I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.
我今天很荣幸能与诸位一起参加毕业典礼。
Truth be told, I never graduated from college.
说实话，我从未大学毕业。
And this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.
这应该算是我一生中离大学毕业最近的一次了。
Today I want to tell you three stories from my life.
今天我想向你们讲述我生活中的三个故事。
That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
不是什么大不了的事情，仅仅是三个故事而已。
The first story is about connecting the dots.
第一个故事是关于如何把生命中的点点滴滴串连起来。
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months.
我在雷德大学读了六个月之后就退学了。
But then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit.
但是在十八个月以后——我真正的作出退学决定之前，我还是经常去学校。
So why did I drop out? It started before I was born.
那我为什么要退学呢？那要从我出生的时候讲起。
My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student.
我的亲生母亲是一个年轻的，没有结婚的大学毕业生。
And she decided to put me up for adoption.
她决定让别人收养我。
She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife.
她十分想让我被大学毕业生收养，所以她为我做好了一切，我被一个律师一家收养。
Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.
但出乎意料的是，当我出生之后，律师夫妇突然想要一个女孩。
So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking.
所以我的养父母（在待选名单上的）突然在半夜接到了一个电话。
"We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?"
我们现在这儿有一个不小心生出来的男婴，你们想要他吗？”
They said: "Of course."
他们回答道：“当然！”
My biological mother found out later that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.
但是我生母随后发现，我的养母从来没有上过大学，我的养父甚至从未读过高中。
She refused to sign the final adoption papers.
她拒绝签这个收养合同。
She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
几个月后，在我的养父母承诺一定会送我上大学后，她才勉强同意。
This was the start in my life.
这是我生活的开始。
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