“The Finish Line Is the Starting Point”“终点即起点”

文森特·E.普赖斯

We are gathered here this beautiful morning， this unseasonably cold morning， in historic Wallace Wade Stadium， the site of many joyful triumphs over the years.

在这个美丽的早晨，天气异常寒冷，我们聚集在历史悠久的华莱士·韦德体育场，多年来这里见证了许多令人喜悦的胜利。

The Classics scholars among you may know that the word ‘stadium comes from the Latin for the standard distance of a footrace. And a race may be what many of you may feel youve just completed—an extraordinary run with unforeseen turns along the way. And to be sure， youve earned the opportunity to sit here and to revel at the finish line， with your fans surrounding you.

你們当中的古典文学学者可能知道，“体育场”这个词来自拉丁语，指的是赛跑的标准距离。今天在座的许多人也许感觉刚刚完成了一场赛跑——沿路一个个弯道突现，比赛惊心动魄。不过可以肯定的是，你们已经赢得了坐在这里的机会，在终点线上，粉丝环绕，尽情狂欢。

And you may also feel that you are just beginning another race—one with its own turns and hurdles—and a finish line that seems impossibly far off.

同时也许你会觉得自己刚刚又开始一场新的赛跑——会遇到各种新的弯道和路障——而终点线似乎遥不可及。

Though its gone now， there used to be a track here， and it was here in this stadium that the great Al Buehler， who spent six decades at Duke， coached track and field.

这里原先有一条跑道，虽然现在没有了。了不起的阿尔·比勒曾在杜克大学担任田径教练，执教六十余年。

It was right here that Coach Buehler brought out2 the best in All-Americans3， ACC4 Champions， and Olympians—a hall-of-fame5 career that led none other than6 Mike Krzyzewski7 to say that， quote， “Al defines the word Coach， and sets an example for all of us.”

正是在这里，比勒教练让全美最佳运动员、大西洋海岸联盟赛冠军和奥运会选手发挥出了最好的竞技水平——他的执教生涯如此辉煌，甚至迈克·克日热夫斯基都评价道：“阿尔定义了教练这个词，为我们所有人树立了榜样。”

What the runners hes coached over those many years most appreciate is his quiet wisdom， and a guiding philosophy built around three core principles.

多年来，他指导过的赛跑选手最欣赏他言不在多的智慧，以及他围绕三个核心原则建立起来的指导理念。

First， you set up your own race.

第一，规划自己的赛跑。

What he meant by this was to prepare， and train， and keep on learning. Youve all learned this lesson time and again here at Duke， in late nights in the library and endless hours poring over problem sets. And today， you are ready at the starting line.

比勒的意思是做好准备、坚持训练，并不断鞭策自己学习。在杜克大学，你们一次又一次地学习这一门课，比如在图书馆里熬夜苦读，无休无止地钻研习题。今天，你们终于站在了起跑线上。

None of us knows the future， but setting up our own race， imagining what we want， and training for it， will help us step off with purpose and with confidence.

我们谁也无法预知未来，可是，规划自己的赛跑，设想自己所求，并且为此不断训练，这能帮助我们目标明确、信心百倍地出发。

Coach Buehlers second principle was to stay conscious. He said， “Dont just plod along—think.”

比勒教練的第二个原则是保持清醒。他说，“别只闷头跑——要思考。”

As an undergraduate runner at the University of Maryland， Buehler kept a piece of tape on the insole of his spikes with the question “why” scrawled on it. And when the going got tough8， when his lungs were burning on a cold morning like this， or the lactic acid9 was building up in his legs， he would feel that tape against his foot and he would ask himself—“why？ Why am I doing this？”—and he would remember the answer—“because I enjoy doing it， and I am good at it.”

比勒曾是马里兰大学的一名田径本科生。他在自己的钉鞋鞋垫上贴了一块胶带，上面潦草地写着“为什么”。每当训练接近极限，肺部在像今天这样的寒冷清晨都烧得难受，或双腿酸痛难耐，他就会感觉到脚底贴着的胶带，就会问自己——“为什么？我为什么要练跑步？”——他也会想起自己的答案——“因为我喜爱跑步，我擅长跑步。”

The reward for all that preparation， for all that getting ready， are those breakthrough moments—the words that finally came to you in that paper， that key finding from an experiment， perhaps， or the flawless performance of a piece you rehearsed time and again—those wonderful moments when you feel you could run forever.

所有的辛苦准备，所有的未雨绸缪，最好的回报就是那些突破性时刻——或许是写论文有了灵感，实验有了重要发现，抑或是反复排练的一场表演终入佳境——在那些美妙的时刻，你感觉自己可以永远地跑下去。

Here， at the start， remember that in the turns and the stumbles and the hurdles to come， a joyful breakthrough might be just ahead.

让我们从一开始就记住，前方少不了弯道、磕绊和路障，但令人喜不自禁的突破也许就在不远处。

Coach Buehlers third principle was teamwork.

比勒教练的第三条原则是团队合作。

In his office， he had a reminder posted on the wall to always take good care of those you love. You are surrounded here today by people who love you—families and friends and classmates and faculty. In moments of uncertainty， you can turn to them for support and wisdom and guidance.

他的办公室墙上贴了一张提示条，提醒自己要始终好好照顾心中所爱之人。今天，你们身边环绕着深爱你们的人——家人、朋友、同学和老师。彷徨不定时，你们可以向他们寻求支持、智慧和指导。

Coach Buehler believes that these guiding principles can carry you through any of the races ahead. But there will be times when despite the breakthroughs， despite your best prepar-ation， despite the love and the support of your family and friends， it just wont be your day.

比勒教练相信，这些指导原则可以帮助你们顺利完成未来人生路上的任何赛跑。然而，免不了有些时候，尽管你们取得了各种突破，做了充分准备，有家人和朋友的爱与支持，你们仍然没有获得最后的成功。

And at these moments， I hope you will remember that life is so much more than a race from a starting line to a finish.

这个时候，我希望你们记住：生活绝不仅仅是一场从起点到终点的赛跑。

Heres where Coach Buehlers best advice comes in： “the finish line is the starting point.” Or to put it in another way， whatever our standing in the race we think were running， life goes on. This is a commencement， yes; but our education—our growth as learners， as citizens， professionals， as good and thoughtful people—is a continuous process and its not marked by beginnings and ends.

这里就得引出比勒教练的至理忠言：“终点亦即起点。”换言之，在我们设想的这场赛跑中，无论我们位次如何，生活都在继续。这是一场毕业典礼，没错，但是我们的教育——我们作为学习者、公民、专业人士，作为优秀且有思想的人不断成长——是一个持续的过程，没有起点和终点。

The joy， the deep meaning， that sense of purpose and fulfillment， is in the running itself.

由衷的喜悦，深刻的含义，目标感和成就感，都蕴含于奔跑本身之中。

Our disappointments or challenges are really opportunities for growth and preparation for whats to come. Our breakthroughs are really reminders to stay fully conscious in the moment. And sometimes we only recognize the course weve been running when we stop to rest， and we turn around. And we come to understand that ours is just one leg of a relay， and we hand off that baton to a new runner， fresh to take our effort further than we ever could.

我們遭遇的失望或挑战其实是成长的机遇，是为即将到来的一切做准备。我们所取得的突破性成就其实是在提醒我们，要在当下保持完全清醒。有时，我们只在停下休息并转身回望时才会认清自己一路奔跑的路途。我们开始明白，自己跑的只是接力全程中的一段，我们会交棒给新来者，他们抖擞精神，接力前行，奔向我们未曾抵达的远方。

The love and the support of our families and teammates along way should remind you of the fact that we are all in this together， all of us—that whatever the hurdle ahead or the hill we have to climb， others have been there， too， and are pulling for us to succeed.

一路上，家人、队友的爱与支持会提醒你一个事实：我们并肩同行，彼此依靠——无论前方有怎样的障碍，必须翻越怎样的高山，别人也曾经历过，而且他们正努力为我们加油，鼓励我们走向成功。

Duke Class of 2022， as you break the tape10 over this finish line， as you celebrate this triumph and look ahead with excitement to all those triumphs to come， allow me to say congratulations. We cannot wait to see where the trail takes you from here—and know that well be pulling for you all the way.

杜克大学2022届全体同学们，当你们冲过终点线时，当你们欢庆这场胜利、兴奋地展望未来将会取得的所有胜利时，请允许我向你们表示祝贺。我们已经迫不及待地想看到你们从此将一路走向何方——我们会一直为你们加油助威。

（译者单位：中央民族大学）

1杜克大学校长。本文是2022年他在华莱士·韦德体育馆为毕业典礼而做的演讲。

2 bring sth out使显现。  3 all-American（被选为）全美最佳的。  4 = Atlantic Coast Conference美国的大学体育联盟之一，创立于1953年，其最著名的赛事为男子篮球。  5 Hall of Fame（统称体育运动等领域的）代表人物，出类拔萃者，佼佼者。此处hall-of-fame用作形容词。  6 none other than sb/sth（用于表示吃惊或兴奋）竟然，正是。  7杜克大学篮球队前主帅，绰号“K教练”（Coach K），曾作为美国男篮主帅多次率队夺得世界大赛冠军。

8 when the going gets tough （the tough get going） 当条件变得艰苦时，当进展变得困难时（隐含有志者更勇往直前之意）。  9 lactic acid乳酸。

10 tape终点线。