“不要害怕感到脆弱”，中国留学生布朗大学毕业演讲火了！

又是一年毕业季。来自中国河南郑州的白玖洋是美国名校布朗大学（Brown University）认知科学（cognitive science）专业的博士毕业生。

当地时间5月29日，作为博士毕业生代表，白玖洋在毕业典礼上发表了题为《Don't Be Afraid of Being Vulnerable》（《不要害怕感到脆弱》）的演讲。演讲不仅收获了布朗大学的好评，也在国内火了。

演讲精彩片段在此↓↓

在演讲中，白玖洋表示，作为来自不同文化的留学生，自己在这里学习期间曾一度感到很脆弱。他形象的比喻道，留学生活“就像是用困难模式玩一款很有挑战性的电子游戏。”

Jiuyang Bai, who received his Ph.D. in cognitive science, chose to embrace vulnerability. In an address to his fellow doctoral graduates in Brown University, he candidly shared that coming to the U.S. to earn master’s and doctoral degrees felt like playing a challenging video game in difficult mode.

“如果你也是一个留学生，来自一个不同的文化，那你肯定明白我在说什么。你明白经常需要跟别人解释是什么感觉，明白被误解的感觉，明白想念家人、朋友，甚至只是家乡美食的感觉。”
“If you are also an international student who came from a very different culture, you know exactly what I mean,” he said. “You know the feeling of frequently explaining yourself to others. You know the feeling of being misunderstood. You know the feeling of missing your family, your friends and even just the food you’re familiar with.”

不要害怕感到脆弱

白玖洋表示，正是在这极具挑战性的留学生活中，他一度很害怕表现出自己的脆弱，直到他意识到这种恐惧无助于任何人。 
Bai said that he feared showing the vulnerability he felt while at Brown, until he realized that fear helps no one and can even tear communities apart. 

“回顾我的生活和世界上发生的事， 我意识到害怕脆弱从来都是没有好处的。它使我们停止沟通，对不确定性的容忍度降低，并开始使用刻板印象来看待他人。在很多情况下，它还会导致攻击性甚至暴力。”
“Looking back in my life and things that have happened in the world, I realize the fear of feeling vulnerable has never done good. It makes us shut down the channel of communication, become less tolerant to uncertainty and start to perceive others using stereotypes. And in many cases, it also leads to aggression and even violence.”

“疫情让人们感到脆弱，然后针对亚裔的仇恨犯罪数量飙升。也许有些人无法接受，病毒在21世纪仍然可以威胁他们生命的事实，所以他们用仇恨给自己编造了一种叙事——‘这全是别人的错’。”
“The pandemic made people feel vulnerable, then hate crime against Asian community soared. Maybe some people cannot accept the fact that a virus can still threaten their life in the 21st century, so they use hate to create a narrative to themselves that this is all somebody else’s fault.”

他表示，如果那些被仇恨占据的人能明白，人类在大自然面前仍旧是脆弱的，他们感受到的或许就不是仇恨，而是共情和同情。
“If they understood we, as humans, are still vulnerable in front of mother nature, they would feel not hate but empathy and compassion.”

他希望大家反思，当我们感到寒冷的时候，最该做的是抱团取暖，而不是互相怨恨。

“What do we do when everyone feels cold? We don't hate each other. We hug and warm each other. That's what we do.”

脆弱最终会化为力量

白玖洋很快就意识到，如果放弃恐惧，正视自己的脆弱，那么脆弱最终将化为力量和勇气。他参加了校园英语工作坊，加入了摇摆俱乐部，并组织活动帮助同学提高中文。这些互动让他终于与同学建立了深厚的连结，并给予了他足够的信心。
So Bai decided to conquer his fear, laying bare his vulnerabilities. He participated in English language workshops on campus, joined the Brown Swing Club and held Chinese language conversations with fellow students. Those interactions led to deep connections with others at Brown and gave Bai enough confidence.

“在我在布朗大学的经历中，我意识到，如果我摒弃恐惧，做真实的自己并真诚待人，脆弱最终会化为勇气和力量，”他说。“脆弱让我们连结在一起，因为我们都经历过艰难时期。这给了我们相互信任和支持的基础。”

“In my own journey at Brown, I realized that if I abandon fear and stay true to myself and others, eventually vulnerability leads to courage and strength,” he said. “Vulnerability really connects us, because we have all been through a tough time. It gives us the foundation to trust and support each other.”

他建议大家永远不要忘记自己的脆弱，因为这是保持同情心和产生积极变化的关键：“我希望你们保持一颗坚强、信任的心—— 一颗仍然会感到脆弱的心; 一颗开放，能接受未知的心; 一颗能与世界上遭遇不幸的人们息息相通的心。”
He advised his fellow graduates to never forget their vulnerability, because it is the key to remaining compassionate and effecting positive change: “I hope you maintain a strong, trusting heart — a heart that can still feel vulnerable; a heart that is open and tolerant to uncertainty; a heart that can relate to people who are still suffering in the world.”

来源｜布朗大学官网、21世纪英文报

图源 | 21世纪英文报视频号截图

制作｜绢生

审核｜肖英 / 蓝莓

终审｜清欢

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