VOA常速英语2020--尼日利亚学生毕业后成为大学校长

I came from a country where I was part of the majority, where all of us…majority of us were black, and I came to a place where I became a minority literally¹ overnight. I went to school at a small private Baptist university, Weyland Baptist University, in Plainview, Texas, received my undergraduate degree in business. Really got a chance to get into the community to connect with people, that was one of the things that dad really encouraged us to do. My parents Samuel and Confedy Akande had studied in the United States in the late 50s, and were enameled² with American education. And interesting enough, their first couple of years in the States was in Texas. And if you, if you look at the time in the late 50s, these were, these were very difficult times for African-American. The civil rights era was in play. They had to deal with such things as sitting in the back of the, of the bus and eating the kitchen, but in spite of all that, I think my dad felt that American was in transition. That makes sure that we understood that America is what you make it, and that you have to be proactively engaged, you have to reach out to people. You have to get to know people, you’ve got to meet people halfway³, and then as time went on I even picked up some other Texas slangs and and just，just try to gradually assimilate myself into the, into the community， without，without it, changing or affecting my values or trying to forget where I came from. It was a, it was a big tough salad of sorts that enabled me to be myself at the same time to be in the midst of something very different.

在我的祖国，我这样肤色的人是主流，我们的国民大多数都是黑人。我来到了一个地方，在这里，我突然就成为了少数群体。我在一所小型私立浸会大学上学，这家威兰浸信会大学位于德克萨斯州普莱恩维尤。我获得了商学本科学位。真正有机会进入社区与人交流，是我父亲一直鼓励我们做的事情之一。50年代末，我的父母塞缪尔和康菲迪·阿坎德曾在美国学习，他们一直着迷于美国的教育。有趣的是，他们在美国的头几年就是生活在德州。回顾50年代末，那时的非裔美国人们步履维艰。当时的民权运动如火如荼。他们当时被迫面临这样的事情，比如坐在公交车后部，在厨房吃饭，但是尽管如此，我想我的父亲还是觉得美国民众正在转型。这让我们明白了美国是要由民众塑造的，你必须主动参与其中，你必须接触其他人。你必须了解别人，你必须对他人妥协。随着时间推移，我甚至学会了一些德州的俚语，我努力让自己逐渐融入社区。但这并未改变或影响我的价值观，或试图忘记我来自哪里。这里有各种各样的人，我在能够做自己的同时，也能体验一些与众不同的事情。

I remember in Texas then I noticed that people would wear these really tight jeans, wrangler⁴ jeans, and I would…I asked them: Well, that must feel really uncomfortable, guys, and they said, now, you know, Benjamin, you get used to it. You know, we’ve been wearing this all our lives. And I even got a chance to begin to like country and western music, and I had an appreciation⁵ for the storytelling aspect of it, how they told stories of loss, of gains, of surprises, of successes. And I found that very very interesting because as an African, I grew up in a storytelling environment, where my dad told remarkable⁶ stories to my sisters and I, and most of the stories were about America. And so we felt we had been there before, that we had seen it before. And so we were able to put it in our minds, eyes, and to visualize⁷ what it was all about. What makes this country truly great is the fact that it has embraced, enabled and recruited folks from all over the world. You know…and when you…when they talk about bringing your ideals and bringing your values and bringing your best and brightest, this is a country that has been a fertile ground for that. And the results are the transformational creativity and innovation that we’ve seen over many many years. If you look at that aspect and then you look at folks like myself, and presidents of so many institutions in the United States, that they came to this country as students. We just we didn’t take from America. America made us stronger, better, more contributory, and then we’re paying it forward and paying it forward is serving in the capacity, that I'm serving right now as President of Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont.

我记得在德克萨斯州，我注意到人们会穿紧身牛仔裤，牧马人牛仔裤，我会上前询问他们：兄弟，这裤子很不舒服吧，他们会回答我，本杰明，你现在得习惯它。我们一辈子都穿这种裤子。一个偶然的机会，我甚至开始喜欢乡村和西部音乐，我很喜欢这种音乐的故事叙述性，讲述着失去、收获、惊喜和成功的故事。我发现这非常非常有趣，因为作为一个非洲人，我成长在一个讲故事的环境中，父亲给我和妹妹们讲了很多精彩的故事，其中大多数的故事是关于美国的。所以我们会觉得曾经去过美国，曾经见过美国。我们能够铭记于心、看在眼里，还能想象美国究竟是什么样的。美国的真正伟大之处在于它接纳、支持并吸收了来自世界各地的人。当他们谈论着带着你们的理想、价值、你最好的一面和最聪明的头脑时，美国一直是这样的一片沃土。其结果就是我们这么多年一直目睹到的转型创造力和创新。如果你看看美国的这方面，再看看向我这样的人，还有很多美国机构的一把手，他们来到美国时还只是学生。我们未曾从美国拿走什么。是美国让我们更加强大、更好、更有贡献，然后我们接着传承下去，这是我们的力所能及。我现在是佛蒙特州伯灵顿市尚普兰学院的校长。

1 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

2 enameled   

涂瓷釉于，给…上瓷漆，给…上彩饰( enamel的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The grey walls were divided into artificial paneling by strips of white-enameled pine. 灰色的墙壁用漆白的松木条隔成镶板的模样。
• I want a pair of enameled leather shoes in size 38. 我要一双38号的亮漆皮鞋。

3 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

4 wrangler   

n.口角者，争论者；牧马者

参考例句：

• When the strangled wrangler dangles the mangled spangles on the bangle jangle.被绞死的辩论者晃荡时，手镯上撕碎的小金属片发出刺耳的声音。
• A wrangler is a cowboy who works with cattle and horses.牧马者是放牧牛马的牛仔。

5 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

6 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

7 visualize   

vt.使看得见，使具体化，想象，设想

参考例句：

• I remember meeting the man before but I can't visualize him.我记得以前见过那个人，但他的样子我想不起来了。
• She couldn't visualize flying through space.她无法想像在太空中飞行的景象。