2019年大学毕业演讲要求学生去帮助他人

2019 College Graduation Speeches Ask Students to Help Others

The time of year has come again when college students in the United States who have completed their study programs celebrate their success.

Every spring, U.S. colleges and universities hold a special ceremony called commencement to honor students who graduate. During the ceremony the students receive diplomas, the documents that recognize the completion of their studies.

Commencement ceremonies usually include guests who give speeches to express praise and offer advice to the new graduates.

The speakers are often successful or well-known and well-respected in fields such as business, politics or entertainment. Sometimes a commencement speaker is a former student of the college or university. The larger or more well-known a school is, the more likely their commencement speaker will be someone famous.

The 2019 commencement season, for example, has seen many popular writers, actors and singers speak on issues the graduates may face in the years to come. But few have gained as much attention as this year’s speaker at the Morehouse College graduation ceremony in Atlanta, Georgia.

Morehouse is among a group of historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs. HBCUs were established before the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964. They were designed to offer higher education to African-Americans, because many schools in the country would not admit black students.

Morehouse’s 2019 commencement speaker was Robert F. Smith, founder¹ of the investment company Vista² Equity³ Partners. Earlier this year, Forbes magazine reported Smith to be the wealthiest African-American in the United States.

On May 19, Smith made a surprising announcement during his speech to the nearly 400 Morehouse graduates in attendance⁴. He would be paying off all of their student loan debt.

“On behalf of the eight generations of my family that have been in this country, we’re gonna put a little fuel in your bus,” Smith said, followed by cheers from the crowd.

The estimated cost of Smith’s promise is about $40 million. This is in addition to the $1.5 million he donated to Morehouse in January.

Twenty-two-year-old Aaron Mitchom graduated with a degree in finance⁵. He told the Associated Press he had taken out $200,000 in student loans to pay for his education at Morehouse. He noted⁶ that in the weeks before graduation, he had calculated how long it would take him to settle that debt. His finding? Twenty-five years if he paid half of his expected earnings⁷ every month.

In one short moment, that responsibility disappeared. Mitchom said he began to cry as he sat among the graduates.

“I don’t have to live off of peanut butter and jelly⁸ sandwiches,” he said. “I was shocked. My heart dropped. We all cried. In the moment it was like a burden had been taken off.”

Most American college students and their families share major concern about student debt and the rising cost of higher education. The U.S. central banking⁹ system, or Federal Reserve, reports that student loan debt reached a record high this year of $1.5 trillion.

But Smith did not give his gift without expectations of his own. He asked the graduates to help others the way he had helped them, and said he hoped that “every class has the same opportunity going forward.”

“Because we are enough to take care of our own community,” Smith added. “We are enough to ensure that we have all the opportunities of the American dream. And we will show it to each other through our actions and through our words.”

Helping¹⁰ others was the subject of several commencement speeches that gained national attention this year.

Media leader and television producer Oprah Winfrey was the commencement speaker at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. She spoke¹¹ about the importance of choosing to serve the greater good.

“The truth is, you cannot fix everything,” Winfrey said. “But what you can do, here and now, is make a decision, because life is about decisions. And the decision is that you will use your life in service; you will be in service to life. You will speak up. You will show up. You will stand up. You will sit in. You will volunteer. You will vote. You will shout out. You will help. You will lend a hand.”

Actor Kristen Bell spoke at the University of Southern California School of Dramatic Arts commencement on May 3.

“When you respect the idea that you are sharing the earth with other humans, and when you lead with your nice foot forward, you’ll win, every time,” said Bell. “It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow … But I promise you, it will appear exactly when you need it.”

I’m Pete Musto.

And I’m Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

graduate – v. to earn a degree or diploma from a school, college, or university

founder – n. a person who creates or establishes something that is meant to last for a long time, such as a business or school

on behalf of – n. as a representative of someone

degree – n. an official document and title that is given to someone who has successfully completed a series of classes at a college or university

calculate(d) – v. to find a number or answer by using mathematical processes

peanut butter and jelly sandwiche(s) – n. two pieces of bread with a creamy food made from peanuts and a sweet and soft food made by boiling sugar and fruit juice until it is thick between them

burden – n. someone or something that is very difficult to accept, do, or deal with

opportunity – n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done

1 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

2 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

3 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

4 attendance   

n.出席，出席人数，护理，照料

参考例句：

• The attendance of this class never dropped off.这个班的出席人数从未下降。
• The young man danced attendance on his rich aunt.这个年轻人小心侍候他有钱的姑妈。

5 finance   

n.财务管理，财政，金融，财源，资金

参考例句：

• She is an expert in finance.她是一名财政专家。
• A finance house made a bid to buy up the entire company.一家信贷公司出价买下了整个公司。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

8 jelly   

n.冻，果子冻，胶状物

参考例句：

• We had toast and jelly at breakfast.我们早餐吃的是烤面包和果冻。
• The medicine was a clear jelly.这种药是透明的胶状物。

9 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。