美高中“你并不特别”毕业致辞引热议

Social media was buzzing about a Boston-area high school teacher's blunt commencement speech that told students they "are not special."

Wellesley High English teacher David McCullough Jr. told graduates "You are not special. You are not exceptional," quoting empirical evidence:

"Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating about now from more than 37,000 high schools. That's 37,000 valedictorians ... 37,000 class presidents ... 92,000 harmonizing altos ... 340,000 swaggering jocks ... 2,185,967 pairs of Uggs," he said in the speech published in the Boston Herald.

He added: "Even if you're one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you."

McCullough makes a statement on parents who overdo it in a modern society focused on collecting achievements. "You've been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble wrapped ... feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie." But he adds in a video on Wellesley Channel TV YouTube page, "You see, if everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless. ... We have of late, we Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuine achievement."

McCullough's address does push students to recognize real achievement: "The fulfilling life, the distinctive life, the relevant life is an achievement," and he encourages graduates "to do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance."

Many expressed their approval of the message on Twitter:

This is awesome. I don't remember my HS commencement speech. I think I would remember this one. — S.L. Gray

Fantastic speech which sums up the neglected duty of so many Americans in 1 phrase: "Be worthy of your advantages." — Benjamin Yee

The greatest commencement speech ever. — Neil Raden

My new hero. Tells grads "You're not that Special ... when everyone gets a trophy, the trophy doesn't mean anything." — Jason Dobrolecki

The Boston Herald also reported that McCullough's words were very well received by attendees. The teacher, a father of four, admitted he's guilty of the actions he pokes fun at in his speech.

But near the end of the address he says, "The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you're not special. Because everyone is."

社交网站上正在热议美国波斯顿一所高中的毕业致辞，致辞的老师很直白地告诉学生说他们“并不特别”。

韦尔斯利高中的英语老师小戴维•麦卡洛告诉毕业生说：“你们并不特别。你们并不非凡。”他还引用实例为证：

“现在全美3.7万所高中至少有320万高年级生毕业。其中有3.7万名致告别辞的学生代表……3.7万名级长……9.2万名合唱团的男高音和女低音……34万大步走路的学生运动员……还有218万5967双羊皮靴。”这一演讲发表在《波士顿先驱报》上。

他还说：“就算你是百万里挑一的人才，但是地球上有68亿人，这意味着有近7000人和你一样优秀。”

现代社会中父母们都注重收集孩子的成就，对于那些做得过了头的父母们，麦卡洛还说道：“你们（毕业生）一直被娇惯着、纵容着、溺爱着、呵护着、受到层层保护，总是有人款待、奉承你们，叫你们甜心宝贝。”但是，他在YouTube上韦尔斯利电视台的一段视频中还说：“想一下，如果每个人都是特别的，那么就谁也不特别了。如果每个人都得到奖杯，奖杯将变得毫无意义……近来我们美国人越来越喜欢赞美而不是真正的成就，这对我们是不利的。”

麦卡洛的致辞确实促使学生们意识到什么是真正的成就：“充实的、与众不同、有意义的人生是一项成就”，他还鼓励毕业生们“去做任何你想做的事，不为别的，就因为你热爱而且相信它很重要。”

许多人在微博Twitter上表达了对这一致辞的认同。

S•L•格雷：“这太震撼了。我已记不起我高中时的毕业致辞，但我想我会记住这一个毕业致辞。”

本杰明•叶：“这一精彩的演讲用一个短句就概括了这么多美国人忽略的责任：‘不要辜负你享有的优越条件。”

尼尔•雷登：“这是有史以来最伟大的毕业致辞。”

杰森•多布罗雷基：“他是我心目中的新英雄。他告诉毕业生们‘你们没那么特别……如果每个人都得到奖杯，那么奖杯就没有任何意义’。”

《波士顿先驱报》还报道说，麦卡洛的致辞非常受在场者的欢迎。这位有四个孩子的男教师承认说，他对自己在演讲中开玩笑的行为感到愧疚。

不过在致辞快结束的时候，他说：“人生中最美妙的乐趣，在于意识到你并不特别。因为每个人都是特别的。”