但我很幸运，在许多事情上都得到了重来的机会。我有幸能上大学，上法学院，追求自己的理想。我的妻子，我们的第一夫人马歇尔.奥巴马，也有着类似的人生故事。她的父母亲都没有读过大学，也没有什么财产，但他们都非常勤奋，她也是如此。因此她得以进入一些美国最好的学校。
Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.
你们中有些人可能没有那些有利条件。或许你们的生活中没有能为你提供帮助的长辈。或许你们家长中有人失业，经济非常拮据。或许你住的社区不那么安全，或许你认识一些会对你产生不良影响的朋友。
But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life -- what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home -- none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. There is no excuse for not trying.
但归根结底，你的生活状况，你的长相、出身、经济条件、家庭气氛，都不是疏忽学业和态度恶劣的借口。这些不是你去跟老师顶嘴、逃课或辍学的借口。这些不是你不好好读书的借口。
Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written
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