但是我确实从历经磨难的生活这所学校毕业了，我们的吉祥物就是磨难和挫折。我在此度过了许多成长岁月。我妈妈在纽科姆工作，每当我需要从她的钱包里偷偷拿些东西的时候，我都会去找她。但今天我为什么来到这里呢?很明显我不是想要偷你们的钱，你们离我太远了，而且我也跑不了。
I'm here because of you. Because I can't think of a more tenacious, more courageous graduating class. I mean, look at you all, wearing your robes. Usually when you're wearing a robe at 10 in the morning, it means you've given up. I'm here because I love New Orleans. I was born and raised here, I spent my formative years here, and like you, while I was living here I only did laundry six times.
我来这儿是因为你们。没有比你们更坚韧更勇敢的毕业生了。我是说，看看你们每一个人都身着学士袍。通常在早上10点还穿着睡袍，说明你们已经放弃人生了。今天我来到这里，因为我热爱纽奥良，我在这里出生，在这里长大，在这里度过了年少岁月。和你们一样，我在这里生活时，只洗过六次衣服。
When I finished school, I was completely lost. And by school, I mean middle school, but I went ahead and finished high school anyway. And I—I really, I had no ambition, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I did everything from—I shucked oysters, I was a hostess, I was a bartender, I was a waitress, I painted houses, I sold vacuum cleaners, I had no idea. And I thought I'd just finally settle in some job, and I would make enough money to pay my rent, maybe have basic cable, maybe not, I didn't really have a plan, my point is that, by the time I was your age, I really thought I knew who I was, but I had no idea.
当我毕业后，我完全迷失了。我指的学校是初中，但是我接着上学，念完了高中。但我当时真的没有什么野心，不知道自己想做什么。我什么都做。我剥过牡蛎，当过迎宾员，做过酒保、服务员，粉刷过房子，卖过吸尘器。我完全不知道自己想做什么。我想随便找个工作稳定下来，只要有足够的钱付房租，可能有一台电视也可能没有。我完全没有计划。我要说的重点是，我像你们这么大的时候，我真的以为我了解自己，但其实并不了解。
Anyway, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and the way I ended up on this path was from a very tragic event. I was maybe 19, and my girlfriend at the time was killed in a car accident. And I passed the accident, and I didn't know it was her and I kept going, and I found out shortly after that, it was her.
总之，当时我不知道自己的一生要干什么，最后因为一件十分悲惨的事情，我找到了自己的目标。可能是在19岁时，我的女朋友在一次车祸中身亡。我经过事故现场时不知道是她，就继续走，但不久我就发现，那就是她。
