《Trying to Pursue Your Beloved Career》歌词

歌曲： Trying to Pursue Your Beloved Career

所属专辑：美国名校励志演说 17篇

歌手： 爱飘的夜

时长： 15:31

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Trying to Pursue Your Beloved Career - 英语演讲 [00:00:02]

Baccalaureate Address by Drew G. Faust [00:00:08]

at Harvard University[00:00:11]

Distinguished guests, graduates [00:00:12]

and your families,colleagues and friends, [00:00:17]

it’s a pleasure to be with you today.[00:00:20]

In the curious custom of this venerable institution,[00:00:22]

I find myself standing before[00:00:28]

you expected to impart words of lasting wisdom.[00:00:31]

Here I am in a pulpit,[00:00:35]

dressed like a Puritan minister -[00:00:37]

an apparition that would have horrified[00:00:39]

many of my distinguished forebears [00:00:43]

and perhaps rededicated some of them [00:00:45]

to the extirpation of witches. [00:00:47]

This moment would have propelled Increase [00:00:49]

and Cotton into a true “Mather lather.”[00:00:53]

But here I am and there you are [00:00:56]

and it is the moment of and for Veritas.[00:01:00]

You have been undergraduates for four years. [00:01:04]

I have been president for not quite one.[00:01:09]

You have known three presidents; [00:01:12]

I one senior class. Where then lies the voice of experience?[00:01:15]

Maybe you should be offering the wisdom. [00:01:21]

Perhaps our roles could be reversed and I could, [00:01:24]

in Harvard Law School style, [00:01:28]

do cold calls for the next hour or so.[00:01:30]

We all do seem to have made it to this point -[00:01:34]

more or less in one piece. [00:01:38]

Though I recently learned [00:01:41]

that we have not provided you [00:01:43]

with dinner since May 22.[00:01:45]

I know we need to wean you from Harvard[00:01:46]

in a figurative sense.[00:01:49]

I never knew we took it quite so literally.[00:01:51]

But let’s return to that notion of cold calls for a moment.[00:01:54]

Let’s imagine this were a baccalaureate service[00:02:00]

in the form of Q & A, and you were asking the questions.[00:02:04]

“What is the meaning of life, President Faust?[00:02:07]

What were these four years at Harvard for?[00:02:11]

President Faust, you must have learned something [00:02:14]

since you graduated from college exactly 40 years ago?”[00:02:18]

(Forty years. I’ll say it out loud[00:02:21]

since every detail of my life - [00:02:25]

and certainly the years of my Bryn Mawr degree -[00:02:27]

now seems to be publicly available.[00:02:30]

But please remember I was young for my class.)[00:02:33]

In a way, you have been engaging me [00:02:36]

in this Q & A for the past year. [00:02:40]

On just these questions, although you have phrased [00:02:42]

them a bit more narrowly. [00:02:46]

And I have been trying to figure out [00:02:47]

how I might answer and, perhaps more intriguingly, [00:02:49]

why you were asking.[00:02:53]

Let me explain. It actually began[00:02:55]

when I met with the UC just after my appointment [00:03:00]

was announced in the winter of 2007. [00:03:04]

Then the questions continued[00:03:06]

when I had lunch at Kirkland House, [00:03:09]

dinner at Leverett, when I met with students[00:03:11]

in my office hours, even with some recent graduates [00:03:14]

I encountered abroad. The first thing you asked me [00:03:17]

about wasn’t the curriculum or advising [00:03:22]

or faculty contact or even student space.[00:03:25]

In fact, it wasn’t even alcohol policy.[00:03:28]

Instead, you repeatedly asked me: [00:03:32]

Why are so many of us going to Wall Street? [00:03:36]

Why are we going in such numbers[00:03:39]

from Harvard to finance, consulting, banking?[00:03:42]

There are a number of ways to think about[00:03:45]

this question and how to answer it. [00:03:50]

There is the Willie Sutton approach. [00:03:52]

You may know that when he was asked[00:03:54]

why he robbed banks, he replied, [00:03:57]

“Because that’s where the money is.”[00:03:59]

Professors Claudia Goldin and Larry Katz, [00:04:01]

whom many of you have encountered in your economics concentration,[00:04:05]

offer a not dissimilar answer based [00:04:08]

on their study of student career choices since the seventies.[00:04:12]

They find it notable that,[00:04:16]

given the very high pecuniary rewards in finance,[00:04:18]

many students nonetheless still choose[00:04:21]

to do something else. Indeed, 37 of you have[00:04:24]

signed on with Teach for America;[00:04:29]

one of you will dance tango[00:04:31]

and work in dance therapy in Argentina;[00:04:33]

another will be engaged in agricultural development in Kenya; [00:04:36]

another, with an honors degree in math,[00:04:40]

will study poetry; another will train [00:04:43]

as a pilot with the USAF; another will work [00:04:47]

to combat breast cancer.[00:04:49]

Numbers of you will go to law school,[00:04:49]

medical school, and graduate school.[00:04:55]

But, consistent with [00:04:57]

the pattern Goldin and Katz have documented,[00:04:59]

a considerable number of you are selecting finance[00:05:02]

and consulting. The Crimson’s survey of last year’s class [00:05:05]

reported that 58 percent of men and 43 percent of women[00:05:09]

entering the workforce made this choice. [00:05:14]

This year, even in challenging economic times,[00:05:17]

the figure is 39 percent.[00:05:21]

High salaries, the all but irresistible recruiting juggernaut, [00:05:23]

the reassurance for many of you [00:05:29]

that you will be in New York working [00:05:32]

and living and enjoying life alongside your friends,[00:05:33]

the promise of interesting work -[00:05:37]

there are lots of ways to explain these choices.[00:05:40]

For some of you, it is a commitment[00:05:43]

for only a year or two in any case.[00:05:46]

Others believe they will best be able to [00:05:48]

do good by first doing well. [00:05:52]

Yet, you ask me why you are following this path.[00:05:54]

I find myself in some ways less interested [00:05:58]

in answering your question than in figuring out[00:06:04]

why you are posing it. [00:06:07]

If Professors Goldin and Katz have it right;[00:06:08]

if finance is indeed the “rational choice,”[00:06:12]

why do you keep raising this issue with me?[00:06:15]

Why does this seemingly rational choice [00:06:18]

strike a number of you as not understandable,[00:06:21]

as not entirely rational,[00:06:24]

as in some sense less a free choice[00:06:27]

than a compulsion or necessity?[00:06:30]

Why does this seem to be troubling so many of you?[00:06:32]

You are asking me, I think,[00:06:37]

about the meaning of life,[00:06:40]

though you have posed your question in code -[00:06:42]

in terms of the observable and measurable phenomenon [00:06:45]

of senior career choice rather than the abstract,[00:06:49]

unfathomable and almost embarrassing realm of metaphysics.[00:06:52]

The Meaning of Life - is a cliché -[00:06:57]

easier to deal with as the ironic title [00:07:01]

of a Monty Python movie or the subject [00:07:04]

of a Simpsons episode than as a matter[00:07:06]

about which one would dare admit to harboring serious concern.[00:07:09]

But let’s for a moment abandon our Harvard savoir faire,[00:07:14]

our imperturbability, our pretense of invulnerability, [00:07:20]

and try to find the beginnings of some answers to your question.[00:07:24]

I think you are worried[00:07:31]

because you want your lives not just [00:07:34]

to be conventionally successful, but to be meaningful, [00:07:35]

and you are not sure how those two goals fit together. [00:07:39]

You are not sure if a generous starting salary at[00:07:42]

a prestigious brand name organization together [00:07:46]

with the promise of future wealth will feed your soul.[00:07:50]

Why are you worried?[00:07:55]

Partly it is our fault. [00:07:57]

We have told you from the moment[00:07:59]

you arrived here that you will be the leaders[00:08:01]

responsible for the future, [00:08:04]

that you are the best and the brightest[00:08:06]

on whom we will all depend,[00:08:08]

that you will change the world. [00:08:10]

We have burdened you with no small expectations.[00:08:12]

And you have already done remarkable things [00:08:16]

to fulfill them: your dedication to service demonstrated [00:08:19]

in your extracurricular engagements, [00:08:23]

your concern about the future of the planet expressed[00:08:26]

in your vigorous championing of sustainability,[00:08:30]

your reinvigoration of American politics[00:08:32]

through engagement in this year’s presidential contests.[00:08:36]

But many of you are now wondering how these commitments[00:08:40]

fit with a career choice.[00:08:46]

Is it necessary to decide between remunerative work [00:08:47]

and meaningful work? [00:08:51]

If it were to be either/or,[00:08:53]

which would you choose?[00:08:55]

Is there a way to have both?[00:08:57]

You are asking me fundamental questions[00:08:59]

about values, about trying to reconcile potentially [00:09:04]

competing goods, about recognizing [00:09:08]

that it may not be possible to have it all.[00:09:10]

You are at a moment of transition [00:09:14]

that requires making choices.[00:09:16]

And selecting one option - [00:09:18]

a job, a career, a graduate program - [00:09:21]

means not selecting others. [00:09:24]

Every decision means loss as well as gain -[00:09:26]

possibilities foregone as well as possibilities embraced.[00:09:30]

Your question to me is partly about that - [00:09:34]

about loss of roads not taken.[00:09:38]

Finance, Wall Street,[00:09:42]

“recruiting” have become the symbol of this dilemma,[00:09:45]

representing a set of issues [00:09:48]

that is much broader and deeper [00:09:51]

than just one career path. [00:09:52]

These are issues that in one way [00:09:54]

or another will at some point face you all -[00:09:58]

as you graduate from medical school[00:10:00]

and choose a specialty-family practice or dermatology, [00:10:03]

as you decide whether to use your law degree[00:10:07]

to work for a corporate firm or as a public defender,[00:10:10]

as you decide whether to stay in teaching[00:10:14]

after your two years with TFA.[00:10:17]

You are worried because you want to[00:10:19]

have both a meaningful life and a successful one; [00:10:22]

you know you were educated to make a difference[00:10:25]

not just for yourself, for your own comfort and satisfaction,[00:10:28]

but for the world around you. [00:10:32]

And now you have to figure out the way[00:10:35]

to make that possible.[00:10:38]

I think there is a second reason [00:10:40]

you are worried - related to but not entirely[00:10:44]

distinct from the first. You want to be happy.[00:10:47]

You have flocked to courses like “Positive Psychology”[00:10:50]

and “The Science of Happiness” in search of tips.[00:10:55]

But how do we find happiness?[00:10:58]

I can offer one encouraging answer: get older. [00:11:00]

Turns out that survey data show older people - [00:11:05]

that is, my age - report themselves happier [00:11:08]

than do younger ones.[00:11:12]

But perhaps you don’t want to wait.[00:11:13]

As I have listened to you [00:11:17]

talk about the choices ahead of you,[00:11:20]

I have heard you articulate your worries [00:11:21]

about the relationship of success and happiness -[00:11:24]

perhaps, more accurately,[00:11:27]

how to define success so that it yields [00:11:29]

and encompasses real happiness,[00:11:32]

not just money and prestige. [00:11:34]

The most remunerative choice, you fear,[00:11:37]

may not be the most meaningful [00:11:41]

and the most satisfying. [00:11:43]

But you wonder how you would ever survive[00:11:44]

as an artist or an actor or a public servant[00:11:49]

or a high school teacher? [00:11:52]

How would you ever figure out a path[00:11:53]

by which to make your way in journalism?[00:11:56]

Would you ever find a job as an English professor [00:11:58]

after you finished who knows[00:12:02]

how many years of graduate school[00:12:04]

and dissertation writing?[00:12:06]

The answer is: you won’t know till you try.[00:12:07]

But if you don’t try to do what you love -[00:12:12]

whether it is painting or biology or finance;[00:12:15]

if you don’t pursue what you think[00:12:19]

will be most meaningful, you will regret it. [00:12:22]

Life is long. There is always time for Plan B.[00:12:25]

But don’t begin with it.[00:12:29]

I think of this as my parking space theory[00:12:32]

of career choice, and I have been sharing it[00:12:36]

with students for decades.[00:12:39]

Don’t park 20 blocks from your destination[00:12:41]

because you think you’ll never find a space.[00:12:44]

Go where you want to be and then [00:12:46]

circle back to where you have to be.[00:12:49]

You may love investment banking or finance or consulting. [00:12:51]

It might be just right for you.[00:12:56]

Or, you might be like the senior I met [00:12:58]

at lunch at Kirkland who had just returned[00:13:01]

from an interview on the West Coast with[00:13:04]

a prestigious consulting firm. [00:13:06]

“Why am I doing this?” she asked.[00:13:08]

“I hate flying, I hate hotels, I won’t like this job.”[00:13:11]

Find work you love. [00:13:14]

It is hard to be happy if you spend[00:13:17]

more than half your waking hours doing something you don’t.[00:13:19]

But what is ultimately most important here[00:13:23]

is that you are asking the question - [00:13:28]

not just of me but of yourselves.[00:13:30]

You are choosing roads and at the same time[00:13:33]

challenging your own choices. [00:13:37]

You have a notion of what you want your life [00:13:38]

to be and you are not sure the road you are taking[00:13:41]

is going to get you there. [00:13:44]

This is the best news.[00:13:45]

And it is also, I hope, to some degree, [00:13:49]

our fault. Noticing your life, [00:13:52]

reflecting upon it, considering how you can live it well,[00:13:55]

wondering how you can do good: [00:13:57]

These are perhaps the most valuable things[00:14:02]

that a liberal arts education has equipped you to do.[00:14:05]

A liberal education demands [00:14:08]

that you live self-consciously. [00:14:11]

It prepares you to seek [00:14:13]

and define the meaning inherent in all you do.[00:14:15]

It has made you an analyst and critic of yourself,[00:14:18]

a person in this way supremely [00:14:22]

equipped to take charge of your life [00:14:25]

and how it unfolds. It is in this sense [00:14:27]

that the liberal arts are liberal - [00:14:30]

as in literate - to free.[00:14:32]

They empower you with the possibility of exercising agency,[00:14:35]

of discovering meaning, of making choices. [00:14:39]

The surest way to have a meaningful,[00:14:43]

happy life is to commit yourself to striving for it.[00:14:46]

Don’t settle. Be prepared to change routes.[00:14:50]

Remember the impossible expectations we have of you, [00:14:54]

and even as you recognize they are impossible,[00:14:58]

remember how important they are as a lodestar[00:15:02]

guiding you toward something [00:15:05]

that matters to you and to the world.[00:15:07]

The meaning of your life is for you to make.[00:15:09]

I can’t wait to see how you all turn out.[00:15:14]

Do come back, from time to time, and let us know.[00:15:19]

Thank you.[00:15:22]