.[00:02:06]

That's down from 51 percent in 2007. [00:02:10]

In this economic climate, [00:02:14]

graduates of the Wilson School might actually have[00:02:17]

to get a job in Government! [00:02:20]

There may be some opportunities in the Republican Party.[00:02:22]

They're still looking for an effective spokesman,[00:02:25]

and the only person they can find so far is Rush Limbaugh, [00:02:29]

and he won't take the job [00:02:32]

because he doesn't want to give up his prescription plan.[00:02:34]

But as you head out into this daunting job market,[00:02:37]

at least you have many illustrious alumni lighting the way.[00:02:43]

Like the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama.[00:02:47]

She was class of 1985, and now she's wowing them in Washington.[00:02:51]

Or Queen Noor of Jordan, who has traveled so far[00:02:56]

and done so much in the name of humanitarian causes[00:03:01]

since her days here on this campus.[00:03:04]

There are a few noteworthy men who were proud to[00:03:07]

go to Princeton as well, a list that reads like [00:03:12]

a who's who of American History, James Madison, [00:03:17]

John Foster Dulles, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Malcolm Forbes, James Baker, etc.[00:03:19]

An impressive number of technology giants have[00:03:26]

also graduated from Princeton. [00:03:32]

From the father of modern computing, Alan Turing, [00:03:32]

to Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, to EBay founder Meg Whitman. [00:03:35]

And I understand Amazon's Jeff Bezos is offering[00:03:40]

to replace the Firestone Library with a Kindle.[00:03:45]

It really makes you wonder why they even built Stanford![00:03:47]

Also doing his part to advance Princeton's [00:03:51]

impressive technology footprint -[00:03:57]

Class of 82's David Duchovny, [00:03:59]

who is single-handedly supporting a major segment of the on-line industry.[00:04:02]

There certainly are many successful graduates of Princeton.[00:04:07]

And now, it's your turn. More than ever in my lifetime,[00:04:11]

this nation needs some big, bold thinkers.[00:04:15]

We need innovators.[00:04:19]

We need people who look beyond a paycheck [00:04:20]

and see possibilities.[00:04:24]

You've got your degree. [00:04:25]

Now, you're about to enroll in a new kind of learning experience.[00:04:28]

There are plenty of lessons along the way,[00:04:32]

if you keep your heart and your mind open on the journey.[00:04:35]

First, success only knocks on your door[00:04:39]

if you win the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. [00:04:44]

All the rest of us have to work for it hard. [00:04:47]

There's that old joke. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? [00:04:50]

Practice, practice, practice. [00:04:54]

That's a major point Malcolm Gladwell[00:04:56]

makes in his book "Outliers." [00:04:59]

He writes that to truly master something, [00:05:01]

you need to spend at least 10-thousand hours doing it.[00:05:04]

Take Bill Gates, for example. [00:05:08]

He dropped out of Harvard and he still became Bill Gates[00:05:10]

by devoting his every waking moment to building[00:05:15]

and understanding computer codes. [00:05:18]

The Beatles might have seemed like an overnight sensation,[00:05:20]

but they played together more than a thousand times[00:05:24]

before that famous appearance[00:05:27]

on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.[00:05:28]

For them, it really was a hard day's night.[00:05:32]

Night after night after night for four years![00:05:34]

I'm no Beatles or Bill Gates,[00:05:38]

but I've learned the importance of hard work, as well.[00:05:43]

I was a desk assistant at ABC News in Washington [00:05:46]

where my major responsibilities were xeroxing (hey, [00:05:50]

it was the dark ages!) and making coffee.[00:05:54]

When I moved to what my network colleagues [00:05:57]

referred to as Chicken Noodle News in 1980, [00:06:00]

I finally got a chance to do some reporting...[00:06:04]

and the President of CNN said he never [00:06:06]

wanted to see me on air again.[00:06:10]

It could have been demoralizing;[00:06:11]

instead I found it motivating! [00:06:14]

And rather than let the turkeys get me down.[00:06:16]

I just kept practicing. [00:06:19]

And I actually got better.[00:06:21]

Even today I spend hours preparing for interviews[00:06:23]

that sometimes are edited down to only a few minutes. [00:06:28]

It takes a lot of effort to make things appear effortless.[00:06:32]

This year I had the privilege of[00:06:36]

interviewing Captain Chesley Sullenberger, [00:06:40]

the man who successfully landed a flight[00:06:43]

on the Hudson River after birds knocked out both engines.[00:06:46]

He saved all 155 lives onboard. [00:06:50]

While his story is about heroism,[00:06:54]

it's also about experience and hard work.[00:06:57]

He said to me: "For 42 years, I've been making small,[00:07:01]

regular deposits in this bank of experience,[00:07:05]

education, and training. And on January 15th, [00:07:08]

the balance was sufficient so that [00:07:12]

I could make a sudden large withdrawal.[00:07:15]

" In other words, practice, practice, practice. [00:07:17]

It always pays off.[00:07:21]

Next, don't be a hater. Princeton [00:07:23]

has taught you to think critically,[00:07:27]

to approach things with a healthy dose[00:07:29]

of skepticism and that's a good thing,[00:07:31]

as Martha Stewart would say.[00:07:34]

But you really must guard against [00:07:36]

the cynicism and nastiness [00:07:39]

that are so pervasive today,[00:07:41]

particularly on the internet.[00:07:42]

It can be a wonderful, [00:07:45]

powerful and equalizing tool,[00:07:47]

but it's also populated by haters and trolls.[00:07:49]

People think they can say or do anything online[00:07:53]

under the cloak of anonymity.[00:07:56]

Don't get sucked in. [00:07:58]

In his book, entitled "Snark", David Denby writes,[00:08:01]

"Snark often functions as an enforcer of[00:08:05]

mediocrity and conformity.[00:08:09]

In its cozy knowingness,[00:08:10]

snark flatters you in assuming[00:08:13]

that you get the contemptuous joke. [00:08:15]

You've been admitted or re-admitted to a club, [00:08:17]

but it may be a club of the second rate."[00:08:20]

Rise above the collegial nastiness and instead, [00:08:23]

celebrate excellence. [00:08:29]

The joy of reveling in someone else's success [00:08:31]

is much sweeter than the bitter vitriol [00:08:35]

of sites like Juicy Campus.[00:08:37]

By the way, Juicy Campus RIP. [00:08:40]

Shutting that website down, in my view,[00:08:43]

was a huge victory for civility.[00:08:46]

Third, I have a message particularly for[00:08:48]

all you young women here today,[00:08:54]

or as Beyonce might say, all the single ladies. [00:08:56]

John Lennon, once wrote "Life is what happens to you [00:09:00]

while you're busy making other plans."[00:09:04]

I'm sure you are all graduating with big career goals.[00:09:06]

You may also have a dream of being married[00:09:12]

and having a family, and at some point the career [00:09:15]

may take a backseat. There is no more challenging,[00:09:18]

rewarding or important job than being a mom.[00:09:21]

I just want to say this - [00:09:25]

sometimes dreams of domestic bliss [00:09:27]

are interrupted by reality. People get divorced. [00:09:29]

People die. You need to protect yourself.[00:09:33]

I was very happily married to a wonderful man. [00:09:36]

He was diagnosed with colon cancer[00:09:39]

and nine months later, he was gone.[00:09:43]

I was a single mom with two very young children.[00:09:45]

This was not part of the plan.[00:09:49]

Luckily, I had a career and therefore [00:09:52]

the financial independence to support my children.[00:09:55]

Many women in my situation are not nearly as fortunate.[00:09:59]

And while I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer,[00:10:03]

I want you all to be prepared for the unexpected [00:10:07]

and approach some of the big life decisions [00:10:10]

you'll be making with your eyes wide open.[00:10:13]

And another thing you probably need to realize:[00:10:16]

it's not all about you. [00:10:21]

As you venture out into this big bad world,[00:10:23]

I hope you each find a way to make it better.[00:10:27]

As anchor of the Evening News,[00:10:30]

I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan.[00:10:33]

I was there for a matter of days, [00:10:36]

not months or years. No matter what your opinion may be [00:10:37]

about the wars this nation is fighting, [00:10:42]

the men and women of the military [00:10:44]

are making sacrifices every day.[00:10:47]

They deserve our respect and support[00:10:49]

when they're deployed, and when they come home.[00:10:52]

But there are many ways to serve.[00:10:55]

When my husband Jay died, [00:11:00]

I felt I needed to do something. [00:11:03]

I needed to educate Americans about colon cancer,[00:11:05]

the second leading cancer killer of men[00:11:09]

and women in this country.[00:11:12]

I needed to help them understand [00:11:13]

that this cancer can often be prevented entirely[00:11:16]

if people get screened.[00:11:19]

I didn't want others to experience [00:11:20]

the pain my family had endured.[00:11:23]

So, I did what any self-respecting journalist [00:11:25]

with a built in bully pulpit would do. [00:11:31]

I had a colonoscopy on national television. [00:11:34]

At one point, loopy on anesthesia, [00:11:37]

I believe I told the world [00:11:41]

that I had a pretty little colon. [00:11:43]

I was fortunate to be able to reach a large audience,[00:11:45]

and colonoscopy screenings increased by 20 percent.[00:11:48]

Researchers called it "The Couric Effect." [00:11:52]

I think it's the Katie and Jay effect.[00:11:56]

There are people I may never meet [00:11:59]

who are now living healthier lives,[00:12:02]

with emphasis on LIVING, [00:12:04]

simply because I helped bring colon cancer out of the closet.[00:12:07]

And I was so gratified to be part of a team [00:12:11]

that helped organize stand up 2nd Cancer,[00:12:17]

which raised over 100 million dollars[00:12:19]

to fund the unsung heroes of this country,[00:12:22]

scientists who work day in a day out, [00:12:25]

without fame or big checks so many more[00:12:28]

people can live with cancer and not die from it.[00:12:32]

There are smaller, quieter ways to serve, [00:12:34]

which are just as important.[00:12:39]

I recently interviewed two adorable sisters [00:12:41]

for a series we're doing called "Children of the Recession."[00:12:45]

They are nine and five.[00:12:48]

Their parents both lost their jobs [00:12:50]

and the girls ended up riding the trains of Chicago [00:12:53]

with their mother. Then an organization called "Safe Families" [00:12:56]

stepped in and now they're being taken care of [00:13:00]

by a wonderful couple until their parents [00:13:03]

can get back on their feet. [00:13:06]

I met many families who opened their homes [00:13:07]

and hearts to kids in distress.[00:13:10]

That is service. So is tutoring a child.[00:13:12]

Working at a soup kitchen. [00:13:16]

Driving an elderly neighbor to the grocery store.[00:13:19]

Never underestimate the contribution you can make.[00:13:21]

So give something back. [00:13:27]

After all, you're graduating from Princeton![00:13:29]

You are so lucky. And do me a favor. [00:13:32]

Thank your parents or [00:13:36]

whoever helped you achieve this goal. [00:13:39]

Then, transform your gratitude into action[00:13:40]

and give back to a world [00:13:44]

that has already given you so much.[00:13:46]

When President Obama announced he[00:13:49]

was choosing Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court[00:13:53]

it was a reminder that the American Dream is alive [00:13:56]

and well that a young Puerto Rican girl [00:14:00]

who grew up in a housing project in the Bronx could [00:14:04]

earn a seat in the highest court in the land.[00:14:06]

She congratulated the single mother[00:14:09]

who raised her to be a judge [00:14:12]

and her brother to be a doctor. [00:14:13]

Parents, your children, too, [00:14:15]

can achieve anything because you gave them [00:14:18]

strong shoulders to stand on [00:14:21]

and the tools they'll need to succeed. [00:14:22]

Remind yourselves of this when they ask [00:14:26]

if they can come home and live[00:14:30]

with you while they look for work![00:14:32]

But maybe the silver lining of [00:14:33]

these tough economic times is [00:14:37]

that it may be the wake up call[00:14:39]

helps recalibrate our values.[00:14:41]

The eighties - thank God - are long over. [00:14:42]

Luckily none of you remember them. [00:14:48]

Gordon Gecko from the movie "Wall Street" was wrong...[00:14:50]

greed is not good. We can finally burn[00:14:53]

the bumper sticker that says: [00:14:57]

"he who dies with the most toys wins." [00:15:00]

The truth is closer to the old Italian Proverb that says:[00:15:02]

"At the end of the game,[00:15:07]

the king and the pawn go back in the same box.[00:15:09]

" What really matters in the end[00:15:12]

is how you've played the game of life,[00:15:14]

that you've lived it with honor,[00:15:18]

integrity and character, [00:15:19]

and these old fashioned qualities[00:15:20]

that never go out of style, [00:15:23]

whether you're a fan of Ella Fitzgerald or Lady Gaga.[00:15:26]

Finally, take some chances. [00:15:26]

Get out of your comfort zone, [00:15:33]

even if that's extremely uncomfortable.[00:15:35]

Mark Twain once wrote,[00:15:38]

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed [00:15:40]

by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do."[00:15:44]

When I left the safe confines of NBC News,[00:15:47]

a friend wrote me a note that said, [00:15:52]

"Boats are always safe in the harbor.[00:15:55]

But that's not what boats are built for.[00:15:58]

" So sail away, even if the waters are choppy [00:16:00]

and the territory uncharted.[00:16:04]

You'll be amazed at what you learn about the world [00:16:07]

and about yourself, and through it all, [00:16:10]

cherish the handful of people you can always [00:16:13]

depend on to throw you a life preserver [00:16:17]

when you need it the most. [00:16:19]

And don't forget to wear sunscreen.[00:16:21]

To the Class of 2009, congratulations, [00:16:24]

safe travels, and good luck.[00:16:29]

I can't wait to feature you in the future[00:16:31]

on the CBS Evening News. Thank you.[00:16:35]