Natalie Portman Acknowledges What Many of Us Feel: Impostor Syndrome1

Elahe Izadi

Many of us have felt, at some point, that we haven’t truly earned our accomplishments. Part of impostor syndrome’s power is believing that the ultra-successful never feel like frauds.2. ultra-: 表示“极其，极端”（与形容词连用）；fraud: 欺骗行为，骗局。

Well, the next time you feel that way, consider Natalie Portman’s speech to graduating Harvard seniors3. senior: （美国四年制大学或中学的）四年级生。. During the Class Day address, Portman revealed how much self-doubt she battled after she enrolled in Harvard following the release ofStar Wars: Episode 1.4. Class Day: （美国大学、中学等毕业生的）班级日，毕业纪念日；enroll:入学；Star Wars: Episode 1: 《星球大战首部曲》，此处指《星球大战前传1：幽灵的威胁》（The Phantom Menace）。

“Today I feel much like I did when I came to Harvard Yard as a freshman in 1999,” she said. “I felt like there had been some mistake,that I wasn’t smart enough to be in this company, and that every time I opened my mouth I would have to prove that I wasn’t just a dumb5. dumb: 笨的，愚蠢的。actress.”

《黑天鹅》电影海报

她13岁凭借《这个杀手不太冷》惊艳世界；她天资聪颖，勤奋努力，精通四国语言，30岁便以《黑天鹅》封后奥斯卡。除此之外，她还是哈佛大学的心理学博士……她，就是集美丽与智慧于一身的犹太女神娜塔莉·波特曼。2015年5月27日，她以优异的成绩从哈佛大学毕业，并在毕业典礼上发表了演讲。她告诉我们，相信自己，努力奋斗，勇敢迎接生活中的每一个挑战，做自己的赢家，才能做人生的赢家。

Portman won an Oscar in 2011 for her performance inBlack Swanand has racked up a number of other accolades during her acting career.6. 波特曼凭借其在《黑天鹅》中的表演摘得2011年奥斯卡（最佳女主角）奖，并且在她的演艺生涯中还获得了许多其他荣誉。rack up: 大量获得；accolade: 荣誉，奖励。But when she first came to Harvard at age 18—after being a self-described nerd in high school—she felt incapable of meeting the “intellectual rigor”of the school.7. nerd: 呆子，乏味的人；rigor: 严密，缜密，此处指学术缜密的人。

And she was certain that her acting resume helped her through the admissions process: “I got in only because I was famous. This was how others saw me, it was how I saw myself,” she said.

Portman recalled in her speech that she enrolled in challenging classes to prove her seriousness. Among them: neurobiology and advanced Hebrew literature.8. neurobiology: 神经生物学；Hebrew literature: 希伯来文学。But all around her, friends and classmates took up less intense classes.

“Sometimes, your insecurities and your inexperience may lead you, too, to embrace other people’s expectations, standards or values,”Portman said. “But you can harness that inexperience to carve out your own path, one that is free of the burden of knowing how things are supposed to be, a path that is defined by its own particular set of reasons.”9. 但是你可以利用缺乏经验来开拓一条自己的道路，这条路没有“事情本该如此”的负担，而是由自身特有的理由来定义。harness: v. 利用。

Portman, who graduated with a degree in psychology in 2003, became the first Harvard graduate to win an Oscar for best actress,according toThe Harvard Crimson10. The Harvard Crimson: 《哈佛大学学生日报》，创办于1873年，完全由哈佛本科生运行。. Upon her win, former professors and mentors described her as a diligent and intelligent student.

“It was very clear when she was a student that she is a very determined person and capable of focused effort over a sustained period,” Stephen M. Kosslyn, a former Harvard psychology professor and former dean11. dean:（大学的）学院院长，系主任。of social sciences, told the school paper. “She is now demonstrating the results of that determination and focus.”

Alan M. Dershowitz, who said Portman was in his neuropsychology and the law class, told theCrimsonthat “she was a terrific student”who earned an A+ on a paper—“the highest grade in the class,”the newspaper noted.

Abigail Baird, her mentor at Harvard, told theNew York gTimes: “I’ve taught at Harvard, Dartmouth and Vassar, and I’ve had the privilege of teaching a lot of very bright kids.12. Dartmouth: 达特茅斯学院，美国著名的常春藤学院之一；Vassar: 瓦瑟学院，美国一所高等私立文理学院。There are very few who are as inherently bright as Natalie is, who have as much intellectual horsepower,13. inherently: 本质地，内在地；horsepower: 马力（功率单位）。who work as hard as she did.She didn’t take a single thing for granted.”

Portman came to Harvard feeling “alarmed and intimidated14. intimidated: 害怕的，受到威胁的。by the calm eyes of fellow students” who thought the work was easy compared to high school, she said. But after years of serious coursework, she accepted that acting was her passion and not a frivolous15. frivolous: 琐屑的，无意义的。pursuit. She couldn’t wait to get back to making films.

“I realized that seriousness for seriousness’s sake was its own kind of trophy, and a dubious one, a pose I sought to counter some half-imagined argument about who I was,”16.“我意识到，为了认真而认真只是其本身的战利品，是一种模棱两可、为了对抗想象中的自己而采取的一种姿态。”trophy: 战利品，奖品；dubious: 含糊的，可疑的；counter: 反击，反驳。Portman said. “There was a reason I was an actor: I loved what I do. And I saw from my peers and mentors, not only was that an acceptable reason, it was the best reason.”