今年7月，哈佛大学建校以来的首任女校长Drew Faust正式卸任。随后，哈佛大学迎来新任校长，Lawrence S. Bacow。
昨天，哈佛大学校长Lawrence S. Bacow为欢迎新生致辞。这是他作为哈佛新校长的第一次新生演讲。他以亲身经历为例，鼓励每一位对即将到来的大学生活感到不安的新生。我们一起来看看他说了什么~
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致2022届哈佛新生：
下午好，2022届的同学们。我是Larry Bacow，可以轻松点，叫我Larry，我很荣幸可以代表学校欢迎你们正式加入哈佛。
我们有一些非常特殊的共同点：这是我担任校长的第一年，这使我成为你们的同学，而不是其他人的，并将一直如此。所以，我希望（演讲被掌声打断），我的同学们。
和你们一样，我最近才搬进了哈佛大学。和你们一样，我放弃了熟悉的习惯来寻找新的挑战和新的机遇。并且，和你们一样，我来到这里，是希望能为这个非常特别的地方做出独特的贡献。
但与你们不同的是，我没有必要决定今天穿什么。担任校长的好处之一就是，我可以穿上这件非常时尚的长袍。顺便说一下，这是传教士长袍。不过不用担心，在我们下次像这样见面时，你们也将穿上类似的衣服，准确的说，是在2022年，你们毕业前两天。
今天和那一天之间，恰好有1,358天。考虑到你们睡觉的时间（我希望你会尝试每天睡八小时，并且强烈建议这样做。）你们将拥有大约21,000个小时来探索这个非凡的机构；用21,000小时来寻找你们的激情，并看看它将引领你们去哪里；用21,000小时去发现什么对你最重要，并确定如何让世界变得更美好。
你们将从这个旅程中的哪里开始？如果我可以提出建议，我认为你们应该从坐在你旁边的人开始。因为他或她现在最有可能正在经历很多。我知道，是因为今年夏天的早些时候，收到了你们中的一封电子邮件。
这是一封非常诚实的信，它告诉我，你们对于即将到来的哈佛生活感到兴奋和快乐，但也有焦虑和害怕。想到要与新同学一起搬到一个新地方，就很伤脑筋，担心无法融入，这些想法既令人生畏又真实。
对于这个正坐在你们中间的学生而言，非常肯定的是，他正得知我们之间的一个共同点，即我们都是移民的后裔。现在，看着我，穿着这件长袍，你可能不会认为或者推断出，我和家人是作为难民来到这个国家的。还有，我在密歇根的一个蓝领小镇长大，以及我高中的空闲时间都花在组装收音机和参加科学博览会上。好吧，也许你会这样想，但其他人大概不会。
我想说的是，这可能是我给过的一些最好的建议，你们永远不应该以他人的外貌来评判他们的内心。你在哈佛遇到的人都不会是完美的，包括你们的校长。我和其他人一样，经历过绝望和希望，失败和胜利，失落和爱情。你在这里遇到的每个人都是独一无二的，每个人都有自己的故事。你们每个人都被录取了，是因为我们在你们身上看到了一些东西，并且相信这会丰富这个特殊的群体。
当你们在接下来的几周里开始摸索自己的方法时，也请花21,000个小时里的一些时间去了解别人。不要只是和你的同学们倾诉，要倾听他们，向他们学习。你们要认识到，在任何情况下，无论是经济上的、社交上的或是其它，都有其复杂之处。毕竟我们都是普通人，我们都不是完美的。尝试从你自己以外的角度去理解世界的挑战性工作，你会成为一个更好的人，我向你保证，你也会结识一辈子的朋友。
我最亲密的朋友之一就是我作为大一新生时的室友，我们已经相识49年。其实他是我人生中非常非常特别的人，因为他介绍了我和我妻子Adele相识，Adele正坐在那里，Adele？请站起来。
我希望你们也会花一点时间去了解你们的老师。我作为本科生时所做过的最好的决定之一就是去接触我的一位经济学教授，在课后阅读时，向他提问一个关于脚注的问题。我们进行了长时间的讨论，这在当时还是一个新兴的领域，后来变成了一门阅读课程，而这门课程改变了我的人生。我至今仍然和那位教授保持着联系。
我相信，你们能否在这里收获非凡的体验的最大因素在于，你们能否结识一位、至少一位老师，可能更多，但至少有一位你确定可以在接下来的人生中保持联系的。如果你不知道该如何开始，就充分利用办公时间，邀请你的老师在史密斯校园中心或Lamont Café喝杯下午茶，也可以就在附近的台阶或其他地方一起喝咖啡一起谈谈。如果你有点紧张或者焦虑，以至于不知道该问什么，就问问关于他们研究的事，老师们都很乐意讨论自己的研究。我保证你会有一个有趣的对话。
现在，哈佛可以提供很多机会来满足你们的好奇心。事实上，你们在这里度过很长一段时间，在这里学习一切，了解上世纪三十年代剧院里所有壮观的树，柏迪橡树，蜂蜜蝗虫，红枫，黄木，如果还不够，那就去波士顿的Arnold Arboretum看看更多的物种，甚至可以去哈佛森林。
你们还可以去我身后的纪念堂，被那些为国家做出牺牲的哈佛的男男女女们的名字所激励，这可能会激发你们中的一些人想要更多地了解关于导致他们牺牲的历史。
或者你可以进入Widener Library，也就是我们会将你们的班级合照集中起来的地方。你们可以在这里探索非凡的藏品，在书海里徜徉。或者你可以走到哈佛广场外面，来到哈佛艺术博物馆。我们收藏了250,000件藏品，你可以在任何地方找到的最非凡的艺术收藏品之一。或者你可以去科学与文化博物馆，探寻美国第三大的植物标本馆，或是世界上唯一真人大小的玻璃花收藏。
如果你还没见过它们，你应该去看看，那真的很棒。你还可以去更远的地方探索，美国大学剧院或哈佛舞蹈中心，去河对岸的运动场，去哈佛创新实验室，去即将建成的艺术实验室，以及科学和工程综合实验室。你选择的每一个方向都将带给你非凡的机会。
当然，校园外还有一个更大的世界，我们每个人都有可能在某种程度上做得更好。所以，2022届的同学们，我现在要给你们布置第一份作业，你们的第一个任务并不难，如果你们有资格投票，我希望你们去注册登记，了解候选人和问题，然后投出你们的选票。在一个民主国家，公民的首要责任就是投票，实际上我们已经让你们很容易做到这一点。至少肯尼迪学院的政治学院已经做到了。
所以，拿出你的手机。我知道你们都有，现在你们就可以拿出来了，因为我要告诉你们一个你们要去浏览的网站。记下这个网址：iop.turbovote.org，我重复一遍，iop.turbovote.org。如果你符合条件，请注册并投票。作为美国公民和哈佛学子，你们有这个责任。
投票只是你可以做的很多事之一，以确保你所居住的世界更像你想要生活的世界。我希望在接下来的21000个小时里，你们会有足够的时间来确定如何利用你的才能让别人的生活更美好。我还没有遇到任何认为我们生活的世界是完美的人。这不是一个政治声明。
如果你同样不认为这个世界是完美的，那么它变得更好的唯一方法就是让像你这样的好人努力去改善它。哈佛已经历经了几个世纪，不是因为它完美，而是因为它美好，我期待着在接下来的四年中，你们选择如何在善良和智慧中成长。
现在，你们收到的最重要的建议是：对爱你的人为善，特别是父母和你的家人，这是明智之举。你上大学对他们来说也是一个巨大的调整。你刚刚鼓掌感谢了许多帮助你完成这一过渡的人，但是你的家人同样需要靠自己适应这个转变。请感谢他们支持你们和为此付出的牺牲，才让你们有机会在这里学习。
通过支持他们，表达你的感激之情，因为他们现在适应了你不再是一个恒定的物理存在的生活。特别是，你的父母永远不会厌倦听到你在做什么，无论是通过电话，电子邮件还是短信。也不要忘记关心他们过得怎样。我向你保证，这些时间都是值得的。
当然，当我和Adele在院子里，或在校园里，或者在其他地方看到你们时，我们会问你们在做什么。我相信你们会告诉我们，关于你们的兴奋和快乐，甚至是你们的焦虑和关切。今天在这里的每一个人，以及大学里的很多其他人，将为你们服务，并希望你们取得成功。接受我们的建议，并在你需要的时候向我们寻求帮助。
你们很快就会知道哈佛不是一个地点，而是一个理念，是那些秉持这个理念前行的人。在接下来的21000个小时里，哈佛将无处不在，并且，你此后人生中的每一个小时都会如此。
2022届的学生们，我的同学们。愿你在今后的生活中充分利用这段美好的时光。我很荣幸能与你们分享这段旅程。
谢谢！
· 演 · 讲 · 原 · 文 ·
Good afternoon, Class of 2022. I am Larry Bacow — and please feel free to call me Larry — and it is my great honor to welcome you officially to the Harvard community.
We have something very special in common: This is my first year as president, which makes me a member of your class — and no other — for all time. So I hope you [speech is interrupted by applause]. My classmates!
Like you, I’ve recently moved into Harvard Yard. Like you, I’ve given up familiar routines in search of new challenges as well as new opportunities. And, like you, I’ve arrived here in the hope that I can make a unique contribution to this very special place.
But unlike you, I didn’t have to decide what to wear today. Because one of the benefits of being president is that I get to wear this very stylish robe — a pilgrim’s preachers robe, by the way. Don’t worry, though. You’ll be wearing something very similar when we next meet as a group, exactly two days before you graduate in 2022.
There are exactly 1,358 days between this day and that one. And accounting for the hours you will spend sleeping — and I do hope that you will try to get eight hours of sleep a night, I highly recommend it — you have approximately 21,000 hours to explore this extraordinary institution, 21,000 hours to find your passion and to see where it will take you, 21,000 hours to discover what matters to you most and to determine how you can make the world a better place.
Where will you begin in this journey? If I can offer a suggestion, I think you should start with the person sitting next to you, because he or she is most likely going through a lot right now. I know because I received an email from one of you earlier this summer. It was a very honest message to me about feeling excited and joyful — but also anxious and scared — at the prospect of coming. The thought of moving to a new place with new people was nerve-wracking, and the thought of not fitting in was both daunting and real.
What put everything in perspective for this particular student, who is sitting among you, was learning that he and I actually have something in common: parents who had immigrated to the United States. Now, looking at me, dressed in this robe, you might not have assumed or gathered that my folks came to this country as refugees, or that I grew up in a blue-collar town in Michigan, or that I spent my free time in high school building ham radios and entering science fairs. OK, maybe you might that, but not the other stuff.
My point — and this is some of the best advice that I have ever been given — is that you should never judge your insides by other peoples’ outsides. No one you will meet at Harvard is perfect, and that includes your president. I have experienced despair and hope, defeat and triumph, and loss and love just like anyone else. Everyone you meet here is unique; and everyone has his or her own story — and every single one of you was admitted because we saw something in you that we believed would enrich this special community.
As you begin to find your way over the next few weeks, invest some of your 21,000 hours in getting to know one another. Don’t just talk to your classmates, listen to them; learn from them. Recognize that every kind of circumstance — financial, social, or otherwise — comes with its own set of complications. After all, we are all human, none of us is perfect. Embrace the challenging work of trying to understand the world from a perspective other than your own. You’ll be a better person for it and I guarantee you, you’ll also make some lifelong friends. One of my closest friends is someone I roomed with as a freshman, and we have been part of each other’s lives for 49 years and counting. Actually, he is a very, very special person in my life because he introduced me to my wife, Adele, who is sitting somewhere over there. Adele? Stand up, Adele.
I hope you will spend some of your hours getting to know your teachers, too. One of the best decisions I ever made as an undergraduate was to approach one of my economics professors to ask a question about a footnote in a reading after class. We ended up having a long conversation about game theory — an emerging field at the time — that turned into a reading course that actually changed the course of my life. I am still in touch with that professor today. I believe the single greatest predictor of whether or not you have an extraordinary experience here is whether or not you get to know one at least one of your teachers, just one, at least one, you can get to know more, but at least one well enough that you will stay in touch with him or her for the rest of your life. If you don’t know where to start, go to office hours. Invite your teacher to have a cup of coffee either at the Smith Campus Center or the Lamont Café or just get together with them right here on these steps or somewhere else nearby. And if you’re a little nervous or anxious and you don’t know what to ask them, ask them about their research. Faculty love talking about their research. I guarantee you’ll have an interesting conversation.
Now, Harvard will give you many opportunities to satisfy your curiosity. In fact, you could spend a considerable amount of your time just in this space alone, learning everything there is to know all the magnificent trees in Tercentenary Theatre — bur oaks, honey locusts, red maples, yellowwoods —if that’s not enough, got to Arnold Arboretum in Boston and see many more species, or you could even travel to the Harvard Forest. You could enter Memorial Church, just behind me, to be inspired and even overwhelmed by the names of Harvard men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, something which is likely to inspire some of you to want to learn more about history, about the circumstances that gave rise to the conflicts for which they sacrificed. Or you could enter Widener Library, where we’re going to assemble for your class picture in a little bit, and you could explore our extraordinary collections, get lost in the stacks. Or you could venture beyond the Yard to the Harvard Art Museums right over there, 250,000 items in our collection, one of the most extraordinary art collections you can find anywhere; or the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture to find the third largest herbarium in the United States or the only collection of life-size glass flowers in the world. If you haven’t seen them you should, truly amazing. Go farther afield to explore the American Repertory Theater or the Harvard Dance Center, across the river to the athletic fields, the Harvard Innovation Labs, the soon-to-be art lab, as well as the Science and Engineering Complex. Every direction that you might choose to wander from here will lead you to extraordinary opportunities.
And there is, of course, a greater world beyond campus, a world that each of us has the potential to make better in some way. So class of 2022, I’m actually now going to give you our first homework, your very first assignment, not that difficult. If you are eligible to vote, we expect you to register, to inform yourself of the candidates and the issues, and then cast your ballot. The very first responsibility of citizenship in a democracy is to vote, and we have actually made it quite easy you to do so. At least the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School has done so. So take out your phones. I know all you have them, this is the time when you actually get to take them out, because I’m going to give you the website where you’re going to go. Take down this address: iop — for Institute of Politics — .turbovote.org. Let me repeat that: iop.turbovote.org. If you’re eligible, register and vote. It is your responsibility as a citizen of this country and as a citizen of Harvard.
Voting is just one thing you can do to ensure that the world in which you live is much more like the world in which you would like to live. I hope in the next 21,000 hours you will find ample time to determine how you might use your considerable talents to make life better for others. I have yet to meet anyone who thinks that the world that we live in is perfect. This is not a political statement, it is equally true Democrats and Republicans, of liberals and conservatives. And if you don’t think that the world is perfect, the only way it gets better is if good people like you work to repair it. Harvard has endured over centuries not because it is great but because it is good, and I look forward to learning about the ways in which you choose to grow in goodness — and in wisdom — over the next four years.
And now the most important unsolicited advice you will receive from anyone today: It is also wise to be good to the people who love you, especially parents and your family. You going off to college is a huge adjustment for them too. You’ve just applauded been introduced many of the people who help you make with this transition, but your families are on their own. Be grateful for the ways in which they have supported you and sacrificed so that you may have the opportunity of studying and learning here. Express your gratitude by supporting them as they now adjust to a life in which you are no longer a constant physical presence. Your parents, in particular, will never tire of hearing how you’re doing, be it by phone, email, or text. Just make sure to ask how they are doing. I assure you it will be time well spent.
And of course Adele and I will ask how you are doing when I see you in the Yard or at events on campus or elsewhere, and I trust that you will update us on your excitements and joys — even your anxieties and concerns. Everyone here today — and lots and lots of other people across the University — are here for you and want you to succeed. Take us up on our offer and ask us for help whenever you need it.
You will soon learn that Harvard is not a place: It’s an idea, and it’s the people who carry that idea with them. Harvard will be everywhere you go for the next 21,000 hours — and every hour after that for the rest of your life as well. Welcome, fellow members of the Class of 2022, my class. May you make the most of this wonderful time in your lives. It’s my privilege to share this journey with you. Thank you.
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