1、此资料由网络收集而来，如有侵权请告知上传者立即删除。资料共分享，我们负责传递知识。美国联邦参议员陆天娜在瓦萨尔学院2023年毕业典礼英语演讲稿Thank you to Acting PresidentChenette, my dearest friend and the person who invited meGerry Laybourne, theboard, the faculty at Vassar, all of the proud parents that are here,ouralumnae and our alumni, and all the distinguished g
2、uests. And to the VassarClass of 2023 – many congratulations.Vassar truly stands as a beaconof hope and opportunity that continues to inspire all of us.You have shown astrong sense of justice, community, and bold activism. Although I knowthere is always more work tobe done, you have shattered
3、many glass ceilings here.womenhave always beenin leadership ;you are advancing LGBT equality and acceptance, and you dohavea campus that’s diverse in more ways than ever before!The education that you receivehere at Vassar is a precious opportunity, one that tens ofmillions of youngpeople acros
4、s the world are denied every single day due to poverty,violence,prejudice and injustice.But I know that someday we canactually change that – with students like you leading theway. Students who stood up to the bigotry of theWestboro Baptist Church. You did not standquietly by. You created a nat
5、ionalconversation. You raised over $100,000, and you made yourvoice heard, inspiredaction in others, and produced real results.My hope for this class is thatthis determined courage, this spirit of activism, this fierceopposition tohate will be the rule, not the exception.So I’ve come here to a
6、sk youtoday, each and every one of you, just one question: How areyou going to takethe lessons that you’ve learned here at Vassar, and carry on this legacyofmaking a real differenceI hope that each one of you findsthe opportunity to do public service, and truly have animpact on the lives ofso
7、many others.So I want to tell you all alittle bit about my own journey to public service. I was very luckybecause Igrew up in a family that had a very strong role model. The role model wasmygrandmother. She started her career as a young woman;she never went tocollege;sheworked as a secretary in our
8、state legislature in Albany.She had this very bold idea thatwomen’s voices should be heard. There were very fewwomen in elective office 75years ago. She wanted to have a say, and she wanted to have animpact.And she knew somethinginstinctively that all of us know now, that to speak in one voice
9、 isveryimportant, but to speak along with many voices is far more powerful. She she asked all thewomen in thelegislature and all the women she knew in Upstate New York to get involvedinpolitics.Together they created anorganization of activism, where these women ran campaigns forabout fiftyyears. The
10、y did all the door to door work, all the envelope stuffing, all thekinds ofthings it takes to win modern day campaigns. And that is why they were able to have avoice.They were able to elect peoplewho shared their values, who shared their concerns, and wantedto have the sameimpact on their community
11、that they did.So what that taught me as a younggirl watching her is that not only do women’s voicesmatter, but what you dowith your time matters. Grassrootsactivism matters. Fighting to make adifference matters.After I went to college and lawschool, I saw myself working in New York City in a b
12、ig lawfirm, and I watchedour First Lady, then Hilary Rodham Clinton, go to China.Now if you remember, she went toChina in 1995, and she gave her historic speech onwomen’s rights. She said,;Let it be known that human rights are women’s rights and women’srights arehuman rights once a
13、nd for all.Now I was incredibly inspired byher at that moment because I’d been to Beijing, I hadstudied there, I hadlearned Mandarin, and I knew howpowerful it was for her as the First Ladyto be giving that speech at that timein that place to that audience. They were still killing girlbabies i
14、n thecountryside and I know that she was making a dramatic impact on the worldatthat moment.And I thought to myself, what amI doing with my life and am I making a difference And Ithought if I was goingto ever be with her at that conference in Beijing with her, I would havehad tobe involved in politi
15、cs. And that’s what spurred me to get off the sidelinesand focus onmaking a difference. And that’s when I engaged in politics.So of course I followed in mygrandmother’s footsteps. I started working on campaigns. Istarted organizingother women and doing the tough work it takes to el
16、ect candidates. And themore I got involved, the more Irealized that I really love grassroots activism, and I decided Iwanted toleave the law and do some form of public service.I tried all sorts of ways to getthere, and my way wasn’t clear. First I tried the U.S.Attorney’s Office. I didnot get the job. Then I tried a bunch of charities in New York. I didn’tevenget an interview.The Hillary Clinton decides torun