米歇尔在成都七中的演讲稿
Chengdu, China
10:50 A.M.CST
MRS. OBAMA: (Applause.) Nihao. It is truly a pleasure to be here at theNumber Seven School. Thank you so muchfor your warm welcome.
Now, before I get started, on behalf ofmyselfand my husband, I want to say that our hearts go out to all those withlovedones on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. As I said this past weekend when Ispoke at Peking University, we arevery much keeping allof them in our thoughts and our prayers at thistremendously difficult time.
So now, let me start by thankingyourPrincipal, Principal Liu, and your classmate, Ju Chao, for thatwonderfulintroduction. Your English, Ju Chao, isexcellent, and you shouldbe very proud. Thank you so much. (Applause.) And I want tothankall of the students here today, both those of you here in person and thoseofyou joining remotely from across the region. I’m thrilled to be visiting yourwonderful school.
Now, in preparation for this visit, beforeIleft the U.S.I visited the Yu Ying School. It’s a public school near the White House in Washington, D.C., andallof the students at this school study Chinese. And I met with thesixth-grade class, kids who are 11 and 12 yearsold. They had recentlytaken a trip hereto China,and they were bursting with excitement. They were eager to tell me abouteverythingabout what they had seen.
But they admitted that before their trip,theyhad all kinds of misconceptions about China. They thought theywould see palaces andtemples everywhere they went, but
instead they found massivecities filled withskyscrapers. They weren’t sure thatthey’d like the food here inChina, but they actually loved it, and theylearned how to use
chopsticks. And inthe end, one of the students told me –- and thisis his quote -- he said,“Coming home was reallyexciting, but was at the same time sad.”
Now, meeting these students reminded methatwhen we live so far away from each other, it’s easy to develop all kindsof misconceptions and stereotypes. It’seasy to focus on our differences –- how we speak different languages and eatdifferent foods andobserve different traditions. But as I travel the world, and I meetyoungpeople from so many countries, I’m always struckby how much more we have incommon. And that’sbeen particularlytrue during my visit here in China.
You see, the truth is that I grew up likemanyof you. My mom, my dad, my brotherand I, we lived in a tiny apartment in Chicago, which is one of the largestcities in America. My father worked atthe local water plant. And we didn’thave much money, but our little
homewas bursting with love. Every evening, my family would laugh andsharestories over dinner. We’d playcard games and havefun for hours. Andon summer nights, I remember, when our apartment gottoo hot, we’d all sleepoutside on our back porch.
Family meant everything to us, includingourextended family. My grandparentslived nearby, and my elderly great auntand uncle lived in the apartmentdownstairs from us. And when theirhealthstarted to decline my parents stepped in, helping my uncle
shave anddress eachmorning, dashing downstairs in the middle of the night to check onmy aunt.
So in my family, like in so many ofyourfamilies, we took care of each other. And while we certainly weren’t rich, my parents had big dreams formeand my brother. They had only a highschool education themselves, butthey were determined to send us both touniversities.
So they poured all of their love and alloftheir hope into us, and they worked hard. They saved every penny. And Iknow that wasn’t easyfor them, especially for my father. You see, my father had a seriousillnesscalled multiple sclerosis. And as he gotsicker, it got harder forhim to walk, and it took him longer to get dressed inthe morning.
But no matter how tired he felt, no matterhowmuch pain he was in, my father hardly ever missed a day of work, because hewasdetermined to give me and my brother a better life. And every day, likeso many of you, I felt theweight of my parents’ sacrifices on my shoulders. Every day, I wanted to make themproud.
So while most American kids attendpublicschools near their homes, when it was time for me to attend high school,I tookan exam and got into a special public high school where I could get abetter education. But the school was very far from my home, soI had toget up early every morning and ride a bus for an hour, sometimes anhour and ahalf if the weather was bad. And every afternoon, I’d ride that same bus back home andthenimmediately start my homework, often studying late into the night --andsometimes I would wake up at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning to study even more.
And it wasn’t easy. But whenever I got tired or discouraged, Iwould justthink about how hard my parents were working for me. And I would remembersomething my
motheralways told me –- she said: “A goodeducation is something that no one can take away from you.”
And when it was time for me to applytouniversity, I had many options, because in America, there are many kindsofuniversities. There are four-yearuniversities. There
aretwo-yearcommunity colleges which are less expensive. There areuniversities where you take classes at night while workingduring the day. So you don’t have to beatop student to attend a university. And even if your parents don’t have much money or you live in a tinytown in a rural area, inAmerica, you can still attend university. And you can get scholarshipsand governmentloans to help pay your tuition.
So I attended Princeton University formyundergraduate degree, and I went on to Harvard University for mygraduatedegree in law. And with those degrees Iwas able to become alawyer at a large law firm, and then I worked as anexecutive at a cityhospital, and then I was the director of an organizationthat helped disadvantagedyoung people.
And my story isn’t unusual in America. Some of our most famousathletes, like
LeBronJames, and artists, like the singer Janelle Monae, camefrom strugglingfamilies like mine, as do many business leaders -- like HowardSchultz. He’s the head of a company calledStarbucks,which many of you may have heard of. When Mr. Schultz was a boyhis father lost his job, leaving their familydestitute. But Mr. Schultzworkedhard. He got a scholarship to auniversity, and eventually built thelargest coffeehouse company in the world.
And then there’s this other guy I know whowas raised by a single mother whosometimes struggled to afford food for theirfamily. But like me, this guygotscholarships and loans to attend universities. He became a lawyer and aprofessor, and then he was a state senator andthen a national senator. And then, hebecame President of the United States. This guy I’m talking about is my husband, Barack Obama. (Applause.)
These stories are the stories of somanyAmericans, and of America itself. Because in
America, we believe thatno matter where you live or how muchmoney your parents have, or what race orreligion or ethnicity you are, if youwork hard and believe in yourself,
thenyou should have a chance tosucceed. We also believe that everyoneisequal, and that we all have the right to say what we think and worship aswechoose, even when others don’t like what we say or don’t always agreewith whatwe believe.
Now of course, living up to these idealsisn’t always easy. And there havebeentimes in our history where we have fallen short. Many decades ago,there were actually laws inAmerica that allowed discrimination against blackpeople like me, who are aminority in the United States. But overtime,ordinary citizens decided that those laws were unfair. So they heldpeaceful protests andmarches. They called on governmentofficials tochange those laws, and they voted to elect new officials whoshared their views.
And slowly but surely, Americachanged. We got rid of those unjustlaws. And today, just 50 years later, myhusbandand I are President and First Lady of the United States. And that isreally the story of America –-how over the course of our short history, through so many trialsand struggles,we have become more equal, more inclusive, and more free.
And today in America, people of everyrace,religion and ethnicity live together and work together to build a betterlifefor their children and grandchildren. And in the end, that
deepyearning to leave something better for thosewho come after us, that issomething we all truly share. In fact, there’s a Chinese saying that I lovethatsays, “To achieve true happiness, help the nextgeneration.”
And like so many of your parents, myparentssacrificed so much so that I could have opportunities they neverdreamedof. And today, as a mothermyself, I want even more opportunities for myown daughters. But of course, as I always tell my
daughters,withopportunities come obligations.
And that is true for all of you aswell. You all have the opportunity toreceive an education from this wonderful school,and you all have an obligationto take the fullest advantage of thisopportunity. And I know that’s exactly what you all aredoing.
You’re winning prizes in math andscience. Here, you are stagingmusicalperformances around the world. You’revolunteeringin your communities. Andmany of you are working hard to get an educationyour parents never dreamed of.
So you all have so much to offer –- andthat’s agood thing, because the world needs your talent. The world needs yourcreativity and energymore than ever before. Because we facebig challengesthat know no borders –- like improving the quality ofour airand water, ensuring that people have good jobs, stopping the spreadofdisease. And soon, it will all fall toall of you to come together withpeople on every continent and solve theseproblems together.
Now, fortunately, here at thiswonderfulschool, you’realready well on your way. For more than a decade, you’ve been building special relationships with aAmerican school in --an American high school, and many of you will attenduniversities in America orfind other ways to reach out beyond your borders.
So in the years ahead, much like you and Iaredoing here today, you will be creating bonds of friendship across the globethatwill last for decades to come. Andover the past week, as I have seen boththe ancient wonders and the modernachievements of your fascinating country, andas I’ve met withextraordinary youngpeople like all of you, I am more confident than ever beforein our sharedfuture. And I cannot wait to seeeverything that you willachieve here in China and around the world.
Thank you again for hosting me and myfamily atthis extraordinary school, and I wish you all the best of luck inyour journeyahead. Xie-Xie. (Applause.)