我们为什么要上学？
演讲时间：2009年9月8日
——美国总统奥巴马在弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿郡韦克菲尔德高中开学典礼的励志演讲稿
I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you.I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.
I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.Every single one of you has something that you're good at.Every single one of you has something to offer.And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is.That's the opportunity an education can provide.
And no matter what you want to do with your life，I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it.You want to be a doctor，or a teacher，or a police officer? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers.You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job.You've got to train for it and work for it and learn for it.
And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country.What you're learning in school today will etermine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems.If you don't do that－if you quit on school－you're not just quitting on yourself，you're quitting on your country.
Now，I know it's not always easy to do well in school.I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.
Some of you might not have those advantages.Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need.Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there's not enough money to go around.Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe，or have friends who are pressuring you to do things that you know aren't right.
But at the end of the day，the circumstances of your life－what you look like，where you come from，how much money you have，what you've got going on at home － none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school.That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher，or cutting class，or dropping out of school.There is no excuse for not trying.
Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up.No one's written your destiny for you，you write your own destiny.
That's why today I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education － and do everything you can to meet them.Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework，paying attention in class，or spending some time each day reading a book.
