Life Attitudes and Value of Social Being - 英语演讲
Commencement Address by Katie Couric
at Princeton University
Thank you, Neil, for the kind introduction,
and thank you for inviting me today,
Madame President, Deans,
and most of all Graduating Class of 2009.
It's a tremendous honor to be part of your Class Day.
When Princeton called to invite me I was thrilled.
It also gave me a perfect excuse for
turning down Harvard and Yale!
And since I’ve been called a cougar lately
in the tabloid press - today I’m very happy
to be an honorary tiger!
Coming here was a real no brainer!
After all, I can see New Jersey from my house!
But, actually, I do have a bone to pick with you.
I have discovered I am the first female Class Day speaker
in Princeton's history.
So, I'd like to officially welcome Princetonto the 21st Century.
You've embraced the female gender at the perfect time.
In any event, it is an honor to be here
and I am moved to be sharing this special moment
with parents and professors who may have
woken up to me on the Today show,
and with students who may wake up in time
for the CBS Evening News.
Although based on the average age of our viewers,
I think you're probably watching "Shot at Love with Tila Tequila" instead.
But seriously, thanks for inviting me,
and congratulations to you on your graduation,
or, more appropriately, your commencement,
because the fun is just beginning.
I'm sure you don't need a newsflash
that getting a job is no stroll down Nassau Street.
I read a study recently that said only 20 percent
of graduates who've applied for jobs have one right now.
That's down from 51 percent in 2007.
In this economic climate,
graduates of the Wilson School might actually have
to get a job in Government!
There may be some opportunities in the Republican Party.
They're still looking for an effective spokesman,
and the only person they can find so far is Rush Limbaugh,
and he won't take the job
because he doesn't want to give up his prescription plan.
But as you head out into this daunting job market,
at least you have many illustrious alumni lighting the way.
Like the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama.
She was class of 1985, and now she's wowing them in Washington.
Or Queen Noor of Jordan, who has traveled so far
and done so much in the name of humanitarian causes
since her days here on this campus.
There are a few noteworthy men who were proud to
go to Princeton as well, a list that reads like
a who's who of American History, James Madison,
John Foster Dulles, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Malcolm Forbes, James Baker, etc.
An impressive number of technology giants have
also graduated from Princeton.
From the father of modern computing, Alan Turing,
to Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, to EBay founder Meg Whitman.
And I understand Amazon's Jeff Bezos is offering
to replace the Firestone Library with a Kindle.
It really makes you wonder why they even built Stanford!
Also doing his part to advance Princeton's
impressive technology footprint -
Class of 82's David Duchovny,
who is single-handedly supporting a major segment of the on-line industry.
There certainly are many successful graduates of Princeton.
And now, it's your turn. More than ever in my lifetime,
this nation needs some big, bold thinkers.
We need innovators.
We need people who look beyond a paycheck
and see possibilities.
You've got your degree.
Now, you're about to enroll in a new kind of learning experience.
There are plenty of lessons along the way,
if you keep your heart and your mind open on the journey.
First, success only knocks on your door
if you win the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.
All the rest of us have to work for it hard.
There's that old joke. How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice, practice, practice.
That's a major point Malcolm Gladwell
makes in his book "Outliers."
He writes that to truly master something,
you need to spend at least 10-thousand hours doing it.
Take Bill Gates, for example.
He dropped out of Harvard and he still became Bill Gates
by devoting his every waking moment to building
and understanding computer codes.
The Beatles might have seemed like an overnight sensation,
but they played together more than a thousand times
before that famous appearance
on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.
For them, it really was a hard day's night.
Night after night after night for four years!
I'm no Beatles or Bill Gates,
but I've learned the importance of hard work, as well.
I was a desk assistant at ABC News in Washington
where my major responsibilities were xeroxing (hey,
it was the dark ages!) and making coffee.
When I moved to what my network colleagues
referred to as Chicken Noodle News in 1980,
I finally got a chance to do some reporting...
and the President of CNN said he never
wanted to see me on air again.
It could have been demoralizing;
instead I found it motivating!
And rather than let the turkeys get me down.
I just kept practicing.
And I actually got better.
Even today I spend hours preparing for interviews
that sometimes are edited down to only a few minutes.
It takes a lot of effort to make things appear effortless.
This year I had the privilege of
interviewing Captain Chesley Sullenberger,
the man who successfully landed a flight
on the Hudson River after birds knocked out both engines.
He saved all 155 lives onboard.
While his story is about heroism,
it's also about experience and hard work.
He said to me: "For 42 years, I've been making small,
regular deposits in this bank of experience,
education, and training. And on January 15th,
the balance was sufficient so that
I could make a sudden large withdrawal.
" In other words, practice, practice, practice.
It always pays off.
Next, don't be a hater. Princeton
has taught you to think critically,
to approach things with a healthy dose
of skepticism and that's a good thing,
as Martha Stewart would say.
But you really must guard against
the cynicism and nastiness
that are so pervasive today,
particularly on the internet.
It can be a wonderful,
powerful and equalizing tool,
but it's also populated by haters and trolls.
People think they can say or do anything online
under the cloak of anonymity.
Don't get sucked in.
In his book, entitled "Snark", David Denby writes,
"Snark often functions as an enforcer of
mediocrity and conformity.
In its cozy knowingness,
snark flatters you in assuming
that you get the contemptuous joke.
You've been admitted or re-admitted to a club,
but it may be a club of the second rate."
Rise above the collegial nastiness and instead,
celebrate excellence.
The joy of reveling in someone else's success
is much sweeter than the bitter vitriol
of sites like Juicy Campus.
By the way, Juicy Campus RIP.
Shutting that website down, in my view,
was a huge victory for civility.
Third, I have a message particularly for
all you young women here today,
or as Beyonce might say, all the single ladies.
John Lennon, once wrote "Life is what happens to you
while you're busy making other plans."
I'm sure you are all graduating with big career goals.
You may also have a dream of being married
and having a family, and at some point the career
may take a backseat. There is no more challenging,
rewarding or important job than being a mom.
I just want to say this -
sometimes dreams of domestic bliss
are interrupted by reality. People get divorced.
People die. You need to protect yourself.
I was very happily married to a wonderful man.
He was diagnosed with colon cancer
and nine months later, he was gone.
I was a single mom with two very young children.
This was not part of the plan.
Luckily, I had a career and therefore
the financial independence to support my children.
Many women in my situation are not nearly as fortunate.
And while I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer,
I want you all to be prepared for the unexpected
and approach some of the big life decisions
you'll be making with your eyes wide open.
And another thing you probably need to realize:
it's not all about you.
As you venture out into this big bad world,
I hope you each find a way to make it better.
As anchor of the Evening News,
I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan.
I was there for a matter of days,
not months or years. No matter what your opinion may be
about the wars this nation is fighting,
the men and women of the military
are making sacrifices every day.
They deserve our respect and support
when they're deployed, and when they come home.
But there are many ways to serve.
When my husband Jay died,
I felt I needed to do something.
I needed to educate Americans about colon cancer,
the second leading cancer killer of men
and women in this country.
I needed to help them understand
that this cancer can often be prevented entirely
if people get screened.
I didn't want others to experience
the pain my family had endured.
So, I did what any self-respecting journalist
with a built in bully pulpit would do.
I had a colonoscopy on national television.
At one point, loopy on anesthesia,
I believe I told the world
that I had a pretty little colon.
I was fortunate to be able to reach a large audience,
and colonoscopy screenings increased by 20 percent.
Researchers called it "The Couric Effect."
I think it's the Katie and Jay effect.
There are people I may never meet
who are now living healthier lives,
with emphasis on LIVING,
simply because I helped bring colon cancer out of the closet.
And I was so gratified to be part of a team
that helped organize stand up 2nd Cancer,
which raised over 100 million dollars
to fund the unsung heroes of this country,
scientists who work day in a day out,
without fame or big checks so many more
people can live with cancer and not die from it.
There are smaller, quieter ways to serve,
which are just as important.
I recently interviewed two adorable sisters
for a series we're doing called "Children of the Recession."
They are nine and five.
Their parents both lost their jobs
and the girls ended up riding the trains of Chicago
with their mother. Then an organization called "Safe Families"
stepped in and now they're being taken care of
by a wonderful couple until their parents
can get back on their feet.
I met many families who opened their homes
and hearts to kids in distress.
That is service. So is tutoring a child.
Working at a soup kitchen.
Driving an elderly neighbor to the grocery store.
Never underestimate the contribution you can make.
So give something back.
After all, you're graduating from Princeton!
You are so lucky. And do me a favor.
Thank your parents or
whoever helped you achieve this goal.
Then, transform your gratitude into action
and give back to a world
that has already given you so much.
When President Obama announced he
was choosing Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court
it was a reminder that the American Dream is alive
and well that a young Puerto Rican girl
who grew up in a housing project in the Bronx could
earn a seat in the highest court in the land.
She congratulated the single mother
who raised her to be a judge
and her brother to be a doctor.
Parents, your children, too,
can achieve anything because you gave them
strong shoulders to stand on
and the tools they'll need to succeed.
Remind yourselves of this when they ask
if they can come home and live
with you while they look for work!
But maybe the silver lining of
these tough economic times is
that it may be the wake up call
helps recalibrate our values.
The eighties - thank God - are long over.
Luckily none of you remember them.
Gordon Gecko from the movie "Wall Street" was wrong...
greed is not good. We can finally burn
the bumper sticker that says:
"he who dies with the most toys wins."
The truth is closer to the old Italian Proverb that says:
"At the end of the game,
the king and the pawn go back in the same box.
" What really matters in the end
is how you've played the game of life,
that you've lived it with honor,
integrity and character,
and these old fashioned qualities
that never go out of style,
whether you're a fan of Ella Fitzgerald or Lady Gaga.
Finally, take some chances.
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