同样的年纪却因音乐而不同

16岁的你每天都在做些什么呢?埋头于书堆试卷当中，为高考和个人前途拼命挣扎?对于那时的你、甚至现在的你而言，公益是一个遥远模糊的词汇。本文作者是一位16岁的少年，7岁时他就决定用自己的音乐才华去帮助重症儿童，通过音乐找到了回馈社会、关怀他人的方式。

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“我们都陷入了一个无法逃脱的相互依靠的网络，拴在命运织成的衣襟之中。” ——马丁•路德•金博士

Those words captured my imagination eight years ago as a wake-up call for me to act on a great vision of reciprocity and responsibility - a vision of caring.[1] With dedication, and purposeful and direct use of my talents, I learned that I could sound an alarm to cause people to pay attention to the plight of children extremely ill with neurological diseases.[2]

八年前，这句话抓住了我的思想，像警钟一样敦促我去践行关于互助和责任的伟大理念。我意识到自己可以通过奉献以及有意地、直接地利用我的才华，敲响警钟让人们关注神经疾病重症儿童的痛苦。

I realized that I didn’t need to wait until medical school to make a difference in their lives. I could put my talents as a violinist to work by performing concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, in halls across the country and the globe, and raise money for these children.

我意识到我不需要等到去念医学院后才去改变他们的生活，我可以利用自己作为小提琴手的才华，在卡内基音乐厅、林肯中心和全国及世界各地的表演厅演奏音乐会，为这些儿童筹集资金。

I have tried to be vocal about the things that matter to me. And so I have made it my life goal to raise funds for medical organizations, hospitals, and cutting-edge research targeting neurological diseases, and to inspire and empower young philanthropists[3] and musicians to participate in benefit concerts for a cure all across the globe - saving lives through music.

我常对与自己有关的事情直言不讳。所以为医学机构、医院、神经疾病尖端研究筹集资金，激励和促使青年慈善家和音乐家能够参加全球各地的康复公益音乐会，成为我的人生目标。也就是，用音乐拯救生命。

I spend time each month speaking at medical conferences to provide visibility for the plight of desperately ill children. My colleagues and I have spent many weekends performing room to room in hospitals after full days at Juilliard[4].

每个月我都会花时间在各种医学会议上做演讲，让更多的人看到重病儿童的痛苦。我和同事在朱利亚学院呆上整整几天之后，很多周末都会去医院的每个病房进行表演。

I remember a meeting I had when I was seven with a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Fred Epstein resulted in a personal epiphany for me.[5] He took me on a tour of the pediatric ICU[6] that exposed me for the first time to children suffering from incurable diseases. I left determined to bring them some measure of peace, enjoyment, a little contagious enthusiasm, and a reminder of what’s outside that ICU.

记得七岁时，我拜会了世界知名的小儿神经外科医生弗雷德•艾普斯坦医生，这次经历让我个人有了深刻的领悟。他带我参观了儿科重症监护病房，我第一次接触到患有绝症的儿童。离开的时候，我就下定决心，要为他们带去一些平和、欢乐和一丝具有感染力的热情，让他们了解重症监护病房外面的世界。重病会让人很快产生被遗弃感，同情心让我们伸出了援手。如果不抓住机会以自己的绵薄之力去回馈他人，我们又如何能安然自处呢?

Extraordinary things can happen if the arts and medicine join forces. A life can be saved somewhere in the world with the purchase of tickets to a Concert for a Cure, or funding cutting-edge research, supplying musical therapy services, the purchase of medical equipment, providing home-care services. In these ways, the young entrepreneurial philanthropists of our generation, along with the great prodigies of our time, can come together and create a youthquake: changes in the field of health care that we have only dreamt about.

如果艺术和医学联手，就能发生意想不到的事情。购买一场康复音乐会的门票，或赞助前沿研究项目，提供音乐疗法服务，购买医疗设备，提供家庭保健服务，就能拯救世界某地一个人的生命。通过这些方法，我们这一代青年慈善企业家以及这个时代的伟大天才，可以一起创造一场“青年运动”，为医疗保健领域带来改变，而这之前只存在我们的梦想之中。

I have a mission to demonstrate that the humanity of charitable works is not something reserved for adults. Through medicine and music, I attempt to say: I am 16 years old and I am responsible for my peers. What happens to one of us affects us all. I’ve only just begun to learn how to care.

我怀着这样一个使命：展示人类的慈善事业并非只属于成年人。通过医药和音乐，我想说：作为一名16岁的少年，我对我的同龄人负有责任。发生在我们当中任何一个人身上的事情都会影响到我们大家。我才刚刚开始学会如何关怀。

Vocabulary

1. reciprocity: 相互性，互惠;wake-up: 警示，警钟。

2. plight: 境况，困境;neurological: 神经学的，神经病学的。

3. philanthropist: 慈善家。

4. Juilliard: 朱利亚学院，纽约市一所享有国际声誉的表演艺术学院。

5. pediatric neurosurgeon: 小儿神经外科医生;epiphany:(对某事本质、意义等突然的)洞察，领悟。

6. ICU: Intensive Care Unit，重症监护病房，即医院里治疗重病患者或受重伤人员的部门。