奥巴马给全美中小学生上的开学第一课:开学第一课观后感

　　你每天不论刮风下雨都坚持去上学，牺牲玩耍时间完成家庭作业，“头悬梁锥刺股”般地复习准备各种考试……你是否也曾怀疑过这样做到底意义何在，甚至产生过放弃的念头？读完下面这篇演讲，相信你会找到上学的意义和坚持下去的动力。
　　I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you starting middle or high school, it"s your first day in a new school, so it"s understandable if you"re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now—with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you"re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could"ve stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.
　　So I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I"m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I"m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what"s expected of all of you in this new school year.
　　我知道，对你们很多人来说，今天是开学的第一天。而对于你们当中那些刚上初中或高中的同学来说，今天是你们来到新学校的第一天，因此，如果你们有点紧张也是可以理解的。我想那边有些高中生现在肯定感觉很不错，因为再过一年你们就毕业了。不管你们在上几年级，你们中有些人可能希望现在还是暑假，那样今天早上你们就可以多睡一会儿懒觉了。
　　因此我知道你们有些人还在适应返校后的生活。但今天我来到这里，是因为有些重要的事情要和大家一起讨论。我来到这里，就是想和大家聊聊教育的问题，聊聊在这个新学年对你们大家有哪些期望。
　　Fulfill Your Responsibilities 恪尽职责
　　Now, I"ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I"ve talked about responsibility a lot. I"ve talked about teachers" responsibility for inspiring students and pushing you to learn. I"ve talked about your parents" responsibility for making sure you stay on track1), and you get your homework done, and don"t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox2).
　　But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated3) teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world—and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. That"s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.
　　I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you"re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That"s the opportunity an education can provide.
　　Maybe you could be a great writer, but you might not know it until you write that English class paper that"s assigned to you. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor, but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator4) or a Supreme Court justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.