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For the Class of 2020, our college experience has ended abruptly.
在我們2020屆的畢業(yè)生看來，我們的大學(xué)生活結(jié)束得是那么的突然。
To make matters worse, we’re plunging headfirst into a public-health nightmare compounded by potentially the worst recession since the Great Depression.
更糟糕的是，剛失去畢業(yè)典禮，我們又一頭扎進(jìn)了新冠肺炎這場(chǎng)公共健康噩夢(mèng)，還有堪稱大蕭條以來最為嚴(yán)重的一次經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退。
Some of us will be the first in our families to graduate from college.
我們中的一些人還是家族中的第一個(gè)大學(xué)生。
Many have overcome other great barriers to achieve this milestone.
許多人都克服了巨大的障礙，才取得了這一里程碑式的成績。
But as the “real world” knocks on our door, we crave nothing more than a little direction and a little tradition.
然而，當(dāng)“赤裸裸的現(xiàn)實(shí)”敲響我們的大門，得到一點(diǎn)指引，守住一點(diǎn)傳統(tǒng)就已經(jīng)成了我們唯一的渴求。
For graduating college students, commencement speeches—the punchy one-liners; inspirational anecdotes;
對(duì)于即將畢業(yè)的大學(xué)生而言，畢業(yè)致辭——致辭里那些絕妙的俏皮話；鼓舞人心的軼事；
and calls to action from celebrities, entrepreneurs and politicians— are a rite of passage.
還有來自名人、企業(yè)家和政治家的行動(dòng)召喚——無異于一場(chǎng)重大的儀式。
Though these speeches gesture toward the future, they also commemorate the past four years.
那些演講無不都在著眼未來，但它們同時(shí)也是對(duì)我們過去四年大學(xué)生活的紀(jì)念。
In these final moments, we recognize that we influenced our schools as much as they influenced us.
在最后的這些時(shí)刻，我們終于意識(shí)到，我們對(duì)學(xué)校的影響并不亞于學(xué)校對(duì)我們的影響。
“I always wanted first to say we notice that you were here,” former Harvard president Drew Faust told us,
“我一直想先說一句，我們有注意到你們來過這里，”在談及她想通過畢業(yè)典禮致辭傳達(dá)怎樣的信息時(shí)，
describing what she wanted to accomplish in a commencement speech.
哈佛大學(xué)前校長德魯·浮士德曾對(duì)我們說道。
“You’ve mattered here, and we know that you’ve been here,
“你們?cè)谶@里發(fā)過光，發(fā)過熱，我們知道你們來過這里，
and there are things that we shared together during these years that make you not just yet another class of students.”
這些年，我們甘苦與共，風(fēng)雨同舟，你們已經(jīng)不再只是一個(gè)班級(jí)的同學(xué)。”
Students won’t put on caps and gowns and listen to celebratory speakers this year.
今年，畢業(yè)班的同學(xué)們不會(huì)再戴禮帽，穿長袍，聽祝賀自己畢業(yè)的演講。
Curbing the pandemic requires that we all do our part.
控制疫情需要我們所有人都貢獻(xiàn)自己的一份力。
The decision to send students home and cancel or postpone in-person commencements has likely saved the lives of students, professors, faculty and staff.
學(xué)生、教授和教職員工還能安然無恙，校方讓學(xué)生回家，取消或推遲現(xiàn)場(chǎng)舉行的畢業(yè)典禮的這一決定或許也是功臣之一。
While virtual commencements are all many of us can have in this time,
盡管我們中間的很多人當(dāng)前都只能擁有一場(chǎng)云畢業(yè)典禮，
watching them through screens, thousands of miles apart, will be different.
與其他同學(xué)相隔數(shù)千英里，在屏幕面前觀看典禮勢(shì)必收獲不一樣的感受。
Postponed ceremonies will be different too.
推遲畢業(yè)典禮也會(huì)收獲不一樣的感受。
We won’t all be in the same place in our lives: excited, scared, hopeful during the bittersweet end of college.
我們無法再在同一個(gè)校園里，一起度過一段既興奮，又害怕，又充滿希望，既甜蜜又苦澀的大學(xué)生活尾聲。
But that doesn’t mean they won’t mean anything.
但這并不意味著今年的畢業(yè)典禮就沒有了意義。
“For some campuses like ours, students were away on spring break,”
“對(duì)于我們這樣的校園來說，畢業(yè)之前學(xué)生們就已經(jīng)放春假離校了，”
University of Virginia president James E. Ryan said in an April interview.
弗吉尼亞大學(xué)校長詹姆斯·E·瑞安在4月份的一次采訪中說。
“They didn’t have four or five days to say goodbye.
“他們都沒有四五天的時(shí)間跟其他人告別。
So, for many of them, this will be the first time they’ve seen each other since March.
所以，對(duì)于他們中的許多人來說，畢業(yè)典禮將會(huì)是他們自3月份以來的第一次見面。
I think it will be a remarkably special occasion.”
我覺得那將是一個(gè)非常非常特別的時(shí)刻。”
And he’s right: we’ll all be together again, some time when the curve has flattened and things are better.
他說的沒錯(cuò)：我們會(huì)有再聚首的那天，等疫情曲線平緩，情況有所好轉(zhuǎn)以后一定會(huì)有那么一天。
Once more, we will sit on library steps, fill quad lawns and take in one another’s company.
我們將再次坐上圖書館的臺(tái)階，再次坐滿學(xué)校廣場(chǎng)的草坪，再次回到彼此的懷抱。
On our last day on campus, March 15, two of our friends geared up for a 16-hour drive to Michigan.
在我們校園生活的最后一天，也就是3月15日這天，我們的兩個(gè)朋友準(zhǔn)備驅(qū)車16個(gè)小時(shí)去密歇根。
We gathered around their rented minivan to say goodbye.
我們圍著他們租來的面包車跟他們道別。
They pulled away from the curb, then pulled back in, as if we didn’t really have to leave each other.
他們從路邊開走之后又開了回來，好像我們并不是真的要分開一樣。
Finally, they drove off campus and disappeared into the world.
最后，他們終于驅(qū)車離開了校園，消失在了茫茫人海里。
Those of us who remained held each other close, hopefully not for the last time.
我們剩下的人緊緊相擁著目送他們離開，希望，這不是我們的最后一次相擁。
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