Stay Focused and Hopeful, and Change the World
保持专注、心怀希望、改变世界
When I was asked if there was space for Jisoo “Jamie” Lee to speak in Chapel, I immediately said yes. I remembered Jisoo, a member of the Class of 2011, as an active member of our student body; she had spoken at and performed at the Youth Town Meeting and done her Capstone presentation on drumming. She was not only an interesting, engaging, and intelligent young woman, but also one who had been very successful in living out her dreams during and after her time at the Academy.
当有人问我Jisoo “Jamie” Lee是否有机会在礼堂内演讲时，我立即回答说可以。我记得Jisoo，她是圣约翰学院2011届毕业生，是一个积极上进的学生，她曾经在青少年市镇会议上做演讲，并且为大家呈现了击鼓表演。她是一个有趣、迷人、聪明的年轻女性，在圣约翰学院期间以及毕业后都成功地实现了自己的梦想。
After graduating from the Academy, Jisoo had gone to University of Washington where she had majored in Political Science with a concentration in political economy, minoring in Chinese and studying in China for a year. While there, she conducted a study of labor rights and legal mobilization at the European Court of Human Rights, which will be published on the Dataverse Network at Harvard, and interned at CityNet, the largest association of governments and NGOs committed to sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region. After graduating from University of Washington, she was accepted into the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, where she is working toward a Master’s degree in Development Economics and International Development. She was invited to come back to the Northeast Kingdom first by Sandra Mings-Lamar, who had been her teacher while at the Academy. She was then welcomed by her former dorm proctors Bonnie Jenks and Kendra (Paupst) Brazeau, who introduced her in Chapel last Thursday. As Sandra said, “I feel like these can be trying times for non-American students…and it is struggle enough just to do what they do every day. I thought having students speak who have been where they have been and have not only succeeded but have excelled would be a way to help them stay focused and hopeful.” I agree, and Jisoo did that and more.
从圣约翰毕业后，Jisoo进入华盛顿大学主修政治经济学，辅修中文，并且在中国学习了一年。在此期间，她在欧洲人权法院（European Court of Human Rights）进行了一项关于劳工权利和法律动员的研究，该研究将在哈佛大学的数据网站（Dataverse Network）上发表，而且她在城市网（CityNet）、最大的政府机构以及致力于亚太地区可持续发展的非政府组织实习过。从华盛顿大学毕业后，她被约翰霍普金斯大学的保罗H尼泽学院录取，并在那里攻读发展经济学和国际发展硕士学位。她是被Sandra Mings-Lamar邀请回圣约翰学院的，因为Sandra Mings-Lamar曾是她的老师。她的前宿舍管理员Bonnie Jenks和Kendra (Paupst) Brazeau上周四在礼堂内向大家介绍了她。Sandra说：“我觉得在礼堂进行的这些演讲对于国际学生来说是很煎熬的…而且每天都是做同样的事情。所以我想到邀请曾经在这里学习并取得成功的学生来演讲，这会帮助学生们保持专注并心怀希望。”我同意这个观点，Jisoo确实做到了。
In her speech, Jisoo talked about her desire in middle school to do more than simply study in high school, and how she therefore started looking for new opportunities. Having seen an American high school in a movie, where students were able to play sports, take various classes, and pursue personal interests instead of cramming studies into all hours of the day, she asked her father if she could study in the United States. To her delight, he supported her dreams and quickly said yes, arranging for her to leave for the Academy two weeks later.
在她的演讲中，Jisoo谈到她初中时候的梦想不仅仅是能在高中轻松地学习，而且还要开始尝试新事物。她在一部电影中看到一所美国高中，学生们可以进行体育运动，根据自己的兴趣选择各种各样的课程，而不是一整天都是在学习。她问父亲能否送她到美国学习，父亲非常支持她，立刻就答应了，并安排她在两周后启程。
Once in the United States, unable to speak very much English at all, Jisoo was at a loss and struggled with communicating and daily life. Things soon began to change, however, once she started at the Academy. She took advantage of all the opportunities available to her, pursuing the things she loved and living out her dreams. She spoke lovingly of the support she got from her friends and teachers and how she got along with her roommate. In the end, as witnessed by the post-secondary successes mentioned above, she excelled.
当时刚到美国， Jisoo的英语口语还不是很流利，她陷入了迷茫期，挣扎于难以沟通的日常生活中。但是当她到圣约翰学院后，一切都慢慢地往好的方向发展。她充分利用所有可见的机会，追求她喜欢的事物，努力实现她的梦想。她很感谢老师和朋友们的支持，同时为学生们分享了如何与室友相处。最后，正如上文所提到的，她成功了。
Jisoo opened her talk by asking us to think of our values, to call to mind those things about which we really care. For her, she said, these included things like friendship and diversity, equality and opportunity, integrity and being true to herself. She said her goal is to change the world for the better. She ended her speech by asking us to think of our values again, and she asked us to commit ourselves to living them out. She said that such commitment will lead not only to success but to making a positive difference in the world.
Jisoo从让我们思考价值观、思考那些我们真正关心的事情开始她的演讲。她说，对她来说，这些事情包括友谊、多样性、平等和机会、正义感以及对自己的忠诚度，她的目标是让世界变得更好。在演讲结束时，她希望我们重新审视自己的价值观并付诸实践，这样才有可能会成功，同时给世界带来积极的影响。
The evening of Jisoo’s speech, I had the opportunity to speak briefly to our parents who had gathered in Fuller Hall before following their children’s schedules as part of our first Day Parents’ Night of the semester. In that audience were parents who were coming for the first time and parents who hadn’t missed a single Parents’ Night in eight semesters. I was struck by the commitment of the parents of seniors who, having been to numerous events and Parents Nights, and having already gotten well-acquainted with our school and its people and systems, still came to meet the newest teachers of their children. Their commitment spoke to me of how much they value education and supporting their children, and I am sure that same message was not lost on our seniors. It was the same message that Jisoo’s father had delivered when he approved of her dream of studying in the United States: a belief in her ability, support for her goals, and confidence in her values to guide her to success.
在Jisoo演讲的那一天晚上，我有幸与聚集在Fuller大厅的家长们交谈。他们中的一些人是第一次来到我们学院，还有一些是八个学期中从未错过一次父母之夜的人。我对十二年级学生的父母很是敬佩，他们已经参加过学院无数次活动和父母之夜，并且对学校、教职工以及各个系统都非常熟悉了，但他们仍然来学院拜访孩子们的新老师。他们的付出让我意识到，他们是多么重视教育、多么支持自己的孩子，我相信我们的十二年级学生也会跟父母有相同的价值观。正如Jisoo的父亲支持她赴美留学的梦想一样，都传达了同样一种信息：相信她的能力，支持她的目标，认同她的价值观，引导她走向成功。
In the end, I believe these are the key components to the message that every teenager needs to hear: we believe in you, we support you, and we are confident that if you hold to your values and follow your dreams, they will bring you success and happiness. By coming back to her alma mater and giving her Chapel talk, Jisoo delivered that message loudly and clearly, and my hope is not only that we also deliver that message loudly and clearly, but that those students in Fuller Hall that morning will take it to heart, and like Jisoo, go out and change the world for the better.
最后，我相信这些是每个青少年需要听到的关键信息：我们相信你，我们支持你，同时我们相信：如果你坚持自己的价值观、追逐你的梦想，最终你会走向成功。邀请Jisoo回到母校在礼堂内做演讲，她清楚地向我们传达了这一信息。当然，我希望我们不仅能大声清楚地传达这一信息，而且我希望那天早上在Fuller大厅的学生都能把这一信息记在心里，像Jisoo一样，走出去，改变世界，让它变得更好。
