奥普拉在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲Word文档格式.docx

奥普拉在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲Word文档格式.docx

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slike,"

Uh-huh.She'

smymom."

Andsothepersonsays,"

Ohmigod,doesitmean,like,youknowOprahWinfrey?

AndKirbysays,"

Sortof."

Isaid,"

Sortof?

Yousortofknowme?

Well,Ihavephotographicproof.IhavepictureswhichIcane-mailtoyouallofKirbyridinghorseywithmeonallfours.So,Imorethansort-ofknowKirbyBumpus.AndI'

msohappytobehere,justhappythatIfinally,afterfouryears,gettoseeherroom.There'

sreallynowhereelseI'

dratherbe,becauseI'

msoproudofKirby,whograduatestodaywithtwodegrees,oneinhumanbioandtheotherinpsychology.Loveyou,KirbyCakes!

That'

showwellIknowher.IcancallherCakes.

Andsoproudofhermotherandfather,whohelpedhergetthroughthistime,andherbrother,Will.IreallyhadnothingtodowithhergraduatingfromStanford,buteverytimeanybody'

saskedmeinthepastcoupleofweekswhatIwasdoing,Iwouldsay,"

I'

mgettingreadytogotoStanford."

Ijustlovesaying"

Stanford."

Becausethetruthis,IknowIwouldhavenevergottenmydegreeatall,'

causeIdidn'

tgotoStanford.IwenttoTennesseeStateUniversity.ButIneverwouldhavegottenmydiplomaatall,becauseIwassupposedtograduatebackin1975,butIwasshortonecredit.AndIfigured,I'

mjustgoingtoforgetit,'

cause,youknow,I'

mnotgoingtomarchwithmyclass.Becausebythatpoint,Iwasalreadyontelevision.I'

dbeenintelevisionsinceIwas19andasophomore.Granted,Iwastheonlytelevisionanchorpersonthathadan11o'

clockcurfewdoingthe10o'

clocknews.

Seriously,mydadwaslike,"

Well,thatnewsisoverat10:

30.Behomeby11."

Butthatdidn'

tmattertome,becauseIwasearningaliving.Iwasonmyway.So,Ithought,I'

mgoingtoletthiscollegethinggoandIonlyhadonecreditshort.But,myfather,fromthattimeonandforyearsafter,wasalwaysonmycase,becauseIdidnotgraduate.He'

dsay,"

OprahGail"

—that'

smymiddlename—"

Idon'

tknowwhatyou'

regonnadowithoutthatdegree."

AndI'

But,Dad,Ihavemyowntelevisionshow."

Andhe'

Well,Istilldon'

regoingtodowithoutthatdegree."

AndI'

But,Dad,nowI'

matalkshowhost."

He'

tknowhowyou'

regoingtogetanotherjobwithoutthatdegree."

So,in1987,TennesseeStateUniversityinvitedmebacktospeakattheircommencement.Bythen,Ihadmyownshow,wasnationallysyndicated.I'

dmadeamovie,hadbeennominatedforanOscarandfoundedmycompany,Harpo.ButItoldthem,IcannotcomeandgiveaspeechunlessIcanearnonemorecredit,becausemydad'

sstillsayingI'

mnotgoingtogetanywherewithoutthatdegree.

So,Ifinishedmycoursework,IturnedinmyfinalpaperandIgotthedegree.

Andmydadwasveryproud.AndIknowthat,ifanythinghappens,thatonecreditwillbemysalvation.

ButIalsoknowwhymydadwasinsistingonthatdiploma,because,asB.B.Kingputit,"

Thebeautifulthingaboutlearningisthatnobodycantakethatawayfromyou."

AndlearningisreallyinthebroadestsensewhatIwanttotalkabouttoday,becauseyoureducation,ofcourse,isn'

tendinghere.Inmanyways,it'

sonlyjustbegun.

Theworldhassomanylessonstoteachyou.Iconsidertheworld,thisEarth,tobelikeaschoolandourlifetheclassrooms.AndsometimeshereinthisPlanetEarthschoolthelessonsoftencomedressedupasdetoursorroadblocks.Andsometimesasfull-blowncrises.AndthesecretI'

velearnedtogettingaheadisbeingopentothelessons,lessonsfromthegrandestuniversityofall,thatis,theuniverseitself.

It'

sbeingabletowalkthroughlifeeagerandopentoself-improvementandthatwhichisgoingtobesthelpyouevolve,'

causethat'

sreallywhywe'

rehere,toevolveashumanbeings.Togrowintomoreofourselves,alwaysmovingtothenextlevelofunderstanding,thenextlevelofcompassionandgrowth.

IthinkaboutoneofthegreatestcomplimentsI'

veeverreceived:

IinterviewedwithareporterwhenIwasfirststartingoutinChicago.Andthenmanyyearslater,Isawthesamereporter.Andshesaidtome,"

Youknowwhat?

Youreallyhaven'

tchanged.You'

vejustbecomemoreofyourself."

Andthatisreallywhatwe'

realltryingtodo,becomemoreofourselves.AndIbelievethatthere'

salessoninalmosteverythingthatyoudoandeveryexperience,andgettingthelessonishowyoumoveforward.It'

showyouenrichyourspirit.And,trustme,Iknowthatinnerwisdomismorepreciousthanwealth.Themoreyouspendit,themoreyougain.

So,today,Ijustwanttoshareafewlessons—meaningthree—thatI'

velearnedinmyjourneysofar.Andaren'

tyouglad?

Don'

tyouhateitwhensomebodysays,"

mgoingtoshareafew,"

andit'

s10lessonslater?

And,you'

relike,"

Listen,thisismygraduation.Thisisnotaboutyou."

So,it'

sonlygoingtobethree.

Thethreelessonsthathavehadthegreatestimpactonmylifehavetodowithfeelings,withfailureandwithfindinghappiness.

AyearafterIleftcollege,Iwasgiventheopportunitytoco-anchorthe6o'

clocknewsinBaltimore,becausethewholegoalinthemediaatthetimeIwascomingupwasyoutrytomovetolargermarkets.AndBaltimorewasamuchlargermarketthanNashville.So,gettingthe6o'

clocknewsco-anchorjobat22wassuchabigdeal.Itfeltlikethebiggestdealintheworldatthetime.

AndIwassoproud,becauseIwasfinallygoingtohavemychancetobelikeBarbaraWalters,whichiswhoIhadbeentryingtoemulatesincethestartofmyTVcareer.So,Iwas22yearsold,making$22,000ayear.Andit'

swhereImetmybestfriend,Gayle,whowasaninternatthesameTVstation.Andoncewebecamefriends,we'

Ohmigod,Ican'

tbelieveit!

You'

remaking$22,000andyou'

reonly22.Imaginewhenyou'

re40andyou'

remaking$40,000!

WhenIturned40,Iwassogladthatdidn'

thappen.

So,hereIam,22,making$22,000ayearand,yet,itdidn'

tfeelright.Itdidn'

tfeelright.Thefirstsign,asPresidentHennessywassaying,waswhentheytriedtochangemyname.Thenewsdirectorsaidtomeatthetime,"

Nobody'

sgoingtorememberOprah.So,wewanttochangeyourname.We'

vecomeupwithanamewethinkthatpeoplewillrememberandpeoplewilllike.It'

safriendlyname:

Suzie."

Hi,Suzie.Veryfriendly.Youcan'

tbeangrywithSuzie.RememberSuzie.Butmynamewasn'

tSuzie.And,youknow,I'

dgrownupnotreallylovingmyname,becausewhenyou'

relookingforyourlittlenameonthelunchboxesandthelicenseplatetags,you'

renevergoingtofindOprah.

So,Igrewupnotlovingthename,butonceIwasaskedtochangeit,Ithought,well,itismynameanddoIlooklikeaSuzietoyou?

So,Ithought,no,itdoesn'

tfeelright.I'

mnotgoingtochangemyname.Andifpeoplerememberitornot,that'

sOK.

Andthentheysaidtheydidn'

tlikethewayIlooked.Thiswasin1976,whenyourbosscouldcallyouinandsay,"

tlikethewayyoulook."

Nowthatwouldbecalledalawsuit,butbackthentheycouldjustsay,"

Which,incasesomeofyouintheback,ifyoucan'

ttell,isnothinglikeBarbaraWalters.So,theysentmetoasalonwheretheygavemeaperm,andafterafewdaysallmyhairfelloutandIhadtoshavemyhead.Andthentheyreallydidn'

tlikethewayIlooked.

BecausenowIamblackandbaldandsittingonTV.Notaprettypicture.

Butevenworsethanbeingbald,Ireallyhated,hated,hatedbeingsenttoreportonotherpeople'

stragediesasapartofmydailyduty,knowingthatIwasjustexpectedtoobserve,wheneverythinginmyinstincttoldmethatIshouldbedoingsomething,Ishouldbelendingahand.

So,asPresidentHennessysaid,I'

dcoverafireandthenI'

dgobackandI'

dtrytogivethevictimsblankets.AndIwouldn'

tbeabletosleepatnightbecauseofallthethingsIwascoveringduringtheday.

And,meanwhile,IwastryingtositgracefullylikeBarbaraandmakemyselftalklikeBarbara.AndIthought,well,IcouldmakeaprettygoofyBarbara.AndifIcouldfigureouthowtobemyself,IcouldbeaprettygoodOprah.IwastryingtosoundelegantlikeBarbara.AndsometimesIdidn'

treadmycopy,becausesomethinginsidemesaid,thisshouldbespontaneous.So,IwantedtogetthenewsasIwasgivingittothepeople.So,sometimes,Iwouldn'

treadmycopyanditwouldbe,like,sixpeopleonapileuponI-40.Oh,mygoodness.

AndsometimesIwouldn'

treadthecopy—becauseIwantedtobespontaneous—andI'

dcomeacrossalistofwordsIdidn'

tknowandI'

dmispronounce.AndonedayIwasreadingcopyandIcalledCanada"

canada."

AndIdecided,thisBarbarathing'

snotgoingtoowell.Ishouldtrybeingmyself.

B