So, I teach college students about inequality and race in education,
我教导大学生关于教育中的不平等以及种族议题，
and I like to leave my office open to any of my students who might just want to see me to chat.
我会把我的办公室开放给我任何一个学生，就算只是想来找我聊聊都很欢迎。
And a few semesters ago, one of my more cheerful students, Mahari,
几学期之前，我最快活的学生之一，马哈里，
actually came to see me and mentioned that he was feeling a bit like an outcast because he's black.
竟然来找我，他提到，他觉得因为他是黑人而被排挤。
He had just transferred to NYU from a community college on a merit scholarship,
他刚从一所社区学院转学到纽约大学，他靠的是优秀学生奖学金，
and turns out, only about five percent of students at NYU are black.
结果，在纽约大学中只有5%的学生是黑人。
And so I started to remember that I know that feeling of being an outsider in your own community.
于是，我开始想起，我知道在自己的社区中身为外人的感觉。
It's partially what drew me to my work.
这是导致我做这份工作的部分原因。
At my university, I'm one of the few faculty members of color, and growing up,
在我的大学中，我是少数的有色人种教职员之一，在成长过程中，
I experienced my family's social mobility, moving out of apartments into a nice house, but in an overwhelmingly white neighborhood.
我经历了我家庭的社会地位变动，搬出公寓，搬进好房子，但却是在一个非常白人的邻里中。
I was 12, and kids would say that were surprised that I didn't smell like curry.
我当时十二岁，孩子们会说他们很意外我闻起来竟然不像咖哩。
That's because school is in the morning, and I had Eggo waffles for breakfast. Curry is for dinner.
那是因为上学时间是早上，而我早餐吃的是Eggo松饼。咖哩要到晚餐才吃。
So when Mahari was leaving, I asked him how he was coping with feeling isolated.
所以当马哈里要离开时，我问他，他如何处理被隔离的感受。
And he said that despite feeling lonely, he just threw himself at his work,
他说，尽管感到孤独，他就让自己埋头工作，
that he built strategies around his grit and his desire to be successful.
为他的毅力和想要成功的欲望建立起策略。
A mentor of mine is actually Dr. Angela Duckworth,
我的导师之一是安杰拉·达克沃斯博士，
the psychologist at UPenn who has defined this stick-to-itiveness of grit as being "the perseverance and passion for long-term goals."
宾州大学的心理学家，她将坚忍不拔的毅力定义为“对长期目标的坚持不懈及热情。”
Angela's book has become a bestseller, and schools across the country, particularly charter schools,
安杰拉的书畅销热卖，全国的学校、特别是公立学校，
have become interested in citing "grit" as a core value. But sometimes grit isn't enough, especially in education.
都变得很想要引用“毅力”作为一个核心价值。但有时，光有毅力并不够，特别是在教育中。
So when Mahari was leaving my office,
所以当马哈里离开我的办公室，
I worried that he might need something more specific to combat the challenges that he mentioned to me.
我担心他可能需要更明确的东西，来对抗那些他跟我提及的挑战。
As a sociologist, I also study achievement, but from a slightly different perspective.
身为社会学家，我也研究成就，但会从稍微不同的观点切入。
I research students who have overcome immense obstacles related to their background.
我研究的学生，是克服了与他们背景相关的巨大障碍的学生。
Students from low-income, often single-parent households,
有些来自低收入户，通常都是单亲家庭，
students who have been homeless, incarcerated or perhaps undocumented,
有些曾经无家可归、被监禁过或也许是没有身份证明文件的，
or some who have struggled with substance abuse or lived through violent or sexual trauma.
有些因为曾经滥用药物而在挣扎，或是经历过暴力或性创伤。
So let me tell you about two of the grittiest people I've met.
让我告诉各位关于两位我见过最有毅力的人。
Tyrique was raised by a single mother, and then after high school, he fell in with the wrong crowd.
泰瑞克是被单亲妈妈抚养长大的，高中之后，他遇到了不好的朋友。
He got arrested for armed robbery. But in prison, he started to work hard.
他因为武装抢劫而被捕。但在监狱中，他开始努力。
He took college credit courses, so when he got out, he was able to get a master's, and today he's a manager at a nonprofit.
他上了大学的学分课程，所以出狱时，他拿到了硕士学位，现在他是一间非营利机构的经理。
Vanessa had to move around a lot as a kid, from the Lower East Side to Staten Island to the Bronx.
凡妮莎小时候常常搬家，从纽约下东区搬到了斯坦顿岛，再搬到布朗克斯区。
She was raised primarily by her extended family, because her own mother had a heroin addiction.
她主要是由她的亲戚养大的，因为她的母亲有海洛因毒瘾。
Yet at 15, Vanessa had to drop out of school, and she had a son of her own.
但在十五岁时，因为她有了孩子，凡妮莎休学了。
But eventually, she was able to go to community college, get her associate's,
但最终，她得以进入社区学院，取得副学士学位，
then go to an elite college to finish her bachelor's.
接着进入一所菁英大学，取得了她的学士学位。
So some people might hear these stories and say,
有些人听到这些故事可能会说：
"Yes, those two definitely have grit. They basically pulled themselves up by the bootstraps."
“是，这两个人的确有毅力。他们基本上靠自己的努力改善了处境。”

But that's an incomplete picture,
但那并非实际完整的状况，
because what's more important is that they had factors in their lives that helped to influence their agency, or their specific capacity
因为更重要的是，他们的人生中有些因子，协助影响了他们的动力或他们的特定的能力，
to actually overcome the obstacles that they were facing and navigate the system given their circumstances.
让他们能真的克服他们面对的障碍，并以他们的情况在体制中力争上游。
So, allow me to elaborate. In prison, Tyrique was actually aimless at first, as a 22-year-old on Rikers Island.
让我进一步解释一下。泰瑞克，这位囚居赖克斯岛监狱的22岁青年，一开始其实毫无目标。
This is until an older detainee took him aside and asked him to help with the youth program.
直到一位老囚犯把他拉到一旁，请他协助一个青年项目。
And in mentoring youth, he started to see his own mistakes and possibilities in the teens.
在指导青年的过程，他开始看见他自己在十多岁时犯的错误以及可能性。
This is what got him interested in taking college-credit courses.
这让他开始想要去上大学的学分课程。
And when he got out, he got a job with Fortune Society, where many executives are people who have been formerly incarcerated.
他出狱后，在Fortune Society得到一份工作，在那里，许多主管以前都有坐过牢。
So then he was able to get a master's in social work, and today, he even lectures at Columbia about prison reform.
所以他得以取得社工的硕士学位，现在，他甚至在哥伦比亚大学教授关于监狱改革的课。
And Vanessa ... well, after the birth of her son,
至于凡妮莎...在她的儿子出生后，
she happened to find a program called Vocational Foundation that gave her 20 dollars biweekly,
她刚好找到一个职训项目，叫Vocational Foundation，给了她每两周20美元、
a MetroCard and her first experiences with a computer.
一张地铁卡以及她用计算机的初体验。
These simple resources are what helped her get her GED,
这些简单的资源协助她取得高中等级学历证明（GED），
but then she suffered from a very serious kidney failure,
但接着她遭受到很严重的肾衰竭，
which was particularly problematic because she was only born with one kidney.
她出生时只有一个肾，因此这对她来说特别麻烦。
She spent 10 years on dialysis waiting for a successful transplant.
她花了十年洗肾，等待成功的移植。
After that, her mentors at community college had kept in touch with her,
那之后，她在社区学院的导师一直和她保持联络，
and so she was able to go, and they put her in an honors program.
所以她得以进学校，他们将她安排到荣誉课程中。
And that's the pathway that allowed her to become accepted to one of the most elite colleges for women in the country,
那是在一所全国数一数二的菁英女子大学录取她之前，她所走过的路，
and she received her bachelor's at 36, setting an incredible example for her young son.
她在36岁时取得学士学位，为她的儿子做了一个好榜样。
What these stories primarily indicate is that teaching is social and benefits from social scaffolding.
这些故事主要点出的重点是，教学是社会性的，受惠于社会框架支持。
There were factors pushing these two in one direction, but through tailored mentorship and opportunities,
的确有些因子将这两个人推向一个方向，但透过量身订作的引导和机会，
they were able to reflect on their circumstances and resist negative influences.
他们才得以反省他们的处境，并抗拒负面的影响。
They also learned simple skills like developing a network, or asking for help
他们也学会了简单的技能，像是开发网络或是寻求协助。
things many of us in this room can forget that we have needed from time to time, or can take for granted.
在座各位可能已经忘记，我们偶尔都会需要帮助，或已把它视为理所当然。
And when we think of people like this, we should only think of them as exceptional, but not as exceptions.
当我们想想像这样的人，我们只该将他们想成是特殊的，而非例外。
Thinking of them as exceptions absolves us of the collective responsibility to help students in similar situations.
将他们视为例外，是让我们卸责，免除协助类似学生的集体责任。
When Presidents Bush, Obama and now even Trump,
总统布什、奥巴马甚至现在的特朗普，
have called education "the civil rights issue of our time," perhaps we should treat it that way.
都把教育称为是“我们时代的公民权利议题”，也许我们该这样看待它。
If schools were able to think about the agency that their students have and bring to the table when they push them,
如果学校能想想他们的学生有什么动力，并在推他们一把时提供意见，
what students learn can become more relevant to their lives,
那么学生所学的就能对其生活更有重要性，
and then they can tap into those internal reservoirs of grit and character.
那么他们就能将内在储藏的毅力和品格拿出来用。
So this here -- My student Mahari got accepted to law school with scholarships, and not to brag,
这里的这位是--我的学生马哈里，他得到奖学金，被法学院录取，不是要夸耀，
but I did write one of his letters of recommendation.
但他的推荐信之一是我写的。
And even though I know hard work is what got him this achievement,
虽然我知道是努力让他有这样的成就，
I've seen him find his voice along the way,
我看到他在这条路上找到自己的声音，
which as someone who's grown up a little bit shy and awkward, I know it takes time and support.
但他在成长过程中是个有点害羞且笨拙的人，我知道这的确需要时间和支持。
So even though he will rely a lot on his grit to get him through that first-year law school grind,
虽然他将要很仰赖他的毅力，来帮他度过法学院苦学的第一年，
I'll be there as a mentor for him, check in with him from time to time, maybe take him out to get some curry...
我会在这里，扮演他的导师，偶尔看看他的状况，也许带他出去吃点咖哩...
so that he can keep growing his agency to succeed even more. Thank you.
他可以继续成长以取得更大的成功。谢谢。