[00:00.00]Thank you!I'm honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.

谢谢你们!很荣幸和你们一起参加世界上最好的一所大学的毕业典礼。

[00:11.08]Truth be told, I never graduated from college, and this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

说实话，我大学没毕业，这是我第一次离大学毕业这么近。

[00:24.56]Today, I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

今天，我想给大家讲我人生中的三个故事，不谈别的，也不讲大道理，三个故事就好。

[00:32.95]The first story is about connecting the dots.

第一个故事讲的是把生命中的点滴串连起来。

[00:38.14]I dropped out of Reed College after the first six months,

我在里德学院只读了六个月就退学了。

[00:42.59]but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

此后便在学校里旁听，又过了大约一年半，我彻底离开。那么，我为什么退学了?

[00:49.25]It started before I was born.

这得从我出生前讲起。

[00:52.59]My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.

我的生母是一名年轻的未婚在校研究生，

[01:00.13]She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates,

她决定将我送给别人收养。她非常希望收养我的是有大学学历的人，

[01:04.86]so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife.

所以把一切都安排好了，决定我一出生就将我交给一对律师夫妇收养。

[01:09.31]Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.

没想到我才刚刚出生，那对夫妻却决定收养一名女孩。

[01:15.29]So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking,

就这样，我的养父母——他们的名字当时还在登记册上——半夜三更接到一个电话：

[01:21.06]"We've got an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said, "Of course."

“我们这儿现在有一个没人要的男婴，你们要吗?”“当然要。”他们回答。

[01:27.41]My biological mother found out later that my mother had never graduated from college

但是，我的生母后来发现我的养母不是大学毕业生，

[01:33.84]and that my father had never graduated from high school.

我的养父甚至高中都没毕业，

[01:37.02]She refused to sign the final adoption papers.

所以就拒绝在最后的收养文件上签字。

[01:40.47]She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would go to college.

不过，每过几个月她就心软了，因为我的养父母许诺日后一定送我上大学。

[01:47.09]This was the start in my life.

这就是我生命的起点。