哈佛校長2022開學第一課：世界不會因哈佛畢業生的身份而善待你

8月30日，哈佛大學舉辦開學典禮歡迎2026屆新生到校，哈佛校長勞倫斯·巴科(Lawrence Bacow)在開學典禮中致辭，以下是致辭內容：

下午好，2026屆同學們。非常榮幸能夠在歡迎大家正式加入哈佛社區的活動中致辭。

53年前的這個時候，我告別了遠在密歇根州的親朋好友來到麻省劍橋上大學。但不是到哈佛大學，而是隔壁的麻省理工學院。

這一切仿佛就在昨天。

我非常肯定的是你們將對開學頭幾個星期的經歷終生難忘。你們會記得自己偶遇的同學、結識的好友、上的第一堂課、在食堂吃到的第一個漢堡、所有的一切!

令我印象最深刻的是大一室友艾倫(Alan)，一個來自新澤西州的長曲棍球球員。他身材高大，而我個子矮小。他不拘小節，而我井井有條。他把音響帶到宿舍，喜歡一邊聽音樂一邊學習;而我喜歡在安靜環境里學習。他喜歡聽搖滾音樂，而我鐘愛鄉村歌曲。他癡迷所有的紐約運動隊，而我很討厭他們。在政治上他相當保守，而我恰恰相反。

我開始覺得我們永遠都合不來。不過，就像你們猜到的那樣——我的想法大錯特錯!在那個貌似生硬、吵鬧和固執的外表下，事實證明艾倫是我大學期間遇到的最善良和最有意思的同學之一。他博覽群書、妙手成章，而且花費大量時間輔導我學習大一物理、化學和微積分課程。盡管我們在政治方面各執己見，但他歡迎富有建設性的辯論，我們倆經常爭論不休。

他成為我的摯友。我們繼續住在一起，持續到研究生階段。在我入讀哈佛大學法學院的第一天，他安排我認識了他女朋友的室友。這位相親對象今天就坐在這里。請允許我向大家介紹我結婚47年的妻子——阿黛爾!艾倫和阿黛爾的室友黛比的婚禮在我們成婚前的一周舉行。蜜月期間他們倆還出席了我們的婚禮。

今天，在我們認識53年后，艾倫和黛比依然是我們最好的朋友。今年夏天，他們在我家住了三天。我們共同度過人生的重要階段——我們各自孩子的出生、打造事業和家庭、生活的快樂和失望、每一次成功的快樂和失敗的悲傷。

政治方面我們依然鮮有共識，但我們心平氣和地進行討論(有時候甚至是激烈的辯論)，最后往往只能擱置爭端。但我們總是互相尊重，并且經常互相學習。經過53年后，我們對此習以為常。

在哈佛期間，請不要對你的艾倫視而不見。請不要根據外在表現或第一印象快速評判他人。哈佛招收來自世界各地志趣各異的學生的原因之一，在于我們可以學習各自的不同之處。在認識室友和同學時，請盡量延緩評判而加快理解。至少在開始階段，不要因為表面印象而把別人一棍子打死——不但在哈佛，而且貫穿整個人生。如果做到這一點，你結交的朋友將多得出乎預料，他們或許與你迥然不同，但將極大地豐富你的人生。

如果像多數哈佛學生那樣，在接下來幾天內你收獲的友誼將持續終生。部分同學甚至可能在這里遇到自己的配偶或生活伴侶。我參加過很多哈佛畢業聚會，因此深知此言非虛。我也無數次聽到同樣有關始于大學初期并延續終身友情的故事。你們最好的朋友，那些深度參與你們人生的人物，此時此刻就坐在你們身邊。你所要做的就是找到他們!

我無法否認，你們在哈佛可能遇見不喜歡的人。

哈佛是現實生活的一個縮影，因此社會中令人反感的所有一切在某種程度上都存在于哈佛校園。我們絕非完美無瑕，但我們努力變得更好。雖然我們盡力將哈佛打造成一個關懷備至、善解人意和賓至如歸的社區，但你們依然難免遭遇各種不愉快的經歷。

我們的工作在于讓你們為畢業后進入社會做好充分準備。這個世界不會因為哈佛畢業生的身份而善待你們。如果處處顧及你們的情緒而非提升各位的情商，對你們沒有任何好處。在這里，我們讓大家做好充分準備應對一個挑戰(有時甚至是冒犯)你們的世界。我們希望你們能夠在哈佛掌握這些技能，從而終其一生致力于改善這個絕非完美的世界。

通過與部分同學的交流，我得知你們希望改變世界。這個想法非常棒，這也是我們邀請你們入學的原因之一。不過，如果想要改變世界，你們需要掌握說服別人改變想法的藝術。我向你們保證，如果各位固執己見，那么很難讓別人從善如流。

哈佛的校訓是“真理(veritas)”，但這已經超越校訓，成為本校存續的理由——尋求真理。但是，真理需要經過不斷地檢驗和挖掘。只有通過不同想法的充分碰撞才能讓這個過程成為現實。因此，與那些想法別出心裁者進行互動確實至關重要。

更重要的是，你得心甘情愿地改變自己的想法——信服于更有力的論點和全新的信息。只有通過這樣的經歷，你才能具備更強大的能力來改變世界。這是我希望你們在哈佛期間掌握的另一項技能。

在入校那天，阿黛拉(校長夫人)和我一起會見了很多新生家庭。我們見證了無數次真情流露的告別。自從出生以來，你們中多數人一直是熱愛你們的家人的關注焦點。隨著你們的離去，對于空巢的家人意味著沉重的寂寞。你們周圍有很多人(學術導師、同窗好友、宿管人員、住校教師和院長等)幫助大家順利過渡到大學階段。但你們的家人只有依靠自己走出來。他們同樣經歷著巨大的轉折，只有你們才能幫助他們度過難關。懇請各位同學經常給父母打個電話(而不僅是發發短信)，通過電話關心他們過得如何。我向你們保證他們接到電話會非常高興。

2026屆同學們，我們對你們寄予厚望。我希望哈佛能夠滿足你們一切夢想——無論是學術、社交還是個人期待。我謹期待游有幸出席你們畢業五十周年聚會，傾聽你們人生的精彩華章，以及其中哈佛所起到的作用!

祝愿在座每一位同學好運連連，心想事成。

英文原文：

Good afternoon, Class of 2026. It is an honor to add my voice to the chorus welcoming you officially as members of the Harvard community.

Fifty-three years ago this week, I said goodbye to my friends and family in Pontiac, Michigan and arrived here in Cambridge, Massachusetts for my first year of college. Not here, exactly, but just down the street at MIT.

It seems like yesterday.

I can tell you with complete confidence that memories of your first few weeks on this campus will remain vivid throughout your lifetime. You will recall who you met, who you befriended, your very first class, your very first burger at Bartley’s—everything.

Among my most vivid memories is my freshman roommate. His name was Alan.  He was a lacrosse player from New Jersey.  He was big.  I was small.  He was messy.  I was neat.  He brought his stereo to campus and liked to study with it on.  I liked to study with it off.  He liked to listen to the Rolling Stones, The Who and The Band.  I liked Bob Dylan, James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. He liked almost all New York sports teams.  I hated them.  He was politically quite conservative.  I was anything but.

“This will never work out,” I thought.  So—you can probably tell where this story is going—I could not have been more wrong.  Alan, beneath a seemingly crusty, loud, opinionated exterior, proved to be one of the kindest, most interesting people I met during my time in college.  He was incredibly well read, a terrific writer, and very generous with his time, patiently helping me navigate through freshman physics, calculus, and chemistry. While we differed on almost everything related to politics, he loved a good argument, and we had many.  He became one of my closest friends, and we continued to live together, even as graduate students.  On my first day at Harvard Law School, he fixed me up on a blind date with his girlfriend’s roommate.  That blind date is here today.  Let me introduce you to her, my wife of 47 years, Adele.  And Alan wound up marrying Adele’s roommate, Debby, one week before Adele and I got married.  The two of them came to our wedding on their honeymoon.

Today, 53 years after we met, Alan and Debby remain two of our closest friends.  This summer, they spent three days with us at our home.  We have been through all of life’s passages together—the birth of our children and their children—the work of building careers and families—the joys and disappointments of life—the sweetness of every milestone and the sorrow of every loss.

We still agree about very little when it comes to politics, but we have civil conversations—even debates from time to time—and usually end up agreeing to disagree.  But we always respect each other, and we often learn from each other. And, after 53 years, we love them like family.

During your time here, please don’t overlook your Alan.  Please don’t judge people quickly based on their outward appearances or your first impressions.  One of the many reasons we admitted students from around the world, people with every interest imaginable, is because we learn from our differences.  As you get to know your roommates and your classmates, try to be slow to judge and quick to understand.  Give everyone the benefit of the doubt, at least initially, not just at Harvard but throughout life and you will be surprised by the number of friends you will acquire, people quite different from you, but people who will enrich your life immensely.

If you are like most Harvard students, the friendships you make in the next few days will stay with you forever.  A few of you are even likely to meet your spouse or life partner here.  I know this statement to be true because I attend a lot of Harvard reunions.  I hear the same stories over and over about lifelong relationships that started during the first few days of school.  Your best friends, people with whom you will share your life together, are sitting among you.  Your job is to find them.

Let me also acknowledge that you may meet people at Harvard that you do not like.  Harvard is a microcosm of the larger world, and everything that you may find objectionable in the larger world is present in some measure here.  We are not perfect, but we strive to be better.  While trying to be a caring, understanding, and welcoming community, we cannot protect you from everything that is unpleasant.  Our job is to prepare you for the world you will inhabit when you graduate.  And that world is not going to treat you with kid gloves simply because you have a Harvard degree.  We would not be doing you a favor if we placed you in an emotional bubble and did not let your emotional immune systems develop.  We are here to prepare you to deal with a world that will challenge you—and sometimes even offend you.  I hope you will master these skills while you are at Harvard so you can devote your life to repairing a world that we all know is far from perfect.

I know from conversations that I have already had with some of you that you want to change the world.  Good for you.  That is one of the reasons we admitted you.  But if you want to change the world, you need to master the art of persuading people to change their minds.  And I guarantee that you will not be effective at doing so unless you first have the experience of changing your own.

Our motto at Harvard is Veritas.  It is more than a motto.  It is the reason we exist, to seek the truth.  Over time, truth is revealed, it needs to be tested on the anvil of competing ideas.  If you really seek the truth, you must engage with those who think differently than you.  Even more importantly, you must be willing to change your mind – to be persuaded by a better argument or new information.  Only when you have this experience will you be well equipped to make a difference in the world.  This is another skill I hope you will master at Harvard.

On move in day, Adele and I met many of your families.  We witnessed more than one emotional goodbye.  Most of you have been at the center of your loved one’s lives since the day you entered their world.  Now you are gone, and, for many left behind, the silence is deafening.  You have many people to help you make your transition to college—academic advisors, peer advisors, residential advisors, proctors, deans—you name it.  But your loved ones are on their own.  They are also going through a big adjustment, and it is up to you to help them through it.  Please give them a call from time to time, not a text – a call, and ask them how they are doing.  I guarantee you they will appreciate it.

Class of 2026. we have great expectations for you.  I hope that Harvard is everything you dreamed it will be—intellectually, socially and personally. I only wish I could be there at your 50th reunion so you could tell me how your life turned out and the role that Harvard played in it.

Best of luck to each of you, and Godspeed.

參考資料：

https://www.harvard.edu/president/speeches/2022/2022-convocation-remarks/

優弗教育首次獨家采用“雙團隊”導師模式-“DoubleTeam”。團隊一：由兩位主導師組成為“首席專家顧問團隊”。團隊二：由三位導師組成為“規劃執行團隊”。在優弗獨具特色的“雙團隊”指導下，具備專業性，聯動性以及高執行力這三大特點，讓整體規劃突破傳統留學導師架構，真正突顯每一位導師在學生身上可發展力，可塑造力，從而將服務做實，做精，做細！！！