[中英文演讲稿]杰夫·胡贝尔在伊利诺伊大学香槟分校2016年毕业典礼上的演讲-find a better way

第一篇：[中英文演讲稿]杰夫·胡贝尔在伊利诺伊大学香槟分校2016年毕业典礼上的演讲-find a better way

演讲全文英汉对照如下：

I was honored to be asked to speak at my alma mater, the University of Illinois.My message for this year’s graduates? Find a better way.我很荣幸被母校伊利诺伊大学邀请做此次的毕业演讲。我想传达给今年毕业生的话是——寻找更好的方法。

Chancellor Wilson, President Killeen, faculty, and distinguished guests: it’s an honor to be back here at the University of Illinois.尊敬的名誉校长威尔逊女士，基林校长，全体教职员，以及各位尊敬的来宾，我很荣幸能回到母校伊利诺伊大学。

Class of 2016, I’m here to congratulate you, but I’m also here to thank you.各位2016届的毕业生，我在这里祝贺你们，感谢你们。

For many of you, this is your first college graduation ceremony.Well, this is also my first college graduation ceremony.See, I didn’t come to this event when I graduated in 1989.I had excuses.I had a new job.I was eager to get on with life.对你们中的很多人来说，这是你们经历的第一个大学毕业典礼。同时，这也是我参加的第一个大学毕业典礼。1989年毕业时，因为一些理由和新工作的原因，我没能参加毕业典礼。我渴望过新的生活。

I don’t have many regrets, but 27 years later, that’s one of the decisions I do regret, because I didn’t get to share this day with the people who loved me and supported me.当时我没有感到过多的遗憾，但是27年过去了，不得不说这是我做过的后悔的决定之一，因为我没能与爱我和支持我的人分享这人生中重要的一天。

That might also explain why I have 15 members of my family here today.And why my 90-year-old father in Dubuque, Iowa is watching on the livestream right now.这也是为什么今天在座宾客里有15位是我的家人的原因。我90岁的父亲也在爱荷华州的迪比克观看着同步直播。

That’s a life lesson that took me a while to learn: it’s important to reflect and celebrate, and to be grateful for those who bring learning and love into your life.自省和庆祝非常重要，还有要对那些在你生命中给予过知识和爱的人心怀感激。这是我花了一些时间才懂的人生道理。In fact, how about we all show our appreciation for the people who helped you get here: your families, friends, mentors, and loved ones.Graduates, please stand up, let’s hear it for them!说到这，不如让我们一起在这里对帮助过你的人：家人、朋友、导师和爱人表示感谢。各位毕业生，请起立。让我们听听他们的欢呼声！

Today, I’d like to share three pivotal chapters from my life.今天，我想和大家分享我生命中三个重要的故事。

The experiences themselves may not be universal, but the lessons of failure and resilience, of passion and purpose, and of loss and renewal may be.And they’re united by an overarching belief, one that I hope I can convince you to share.这些经历本身可能并不普遍，但这其中关于失败和抗逆，激情和目标，受挫与重建的问题却是你我都会遇到的。他们都受到同一个信念的支配，我希望你们能在这次分享中对这个信念有所感悟。

The belief is this: there has to be a better way.这个信念就是：一定会有更好的方法。

故事一：从农家穷小孩到伊利诺伊大学(UIUC)读书 The first chapter opens in Menominee, Illinois;population 248.Downtown Menominee has a church, a firehouse, a four-room schoolhouse, and of course, a tavern.第一个故事发生在仅有248人的伊利诺伊州梅诺米尼。梅诺米尼的市中心有一座教堂，一个消防站，一个四间房的校舍，和一家小酒馆。

I grew up on a small dairy farm, the youngest of five.The farm was a great place to grow up, although it wasn’t without its, ahem, character building moments.我在一个小奶牛场长大，是家中五个孩子中最小的。虽然这个地方没什么特别的，但却是一个成长的理想之地。我的性格也在那时候塑造。

A key feature of the dairy farm is the cow yard.A key feature of the cow yard is, of course, cow manure.Lots and lots of it.When you add in spring rains, it’s a thick soup.One particularly soggy day when I was about 12 years old, my job was to walk out through the cow yard to open the pasture gate for our cows.这个农场最主要的特点就是奶牛场了。奶牛场最主要的特点，当然就是牛粪。无尽的牛粪。当春雨降临时，它就如浓汤一般。在12岁时，一个特别潮湿的日子，当时我的工作就是穿过牛场给奶牛打开牧场门。

Every step I took I sank in deeper and deeper, until I was finally near the middle and completely stuck.Up to the top of my boots.Cow poop threatening to seep over the top.Not quite able to get them out.I yelled for help, but no one could hear me except the cows.And they didn’t really seem interested.我每走一步都越陷越深，直到走到中间时已经完全不能动弹。牛粪已经淹没过我靴子的顶部，我无法拔出双脚。我开始大喊寻求帮助，但是除了奶牛没人能听到。显然它们看起来并没有兴趣。

I started to panic a little, but then a remarkable calm came over me.It was very Zen.I saw my future: it was filled with cow manure.我开始有点惊慌，但又突然冷静下来。当时我头脑一片空白，仿佛看到了我的未来：被牛粪“淹没”。

Don’t get me wrong.Farming is a worthy and noble way of life, if you’re passionate about it.But it was in that moment I knew I would need to find my purpose elsewhere.别误会。在农场工作是一种有价值又高尚的生活方式，只要你对它有足够的热情。但那一刻我知道我的志向并不在此。

For me, there had to be a better way to find fulfillment and a different future, and that meant going to college.My parents believed in education, but they could only afford to pay for the first year of college.After that, it was up to me.对我来说，有一条更好的路实现自我价值和追逐更好的未来，那就是去上大学。我的父母重视教育，但他们只能付得起我第一年的学费。之后，我必须靠自己。

At the time, I had an uncle and a much-older brother who were both working in accounting jobs in “the big city,” Chicago.I thought their work with then-cutting-edge computer programs was impossibly cool, so I started lobbying my parents for a computer.当时，我的一个叔叔和哥哥都在大城市芝加哥做会计工作。我觉得他们对着计算机程序工作实在是太酷了，于是我开始游说我的父母给我买电脑。

An Apple II at the time was about $3,500 — about the equivalent of one year’s earnings on the farm.But my mother used her inheritance from my godfather, all of it, and bought me that computer.当时的一台二代苹果电脑大约需要3,500美金，相当于农场一年的收入。但我妈妈还是用我监护人留下的全部遗产，给我买了那台电脑。Being a precocious kid, I wasn’t happy enough to just use it.I had to take it apart, and “soup it up.” My parents were horrified.For me, the problem wasn’t putting it back together;it was that I needed storage.I needed floppy disks, lots of them.作为一个过早懂事的孩子，我并不满足于单纯使用电脑。我需要把它拆分开，然后再重新组装。这可把我的父母吓坏了。对我来说，头疼的并不是要将它按原装组装好，而是存储问题。我需要很多的软盘。

Floppy disks were the thumb drives of the 1980s, except it would take over 7,000 floppy disks, or a stack 50 feet high, and cost $35,000, to equal the storage in a one gigabyte thumb drive you buy for 3 bucks today, and easily fits in your pocket.Technology is really damn cool.软盘就是20世纪80年代的U盘，只不过它相当于7000张软盘，堆积起来有50英尺高，花费35，000美元，储存容量相当于你今天花3美元买的一个1GB易携带的U盘。科技真是酷毙了。

But, the nearest computer dealer was 15 miles away, and a box of disks cost about 10 weeks’ worth of my allowance for doing farm chores.但是，最近的电脑销售商在15英里以外，而且一盒磁盘的价格相当于我干10周农活的收入。

There had to be a better way.一定会有更好的方法。

So my brother helped me find a distributor in Chicago where I could buy them at wholesale for myself.Then I took out ads in some very geeky computer magazines, “Byte” and “Nibble” magazines, to sell to others.我的兄弟帮我找到了一个芝加哥的分销商，我可以在那里批发。于是我就在一些异常火爆的电脑杂志上登广告售卖，比如“Byte” 和“Nibble”等杂志。

I was a budding 14-year-old entrepreneur.I added other computer products over time and taught myself how to code.I bootstrapped the business out of my farmhouse bedroom into one of the first mail-order computer product companies in the country.我是一个14岁初露锋芒的创业者。不久之后，我增售了其他的电脑产品，并自学了如何编程序。我依靠自己的力量将事业搬出了农场的卧室，成立了国内第一个邮购计算机产品的公司。

And that’s how I created Amazon.com.这就是我创建Amazon.com的经过。

http://

OK, I’m kidding.That’s a different Jeff, who’s now an investor in my new company, but we’ll get to that in the 3rd chapter.呃，说笑了。那是另一个Jeff，现在是我新公司Grail的投资人之一，我将在第三个故事详细说到。

That business, born out of both desire and need — a better way — got me to, and through, University of Illinois.That excitement about what technology could make possible shaped the rest of my life and career.那份事业，诞生于愿望和需求——这也将我带到一条更好的路——去伊利诺伊大学读书。技术让一切变得可能的兴奋塑造了我今后的生活和职业。

故事二：被eBay开除，成为Google副总裁

Which brings me to the second chapter, which includes something I’ve never told anyone, except my wife, Laura.这就要说到我的第二个故事，故事一些细节我从没和别人说过，除了我的太太劳拉。It starts in 2002.I was working at eBay, drawn in by founder Pierre Omidyar’s deep belief that he, too, had found a better way: a way to use technology to level the playing field so that the little guys could compete with big companies in online commerce, a way for a mom-and-pop shop to be open 24/7, 365 days a year.2002年，我在eBay工作，被创始人彼埃尔·奥米迪亚和他的理念深深吸引，找到了一个更好的方式：用技术搭建一个公平的环境以便一些小公司能和大企业在电子商务中同场竞技，一个全年365天无休店面的方式。

I was a technologist who was passionate about innovation through technology, but eBay then was increasingly focused on marketing.I wanted to keep the playing field level.The marketers then wanted to charge more for an ad with blinking text.I overstate a bit, but basically it was the plot of the HBO show ‘Silicon Valley’ from a few weeks ago.我是一个对科技创新充满激情的技术人员，但是eBay却更多投入在市场营销。我想要保持竞争环境的公平性。营销者当时想从夺人眼球的广告中收取更多的费用。当然有一点夸张，但基本上类似几周前HBO的电视剧《硅谷》里的情节。I felt the dissonance pretty acutely, and I guess it showed, because — and this is the part I’ve never told to anyone, except Laura — I was fired.我感觉到这种不和谐愈演愈烈，而它也确实存在，后来我被解雇了，我从没对别人说过这些，除了Laura。

I thought I was going through the motions pretty convincingly, but I was still going through the motions.My heart wasn’t in it, and it showed.If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, then there has to be a better way.我曾经试图说服自己敷衍过去，但是我日渐感到煎熬。我的心思不在这里。如果你对你正在做的事情没有激情，那么一定会有更合适的出路。

Still, getting fired was a shock and incredibly humbling.I was devastated at the time, but it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened.That failure led me, forced me, to find a better way.不过，被人解雇的确是一个打击也让我一时之间无所适从。那段时间我伤心透了，但结果证明可能会有更好的事情发生。那次失败指引我，鞭策我，令我找到更好的出路。

The way for me was Google, where I “found my tribe,” where the people I worked with believed in innovation through technology as much as I did.对我来说那就是谷歌，在那里我“找到了我的兴趣部落”，在那里的同事们和我一样相信技术创新。

At eBay, I had a fancy title and a big team, but my new boss at Google felt strongly that you really have to earn leadership.In his words: “Go in, work with the team.Show them what you can do.Show them how you are going to help them win.Be a leader.”

在eBay，我有响亮的头衔和一个大团队，但我在谷歌的新老板让我深刻地感到你必须要具备领导能力。用他的话说：“去吧，和你的团队一起工作。向他们展示你能做什么。向他们展示你将怎样帮助他们获得胜利。成为一个领导者。”

He was right: it’s vitally important to put your head down and do the work and earn it.So I did.I took a title cut and a pay cut, launched a career at Google in 2003, and got to work with some of the best people in the world and build the amazing things that Chancellor Wilson mentioned: Google Ads, Google Apps, Google Maps, and Google X.I found a better way for myself, for my career, and maybe for the world.他是对的：放下头衔，投入工作，从中有所获得至关重要。所以我照做了。2003年职位降低和薪资削减后，我开始了在谷歌的职业生涯，和一些世界上最优秀的人一起工作、做一些了不起的事，就是威尔逊校长提到的：谷歌广告、谷歌应用程序、谷歌地图、谷歌实验室。我为自己、职业生涯、甚至可能为这个世界找到了更好的道路。

故事三：为了亡妻，跨界生物寻求癌症治愈之道

Now we’re at the third and last chapter in this story.It’s the most important one, and a difficult one for me to tell.现在我们来谈谈第三个故事。这也是是最重要的，也是最难以启齿的故事。

It starts two decades ago, when I was asked by my then-employer to investigate an online dating service as a potential partner.It was called Match.com.I created a profile out of purely professional interest, of course.二十年前，我被当时的雇主要求充当一个潜在伙伴去调查一个线上约会服务。网站叫做Match.com。当然纯粹的出于专业兴趣我创建了个人http://资料。

It was 1996, so there weren’t mobile phones with cameras, or really digital photos at all.The service was kind of like Tinder or Hinge, but, you know, without pictures or phones or swiping.It was text-only;old school.1996年时，还没有具备摄像头的手机和真正意义上的数码照片。这项服务就像Tinder 和Hinge（约会应用）一样，但是，你知道，不能拍照、通话、刷卡。只能打字；（真是）老派。

The first profile that caught my eye was of a woman named Laura.She was a designer and art director for magazines and was an expressive and gifted writer.I thought she seemed smart and super cool.On our first date, I went to her house to pick her up and was greeted by a beautiful, athletic, artistic hippie chick wearing a radiant smile, a long flowing dress, and cowboy boots.第一个吸引我目光的个人资料是一个叫劳拉的女人。她曾是杂志的设计师、艺术总监，还是一个表现力极强有天赋的作家。我想她应该看起来很聪明也很有个性。第一次约会时，我去她家接她，映入眼帘的是一个美丽，阳光，风雅的嬉皮式女孩带着灿烂的笑容，穿着飘逸的长裙和牛仔靴。

I fell in love with Laura at the door.In that instant, she became a part of me.我们很快坠入了爱河。在那一瞬间，她成为了我生命中不可或缺的一部分。

We built an amazing life together over the next 20 years.We have two beautiful children, and hopefully future Illini, who are here today.They will come to believe, as we all do, that Orange and Blue actually really look good together!在接下来的二十年里我们共同建立了美满的生活。我们有两个漂亮的孩子、光明的未来。他们会相信，正如我们所做的，橙色和蓝色在一起真的很棒！（伊利诺伊大学校徽配色为橙和蓝）

Laura became my partner in everything, and inspired me through her deep caring, kindness, willpower, and boundless positive energy to be a better person, a better husband, father, and human.劳拉是我各个方面的理想伴侣，通过她深深的关切，善良，意志力和无限积极的正能量鼓舞着我成为一个更好的人，一个更好的丈夫，父亲。

But then one day, Laura told me she felt tired, which was unusual.She had always been super fit and high-energy.但是突然有一天，劳拉告诉我她感到很疲惫，这有点不太寻常。她之前一直都很健康和充满活力。We saw doctors, but none of the explanations seemed right.我们看过很多医生，却都没有合理的解释。

Two years, one month, and one day ago we found the answer: a small tumor in her colon.It was cancer.Still, that’s treatable.Pretty straightforward surgery and good outcomes if you catch it early.两年后的一个月，终于有一天我们找到了答案：她的结肠中有一个小肿瘤。那是癌症。不过，那是可以治疗的。如果你能早点发现，一个很简单的手术后会得到理想的疗效。

But before the surgery, the doctors did a CT scan.When we looked at the results, it just lit up.We saw that the cancer wasn’t just one small tumor.It had spread to her liver, her abdomen, her chest, and through her lymph system up to her neck.It was stage four cancer.但是在手术之前，医生做了一个CT扫描。当我们看到结果，它刚被点亮时。我们看到那个癌症不仅仅只是一颗小肿瘤。它已经扩散到她的肝脏，她的腹腔，她的胸腔，并通过她的淋巴系统直到颈部。是癌症的第四阶段（晚期）。

Laura fought.God did she fight.在这场与上帝的博弈中劳拉没有退缩。

And we fought alongside her.She had maybe the best team of cancer doctors ever assembled fighting for her.She took her art supplies to chemotherapy sessions in her “Kicking Cancer’s Ass” tote bag.我们也和她并肩作战。她有着可能是最好的癌症医生团队为她医治。她带上她装着美术用品的“抵抗癌症”托特包去化疗。

When she couldn’t move her legs to roll over or get out of bed, she asked me to order some hand weights for next-day-delivery so she could rebuild her muscles and be strong again.当她无法移动双腿翻身或者离开病床时，她让我订购一些能次日送达的手持举重器以便她能重塑她的肌肉再变得强壮。

She never, never, never gave up.Even at the very end.她从来都不曾放弃。即使是在生命的最后一刻。

She passed away 6 months ago this week.直到这周她已经过世六个月了。

And that is why I told you earlier: be grateful for those who bring love into your life.Because I didn’t have her for long enough.Our kids didn’t have her for long enough.The world didn’t have her for long enough.But I am so very grateful we had Laura.这就是我为什么之前告诉你：对那些在你的生活中给予爱的人心存感激。因为我没能和她共度足够长的时间。我们的孩子也没能和她共度足够长的时间。但我仍然很感激我们和劳拉共度过的时光。

I miss her every day.And every day, her bright spirit, determination and character inspire me.我每天都在想念她。每一天，她开朗乐观的精神，坚定的意志和优良的品质都鼓舞着我。

It fuels my conviction that there has to be a better way for us, as a country and a world, to fight cancer.这助长了我的信念，未来我们、国家、世界一定会有更好的方法对抗癌症。

At Google X, I had begun studying the intersection of life science and computer science, focusing on how digitizing biology, big data, and machine learning could accelerate our understanding of complex biology.在谷歌实验室，我开始研究生命科学和计算机科学之间的关联，专注于如何利用数字化生物学、大数据，人工智能加快我们对复杂生物学的理解。

Losing Laura made me determined to understand one of the most complex processes — the biology of cancer — and how it can be stopped.失去劳拉让我立志去了解一个最为复杂的过程——癌症生物学——它如何能抑止。

When cancer is caught early, at stage one or stage two, it has 80 to 90 percent positive outcomes, where lives are saved, even with the limited treatments available today.当癌症早期，在第一阶段或第二阶段，有80%－90%是积极的结果，治愈希望很大，即使是今天可使用的治疗有限。

When cancer is discovered later, at stage three or stage four, when it’s spread and has become more complex(like Laura’s was), and which happens in over half the cases that are diagnosed, the outcomes are the exact reverse — 80 to 90 percent negative outcomes, where lives are lost.当癌症发现较晚，在第三阶段或第四阶段，当它开始扩散变得更为复杂（就像劳拉一样），发生在超过一般的诊断里，这些结果截然相反－80%至90%是消极的结果，治愈几率极其渺茫。

Currently we spend billions of dollars treating late-stage cancer when it’s often futile.Instead, we have to detect it early, when it can be cured.目前我们花费数十亿美元在治疗晚期癌症，然而这往往是徒劳的。相反，我们必须在它可以被治愈的时候尽早发现。

Laura’s cancer is just one story out of millions.There are eight million cancer deaths, every year.劳拉的故事只是沧海一粟。每年有八百万人死于癌症。

And it all starts when one cell out of the 37 trillion-or-so cells in your body divides, and does it wrong.Those mutated cells shed DNA and RNA into the bloodstream as they multiply.If we can detect that early signal, we can catch cancer much earlier.癌症始于你体内37万亿左右的细胞中的一个细胞分裂。这些突变细胞脱落的DNA 和RNA进入血液同时也会繁殖。如果我们能发现这些早期信号，我们就能尽早的控制癌症。

That’s what my new company, GRAIL, is working to do.Our mission is to “detect cancer early, when it can be cured”.That’s what I am working to do.这就是我的新公司GRAIL现在正在做的事，我们的使命是“尽早发现癌症，它将可以被治愈”。这就是我要做的工作。

I believe it’s within our reach.I believe in that better way.我相信我们可以做到。我相信那是更好的方法。

So, what does this all mean for you? 那么，这些对你意味着什么？

When Laura died, lots of very well-intentioned people told me that “everything happens for a reason.” 当劳拉去世后，很多好心人告诉我“事出皆有因”。

I am a spiritual person.I grew up in a religious family.And so this isn’t a commentary on faith, but I reject that.我是一个有灵性的人。我成长在一个宗教家庭。当然这并不是对信仰的评论，所以我拒绝。

Things don’t “happen for a reason.” But you can find purpose and meaning in things that do happen.事情的发生并不需要原因。但你可以从发生的事情中找到目的和意义。

Things don’t happen for a reason.But how you respond can reveal your true character.事情的发生并不需要原因。但是你如何回应才能显露你的本心。

Things don’t happen for a reason.But they do often happen because nobody has yet found a better way.事情的发生并不需要原因。但是它们往往发生因为没有人能找到更好的方法。

That’s my message to all of you: Find a better way.这就是我想传达给你们的：不止于此，要寻找更好的方法。

College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences graduates: Today, nearly 800 million people in the world don’t have enough food.You can find a better way to feed the world.农业，消费和环境科学学院的毕业生们：今天，世界上将近八亿人没有足够的食物。你可以找到一个更好的方法来养活这个世界。

College of Engineering graduates: More than one billion people today live without access to energy.You can find a better, cleaner way to quite literally empower people.工程学院的毕业生们：今天有超过十亿人生活在无法使用能源的地方。你可以找到一个更好、更干净的方法切实地帮助他们。

College of Education graduates: Eight out of ten low-income students can’t read at grade level.You can find a better way to give everyone a fair chance.教育学院的毕业生们：每十个低收入家庭中，八个家庭中的的适龄孩子不能读书。你可以找到一个更好的方法给每个人一个公平的读书机会。

College of Applied Health Sciences graduates: Millions of veterans have returned home with injuries that will last a lifetime.You can find a better way to serve those who served us.应用健康科学学院的毕业生们：数以百万计的退伍军人带着伴随一生的伤病回到家乡。你可以找到一个更好的方法服务这些曾经为我们付出的人。

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences graduates: From History and Anthropology to Biology and of course, Computer Science, you can find a better way to learn from our past and innovate for our future.文学院和理学院的毕业生们：从历史、人类学到生物学，当然，还有计算机科学，你可以找到一个更好的方法从我们的过往中有所汲取并对我们的未来有所创新。

And, specifically, Political Science graduates: Please, please find a better way to make our Democracy work!Seriously, people!I don’t want to have to move to Canada!还有，特别是政治科学的毕业生们：请找到一个更好的方法让我们的民主享有实权！请严肃对待这件事儿！我不想去加拿大！

From Law, to Labor Relations, to Media, to Journalism, to Social Work, to Business — there are so many areas crying out for a better way.从法律，到劳动关系，到媒体，到新闻，到社会工作，到商业——有太多领域迫切需要相对更好的方式创新。

And so my final thought for you is this: 所以，我最后想和你们说的是：

Even when you feel like you’re stuck in the mud(or cow manure)and there isn’t a path forward…

即使当你觉得自己深陷泥潭（或是牛粪），当下前方并没有一条路可走…

Even when you feel like you’ve failed and are humbled… 即使当你感到失败和自卑…

Even when you’re at your darkest hour, and you’ve lost a part of yourself…

即使你在经历最黑暗的时光，失去了人生最重要的一部分…

There is still hope.There is always hope.尚有希望在。总会有解决办法。

You can find purpose and meaning from those experiences.There is a better way.你可以从这些经历中找到目的和意义。总会有更好的方法。

You have the passion.You have the tools.You have the skills.Use them.For your own fulfillment, and for the betterment of our world.Use them.And find a better way.用你的热情。你的装备。你的技能。用它们去实现自我成就，也造福我们的世界。寻找更好的方式。Thank you.谢谢！