安妮·吉尔德罗伊，94年

“为他人服务”

I am humbled and honored at the opportunity to speak to you tonight on the eve of a very important transition for you and for me.

我在易胜博app安卓下载读二年级时还是走读学生, 到了四年级，我成了全日制寄宿学生. 我既不是富人家的孩子，也不是穷人家的孩子. I came to 易胜博app安卓下载 from a nearby town called Westford and was proud to be the first "Gildroy" to attend this mysterious and elite boarding school. 结果是, 我学习很努力，但不是学术上的超级明星, 六年级时被所有常春藤盟校断然拒绝. 随着1994年春天的临近, I never would have imagined that I would find myself on top of a war-torn building in Iraq 11 years later. 今晚我想和大家分享一点我的故事. 这只是一段旅程的一部分, 这只是这个叫做易胜博app安卓下载的地方如何影响你生活的一个角度.

In January 2005 the first Iraqi national elections were scheduled for the end of the month. The media and the coalition were preparing for an expected explosion of violence on election day. 结果是, for that whole month you could feel the tension as the day got closer and closer. The rifle company I worked with was actively pursuing insurgents in the area in order to create an environment of peace and stability.

在这个特别的夜晚，我们的体力非常紧张. 步枪连的主力正在执行一项远离我们阵地的任务. We could only afford 14 Marines to guard a building of particular importance in downtown Karbala. 夜幕笼罩着我们, every Marine was focused on the plans we had set in place to guard the building knowing there was no back-up. 我让步枪兵在屋顶上各就各位. I walked the empty building frequently and took several trips to check on the Marines on the roof and the Iraqis at the main checkpoint in the front of the building. 屋顶上一片寂静，海军陆战队正在扫视他们的火力范围. 我跪下来，轻拍了一下那位海军陆战队员的肩膀. 他并不比你们年长多少.

“下士，你还好吗??"

“很好，太太，我很好."

我转身要离开，那个一等兵说:“女士，我能问你一个问题吗?"

“你在想什么??"

“我听说你被哈佛大学录取了，我们离开后你将留在伊拉克. 这是真的吗??"

Without wanting to know how the word of my acceptance to Harvard Business School had spread so quickly, 也不是我在乡下的延期, 我只是简单地回答, “是的,是正确的."

我跪在他身边时，他目不转睛地看着我. “夫人，你不能再呆在这里了，你的生命太宝贵了."

我不得不在心里重复这句话. 什么…….我的生命太宝贵了，不能失去? 我惊呆了. 一个我几乎不认识的海军陆战队员，在紧张的情况下，正在思考这个问题? I tried to explain to the junior Marine that it is impossible to place a greater worth on one Marine's life versus another. I stumbled over my words and attempted to talk about the importance of service in one's life.

他易胜博app安卓下载我生命“价值”的说法一直没有离开我. 他并不是在暗示我的生命比他的生命更有“金钱价值”, but rather that he had an expectation that I would "do something" or giveback in a significant way.

那么那晚你对下士的反应是什么呢? 你会不会觉得你的生命太过宝贵而不能失去? 这个回答并不容易，但这是一个值得审视的说法. 什么是有价值的人生? 服务对你和你的社区有多重要? Does service obligate all people, regardless of whether they go to 易胜博app安卓下载 or Westford High? 我们有多少次考虑过我们能给予自己什么?

崔先生，服务人员 对我来说不就是学校的校训吗, 但它成为了我衡量生命价值的基础. 易胜博app安卓下载教导我们服事的重要性, 通过这种服务, 为自己和社区创造价值的能力. 在易胜博app安卓下载，我开始认真考虑我的行为对周围人的影响. Living in a community where you interact constantly with the same group of people forces you to challenge your preconceived notions and beliefs. 易胜博app安卓下载的社区让每个学生都意识到自己在其中的角色, 以及他对此的贡献. 易胜博app安卓下载完全改变了我的思维方式. 它打开了我的思想，鼓励我先倾听，不要草率判断.

易胜博app安卓下载是我第一次体验到多样性的地方吗. 马里奥·马尔科姆和马克·舒尔曼，我的两个同班同学，是我最早的黑人朋友. 我从来没有见过这样一个肤色和国籍如此多样的教室. 我学会了拥抱我们之间的差异并欣赏它们.

I am sure many of you too have had similar experiences at 易胜博app安卓下载 that will stay with you forever. I still remember how angry I was that one of our peers refused to accept a design on our Spring Fling T-shirt with a pig on it. 她是穆斯林，穿着印有猪的t恤对她来说在很多层面上都是不可接受的. My first reaction to her protest was to think about how overly sensitive and dumb her request of the rest of us was to abandon the design. 毕竟，那只是一件t恤上的一张照片，或者它就是? 她是对的，而我对她的反应大错特错. The experiences at 易胜博app安卓下载 teach us about the importance of respecting each others' beliefs and considering each others' right to dignity and self-respect within the community. 在易胜博app安卓下载之外，这些问题的答案是复杂的, 你会发现你有资源开始解决它们.

保持开放心态的能力, 多年来在易胜博app安卓下载学到的东西, 在我生活的各个方面都是无价的. 我不仅能够听到我的同学或同事的观点, 而是要深入考虑他们的意见和观点. In Iraq it enabled me to listen and consider the thoughts of citizens from many different tribes and regions. I know this skill will be critical to achieving future successes and understanding future failures.

在下一个十年，你们所有人都将面临一个独特的挑战. 你们很快就要成为易胜博app安卓下载的毕业生了. 你们将成为这个国家历史上最负盛名的校友之一. Many of you will have resumes marked with Ivy League schools and internships and jobs at the top companies in the world. Your legacies of success and achievement will begin the moment you receive that high school diploma. 从在此, 父母, 家庭, 朋友, 同事们也会评价你的成就, 你多么有天赋啊, 你们真是太棒了.

你需要意识到不要追求一种只保留成功的生活. 你必须为自己定义成功. 对你们很多人来说, 你周围的人会决定去无国界医生组织, 海军陆战队, 为美国而教, 和平队, 或者其他任何疯狂的尝试都是“糟糕的时机”,“浪费你的潜力。,浪费宝贵的生命,”“放弃一个利润丰厚的职业道路,”等., etc… The people you most expect to encourage you to be bold and to sacrifice when it is most difficult to do so will not. 相反，许多人会顺从于保护和“启用”你将创造的成功之路. They will want to shield you from failure and keep you on a n箭头 path considered "acceptable.挑战他们! 我鼓励你做一些不舒服的事情, 在你的生活中，你为他人提供了深刻的服务, 这是非常难以给予的. 你必须为自己定义“你的”生命的价值. 不要让机构和你对“完美简历”的追求为你定义它.

至关重要的是，在接下来的10年里，你会失败很多次, 因为从这些失败中，你将获得对未来成功最深刻的学习. 我在易胜博app安卓下载的足球教练和曲棍球教练, 弗雷德·比姆斯和凯西·贾尔斯, 让我在输掉比赛后重新振作起来，为下一场比赛做好准备. 在运动场上，失败不是消沉或失去信心的借口. Those two coaches drove tenacity into me and taught me that perseverance will triumph always. Take what I am sure you have learned on those fields at 易胜博app安卓下载 and bring it with you into your life beyond 易胜博app安卓下载. 不要害怕失败. 承担风险!

易胜博app安卓下载 has given you a toolbox and an ethical compass to tackle whatever you may face after 奖的一天. Few people in this world are afforded the resources and opportunities provided to you at 易胜博app安卓下载, and even fewer ever have the mentorship and 领导 of such an incredibly dedicated and passionate faculty. 当你与导师和朋友握手告别时, promise yourself that you will reflect on what you have been given and what you have worked so hard to achieve at 易胜博app安卓下载. You will not know on 奖的一天 what your greatest passion in life is nor where or how it is best for you to be in service o others. 然而，当机会出现时，要抓住它. Keep the Lance Corporal on the rooftop in your mind and constantly ask yourself what a valuable life means for you.

我想和你分享我最喜欢的一句话. 这是西奥多·罗斯福说的:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. 荣誉属于真正在竞技场上的人, 谁的脸上沾满了灰尘、汗水和鲜血, 谁勇敢地奋斗, 谁会一次又一次地犯错，失败, 因为没有错误和缺点的努力, 但谁知道这种巨大的热情, 伟大的奉献, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, 往好了说, 知道, 最后, 高成就的胜利, 和谁, 在最坏的情况下, 如果他失败了, 至少他敢于冒险却失败了, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

在今晚结束之前, I'll be honest and tell you that on Sunday morning it will not be easy for me to get back on the plane to Iraq. 事实上, bidding my 家庭 and my country farewell this time around may be the hardest thing I have done in my 30 years. 然而, 今晚看着你们, knowing that 易胜博app安卓下载 has equipped a group of people to do great things for this nation and the people the world over gives me a deep sense of peace. 为此我要感谢你们. 祝你们所有人好运，当然，我要向2007年的毕业生致以最深切的祝贺!

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