Oxford taught me about bravery

牛津教会了我什么是勇敢

Good Afternoon,

大家下午好，

It is a great honour to speak today on behalf of this class.

今天能够代表本届同学发言，我深感荣幸。

This moment means so much to all of us, because we know it did not come easily.

这一刻对我们所有人都意义非凡，因为我们知道，它来得并不容易。

We know what it took to get here, and what it took to remain here.

我们知道，走到这里付出过什么；也知道，坚持到今天又付出过什么。

There is an extraordinary weight to graduating from Oxford.

从牛津毕业，有着非同寻常的意义与分量。

Oxford is not just a university. 牛津不仅仅是一所大学。

It is a name that carries history, excellence, and expectation.

这个名字承载着历史、卓越与期待。

For many of us, it was something distant, almost untouchable — something we admired from afar before we ever imagined we might belong to it.

对我们许多人来说，它曾是遥远的、几乎不可触及的存在——是在我们敢于想象自己也许属于这里之前，只能远远仰望的地方。

And yet, here we are.

然而，此刻我们就在这里。

Not because the road was easy, but because we kept walking it.

不是因为这条路轻松，而是因为我们一直坚持走了下去。

For me, this moment is deeply personal.

对我而言，这一刻有着极其私人的意义。

English is not my first language.

英语不是我的母语。

I am from the Karay-a ethnolinguistic tribe.

我来自卡拉雅（Karay-a）民族语言族群。

I grew up with a speech defect.

我从小就有语言障碍。

And the first book I ever had in English was an Oxford dictionary.

而我拥有的第一本英文书，就是一本牛津词典。

So to be here now, at Oxford, speaking on this ceremony today, is something I could never have imagined when I first struggled through English words.

所以，如今能够站在牛津，在今天这场典礼上发言，是当年那个艰难学习英语单词的我从未想象过的事。

It is a full-circle moment that humbles me deeply.

这是一个真正的圆满时刻，让我无比谦卑。

A child who first encountered English through an Oxford dictionary is now graduating from Oxford.

一个最初通过一本牛津词典接触英语的孩子，如今正从牛津毕业。

That is something I will carry with gratitude for the rest of my life.

这份经历，我会怀着感恩铭记一生。

But while that is my story, what moves me most today is the story of this class.

但尽管那是我的故事，今天最打动我的，还是我们这一届的故事。

Because when I look at us, I do not just see achievement.

因为当我看着我们时，我看到的不只是成就，

I see bravery. 

我看到的是勇敢。

Real bravery.

真正的勇敢。

The kind that often goes unseen.

那种常常不被看见的勇敢。

The kind that does not announce itself.

那种不会高声宣告自己的勇敢。

The kind that shows up quietly, in the decision to continue.

那种安静地体现在“决定继续走下去”里的勇敢。

Some of our classmates know what it means to travel 48 hours by train, and then take their seat in this room.

我们的一些同学知道，坐上48小时的火车，再走进这个会场坐下，意味着什么。

Some crossed two, three, even four countries, amidst the war, to be in this seat here today.

还有一些人，在战火之中穿越两个、三个，甚至四个国家，只为今天能坐在这里。

Some know what it means to return to a place where there may be days, at times weeks, without heating.

有些人知道，回到一个可能好几天、甚至好几周都没有暖气的地方，意味着什么。

To live in uncertainty, to try to rest in uncertainty, to keep going in uncertainty.

那是在不确定中生活，在不确定中努力休息，在不确定中仍然继续前行。

Some know what it means to do group work while hearing bombings and drones in the background.

有些人知道，在背景中听着爆炸声和无人机声完成小组作业，意味着什么。

And that changes what certain words mean.

而这也改变了一些词语本身的意义。

Because for most of the people in this class, crisis is not a case study.

因为对这个班上许多人来说，危机不是一个案例研究。

It is not an abstract concept.

它不是一个抽象概念。

It is not a classroom exercise.

它不是课堂练习。

It is not a framework on a reading list.

它不是阅读清单上的某个分析框架。

It is something lived.

它是切身经历过的现实。

It is the sound of drones overhead.

它是头顶盘旋的无人机声。

It is the sound of bombings during a conversation.

它是谈话中传来的爆炸声。

It is the message from home you are afraid to open.

它是那条你不敢点开的家中来讯。

It is wondering whether your family is warm, safe, alive.

它是你反复担心家人是否温暖、是否安全、是否还活着。

So when we speak in class about crisis, conflict, disruption, and instability, many in this room are not speaking from distance.

所以，当我们在课堂上谈论危机、冲突、动荡和不稳定时，这间屋子里的许多人并不是隔着距离在谈。

They are speaking from life.

他们是在用生命经验发言。

They are speaking from memory.

他们是在用记忆发言。

They are speaking from experience.

他们是在用亲身经历发言。

And that takes a different kind of courage.

而这需要另一种勇气。

The courage to continue learning in the presence of fear.

那是在恐惧之中仍继续学习的勇气

The courage to contribute to class discussions while carrying realities too heavy for the room to fully hold.

是在背负着这间教室都未必容得下的沉重现实之时，依然参与课堂讨论的勇气；

The courage to travel those distances, cross those borders, and still return to study while part of your heart remains elsewhere.

是走过那样漫长的路途，跨越那些边界之后，明知自己的一部分心仍留在远方，却依然回来继续求学的勇气。

And that bravery is not limited to war.

而这种勇敢并不只存在于战争之中。

Some are managing their business as well as  their work.

有些人在兼顾自己的事业与工作。

Some are trying to be a father and a mother, a son and a daughter, while also trying to be students here.

有些人一边努力做父亲、做母亲，做儿子、做女儿，一边也努力在这里做一名学生。

Some are carrying responsibilities that do not pause simply because there is a reading to finish, a paper to write, or a class to attend.

有些人肩负的责任，并不会因为还有阅读材料要完成、论文要写、课程要上，就暂时停下来。

Bravery is found in those who studied while working full-time.

勇敢体现在那些全职工作之余仍坚持学习的人身上，

In those who showed up while grieving.

体现在那些悲伤之中仍然出现的人身上，

In those who cared for children, parents, siblings, and communities, while still meeting deadlines, attending lectures,  and writing papers.

体现在那些一边照顾孩子、父母、兄弟姐妹与社区，一边仍赶截止日期、上课、写论文的人身上。

Bravery is going home to a real life that is heavy, and then still returning to class.

勇敢，就是回到沉重真实的生活里之后，仍然再回到课堂。

Bravery is holding together two worlds at once: the world here, and the world waiting for us beyond Oxford.

勇敢，就是同时承载两个世界：这里的世界，以及牛津之外等待着我们的那个世界。

That is why this ceremony matters so much.

这正是为什么这场典礼如此重要。

Because this is not only a celebration of academic accomplishment.

因为这不仅仅是在庆祝学术成就。

It is a celebration of endurance. Of sacrifice. Of resilience.

这也是在庆祝坚持，庆祝牺牲，庆祝韧性，

Of the decision, made over and over again, not to give up.

庆祝那个一次又一次被做出的决定：不放弃。

And yet, alongside that hardship, there has also been an extraordinary gift.

然而，在这些艰难之中，我们也收获了一份非凡的礼物。

There have been brilliant, unforgettable conversations in this class.

在这个班里，有过无数精彩而难忘的对话。

Conversations that challenged, surprised, deepened, and stayed long after the class ended.

那些对话带来挑战，带来惊喜，带来更深的理解，并在课程结束许久之后仍萦绕心间。

This institution, and the people in it, have changed us.

这所学院，以及其中的人们，改变了我们。

Many of us can say the same.

我们中的许多人都可以这样说。

We came here from different countries, different professions, different beliefs, different histories, and different ways of seeing the world.

我们来自不同的国家、不同的职业、不同的信念、不同的历史背景，也有着不同的世界观。

We are all very different.

我们彼此都很不一样。

We have had differences.

我们之间有分歧。

At times, we have disagreed.

有时，我们也会意见不合。

And yet, what an honour it has been to stand beside all of you.

但即便如此，能够与你们并肩而立，仍是莫大的荣幸。

What an honour to learn with you.

能够与你们一起学习，是多么大的荣幸。

What an honour to be challenged by you.

能够被你们挑战，是多么大的荣幸。

What an honour to be changed by you.

能够因你们而改变，是多么大的荣幸。

And today, I also want us to pause and give thanks.

今天，我也希望我们能稍作停顿，献上感谢。

To Oxford, and to this institution, thank you for giving us a place to think, to question, to grow, and to persevere.

感谢牛津，感谢这所学院，给予我们一个可以思考、发问、成长并坚持下去的地方。

To the faculty and academic staff, thank you.

感谢各位教师和学术工作人员。

Thank you for your scholarship, your guidance, your patience, and your belief in us.

感谢你们的学识、引导、耐心，以及对我们的信任。

Thank you for teaching with rigour, but also with humanity.

感谢你们以严谨治学，也以人性的温度育人。

Thank you for seeing us not only as students, but as people with lives beyond the classroom.

感谢你们看见的，不只是作为学生的我们，也是在课堂之外仍有真实生活的我们。

And most of all, thank you for allowing us to continue learning even through difficulty.

最重要的是，感谢你们让我们即使身处困境也能继续学习。

Thank you for making space for us to carry both our studies and our realities.

感谢你们为我们留出空间，让我们能够同时背负学业与现实。

Thank you for understanding that excellence does not always come from ease, and that sometimes the greatest academic achievement is simply that a student found the strength to return.

感谢你们理解，卓越并不总是来自轻松顺遂；有时，最大的学术成就，仅仅是一个学生找到了再次回来的力量。

Your support mattered.

你们的支持很重要。

Your compassion mattered.

你们的体恤很重要。

Your flexibility mattered.

你们的理解与包容，也同样重要。

And for many of us, it made the difference between stopping and finishing.

对我们许多人来说，这正是放弃与完成之间的区别所在。

And I also want to say this: this win is not just ours.

我还想说，这份胜利并不只属于我们自己。

It belongs, too, to the people you are here with.

它也属于今天与你一同来到这里的人。

To the families who waited.

它属于那些一直等待的家人，

To the loved ones who encouraged.

属于那些不断鼓励我们的挚爱之人，

To the children who shared time.

属于那些愿意分享相处时间的孩子，

To the parents who sacrificed.

属于那些作出牺牲的父母，

To the friends who listened.

属于那些愿意倾听的朋友，

To the communities that carried us when we were tired.

也属于那些在我们疲惫时托住我们的群体与社区。

They may not have sat in our classes, but they walked this journey with us.

他们也许没有坐在我们的课堂里，但他们与我们一同走过了这段旅程。

To those interested in the Major Programmes, let this class stand as an honest witness.

对那些对重大项目管理课程感兴趣的人，让我们这一届成为一个真实的见证。

This path is demanding.

这条道路要求很高。

Oxford will ask a great deal from you.

牛津会向你提出很多要求。

But this class is proof that even those carrying real burdens, complicated histories, and difficult circumstances still belong  in places of excellence.

但我们这一届证明了：即使是那些背负真实重担、拥有复杂经历、身处艰难环境的人，也同样属于卓越之地。

We are proof that belonging is not reserved for those with easy journeys.

我们证明了，归属感并不是只留给那些一路顺遂的人。

We are proof that language barriers do not define the limits of a voice.

我们证明了，语言障碍并不能定义一个声音的边界。

We are proof that struggle does not cancel brilliance.

我们证明了，挣扎并不会抹去才华。

We are proof that courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to continue in spite of it.

我们证明了，勇气并不是没有恐惧，而是即使害怕，也依然选择继续前行。

So today, as we graduate from Oxford, let us honour the prestige of this institution, yes — but let us also honour the people who met that prestige with extraordinary courage.

所以今天，当我们从牛津毕业时，让我们向这所学院的声望致敬——是的，但也让我们向那些以非凡勇气回应这份声望的人致敬。



Let us honour the students who kept going.

让我们向那些坚持走下去的学生致敬。

Let us honour the families who carried us. 

让我们向那些一路支撑我们的家人致敬。

 Let us honour the faculty and staff who challenged us but also helped us remain. 

让我们向那些既挑战我们、也帮助我们留下来的教师与工作人员致敬。



Let us honour the quiet bravery behind every person crossing this stage.

让我们向每一位走上这个舞台的人背后那份安静而坚定的勇敢致敬。



For me, this will always be a moment of gratitude.

对我而言，这将永远是一个充满感恩的时刻。



What a full circle. 

多么圆满的旅程。



What a privilege.

多么珍贵的荣幸。



What a brave class this is.

多么勇敢的一届同学。



And though today is a goodbye of one kind, it is also the beginning of another chapter.

虽然今天是一种告别，但它同时也是另一段篇章的开始。



I look forward to seeing you again, in 42 different parts of the world.

我期待未来在世界上42个不同的地方，再次见到你们。



Congratulations to all of us, and thank you.

祝贺我们所有人，谢谢大家。