Happy 25th Birthday! Carol
生日快乐!
《我的职业梦想》是女儿Carol17岁参加第七届 “21世纪杯”全国中学生英语演讲比赛 ( "21st Century” National High School English Speech Competition) 时的一篇命题演讲稿。
当年，这篇演讲稿把我和她父亲都看哭了。
我们不知道是悲还是喜，或许都有吧，五味杂成
悲是因为让自己的孩子过早地介入到了纷繁复杂的成人世界里，而喜的是那段经历让女儿亲历并感受到了什么叫生活的磨砺……
那年演讲，她获得了上海赛区一等奖。
8年后的今天，Carol成了一名新闻从业者。
唱歌依然是她生命中极其重要的！
有时候，苦难就是一笔不可多得的财富！
感谢苦难！
我的职业梦想
My Career Dream By Carol Lin 林忆菁
（2008年11月）
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
I’d like to share my career dreams with all of you today.
女士们、先生们，下午好。
今天我将与你们分享我的职业梦想。
A few days ago, I had the interview with the principal of the University of San Francisco.
He started the interview with a question asking what I dreamed to be after college.
I answered without any deliberation. I said I want to be a lawyer who sometimes sings on Broadway!
几天前，我参加了一个旧金山大学校长的面试会
一开始，他就问了我一个问题。
他问：大学毕业后，你想做什么？
我毫不犹豫地回答说：我想成为一个有时会在百老汇献唱一曲的律师！
Well, the principal found it very interesting, and perhaps you feel the same that how these 2 careers are combined and became my career dreams. Well, it all has to do with the private schools my mum and dad set up.
那位校长觉得我的梦想非常有意思。
可能你们也有同感：这两个职业怎么会被放在一起，并成为我的职业梦想。
其实，这跟我父母所创办的私立学校有关。
In the year 2005, after experiencing the ups and downs for several years, the schools faced the adversity of being confiscated by the government simply.
Before all the school kids and the teachers left, the last annual school ceremony was held as usual.
2005年，在经历了几年的风风雨雨之后，学校面临着将被政府没收的逆境。
就在孩子们和老师离开之前，最后一场学校年度典礼如往常一样举行。
When the song <Bridge over troubled water> was played, all the kids, the parents, the school staff, and me, we, we all cried. Not because of weakness, but because of the hope in the lyrics.
当《忧愁河上的金桥》的音乐响起时，所有的孩子、家长、学校团队和我，我们都哭了，不是因为软弱，而是因为歌词中所蕴涵的希望。
It said: "When you’re weary, feeling small; When evening falls so hard, and times get rough; I’m on your side, and I will ease your mind, like a bridge over trouble water, I will ease your mind".
"当你无助并感到渺小的时候；当夜晚无情地降临而日子过得艰难的时候"，就象歌词中所说的那样 "我会站在你身旁，我会安慰你，就象忧愁河上的金桥，我会安抚你的心灵"。
That’s why I want to be a singer. I want to sing the melody and the lyrics out loud.
Maybe someday, somewhere, somebody will hear it, and feels the same courage inside.
这就是为什么我想成为一名歌手的原因，我希望能把旋律和歌词都大声地唱出来。
或许某一天，某一个地点，某一个人会听到我的歌声，也能从中感受到那份勇气。
The schools were after all closed.
I was 14 years old that year.
I did not understand why a school, loved by the students and the parents, disappeared overnight.
学校最终还是被关闭了。那年我14岁。
那时我还不明白为什么一个受学生和家长热爱的学校，竟然会在一夜之间就消失了。
But as I’ve grew older, I came to realize that in China, private education is still in rudimentary step. And the investors in Chinese private education, their rights should be better protected. And ever since then I have had the dream to become a lawyer.
当我渐渐长大，我开始意识到，在中国，民办教育还处于起步阶段，而民办教育投资者的权利和义务还没有受到应有的保障。也正是从那时候起我有了想成为一名律师的梦想。
Well, Barack Obama said that changes have come to us all already. He’s definitely right. And my career dream is to be a lawyer who’s ready for those changes; who’s ready to establish more rules to ensure our future lives are productive.
奥巴马说"改变已经发生在我们身边"。
他说得完全正确！
而我的职业梦想就是想成为一名随时为了这些“改变”而时刻准备的律师，去建立更多的规则，以保障我们的未来生活更富有成效。
If someday, people require more regulations to restrict them, to protect them;
If someday, lawyers are needed to maintain order on other planets;
If someday, you get tired of this rational life, and yearn for the release of your emotions;
或许有一天，当越来越多的人，希望制定出更多的规则去约束、保护他们的时候；
或许有一天，在其他星球上，也同样需要律师来维持秩序的时候；
或许有一天，当你厌倦了这种理性的生活，渴望去释放你自己情绪的时候；
Please, please call me and come sing with me, we’ll sort it out together.
Because all of these are my career dreams. And I hope they all come true! Thank you all.
请一定要告诉我，然后跟着我一起唱，我们会第一时间出现在那里。因为这些就是我的职业梦想我希望一切都能够梦想成真。谢谢你们。