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Everyone in my family went to school here at Michigan: me, my brother, my Mom and Dad--all of us. My Dad actually got the quantity discount: all three and a half of his degrees are from here. His Ph.D. was in Communication Science because they thought Computers were just a passing fad, when he earned it 44 years ago. He and Mom made a big sacrifice for that degree. They argued at times over pennies, while raising my newborn brother. Mom typed my Dad's dissertation by hand. That's ironic for a Communication Science dissertation. This velvet hood I'm wearing, this was my Dad's. And this diploma that I have here, just like the one you are about to get, that was my Dad's. And my underwear, that was... oh never mind.
我們家的所有成員都畢業于密歇根大學：我、我哥哥、我媽媽和爸爸——我們全家。事實上，我父親得了大宗折扣：他在這里獲得了三個半學位。他的博士學位是通信科學，因為他們認為計算機只是一時熱門，他是在44年前獲得的。他與我母親為之做出了巨大犧牲。在撫養我剛出生的哥哥時，他倆經常因為缺錢而爭吵。母親用手敲出了父親的論文，這對于通信科學論文來說具有諷刺意味。我戴的這頂天鵝絨帽是我父親的。這張文憑，和你們即將拿到的一樣，是我父親的。還有我的內衣，也是……哦，不用說了。
My father's father worked in the Chevy plant in Flint, Michigan. He was an assembly line worker. He drove his two children here to Ann Arbor, and told them: This is where you're going to go to college. I know it sounds funny now. Both his kids actually did graduate from Michigan. That was the American dream. His daughter, Beverly, of course with us today.
我的祖父在密歇根州弗林特的雪佛蘭汽車工廠工作，他是裝配線上的一名工人。他曾開車把兩個孩子送到安娜堡這兒，并告訴他們：這是你們今后要上的大學。我知道現在聽起來很好笑。他的兩個孩子也的確從密歇根大學畢業。這就是“美國夢”。他的女兒，貝芙麗，今天自然也和我們在一起。
