经典的英语演讲稿英语演讲经典10篇(英语演讲的珍品：经典篇章)

Classic English speeches are timeless examples of the power of language and public speaking. These speeches have inspired generations of people with their profound messages and eloquent delivery. From Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" to Winston Churchill's "We Shall Fight on the Beaches", these speeches continue to captivate and motivate audiences around the world.

第1篇

my dream is to become a dancer, one day, i will stand in the center of thestage, in the colorful lights, listening to beautiful music, dance the dance ofthe swans. my dream and a big dance room, teach children beautiful dance.

every time i dance class time, carefully listening to every word theteacher, to see the teacher put every movement and dance. after returning home,i am not afraid of tired, not afraid of hardship, and practice again and again,just for my dance more beautiful, to make my movements more standard, make medance full of soul, like a puppet with life. i am not proud, i will refine on,make me become a good dancer.

第2篇

first of all, let me take this chance to present to you a set of data that i hope won't bore you since the source is china daily.

china's tourism revenue last year reached 500 billion rmb, an increase of 10.5 percent from the year before, and comprised more than 5% of china's gdp. according to experts, this number will grow to 8% in the coming ten years and more than 40 million jobs will be created.

as a student majoring in economics, i can't be more sensitive to the essential meanings behind these numbers. they mean progress, prosperity, employment and stability.

however, as a conscientious chinese and citizen of the world, i can't help but care more about the losses incurred in this transaction, by which i mean the disturbing images of environmental destruction, which leads to ecological crisis. the global environment has changed for the worse during the past few years, and tourism is partly to blame. take china for example, in order to attract tourists, many unknown places are built into resorts. forests are cleared, prairies trampled, rivers and lakes 6)contaminated, wild animals are driven away, plants jeopardized and secluded populations disturbed.

if this seems too remote and abstract, my own traveling experience may speak louder here. last year i took a tour around emei mountain in sichuan province. like most tourists, i was eager to embrace nature and enjoy its beauty. however, as soon as i got on the bus, the stench of gasoline and the noise of the engine tainted my appreciation of the wonderful scenery and the tranquility of the country road. when we finally arrived, what i saw was not a beautiful landscape but crowds of people; what i heard was not the melodious singing of birds, but yelling and bargaining from the gift shops; what i smelled was not the fresh mountain air, but stinking suffocating smoke coming out of small dirty restaurants. moreover, i could not understand why the lovely monkeys living there had to take photos with tourists all day; why the beautiful butterflies and flowers had become lifeless samples in shop windows; why the strongest impressions i had was trash scattered everywhere on the ground.

however, this is not the end of the story. before i left emei, i met a group of kids in an ecotourism program with the slogan: “experiencing, learning and protecting.” when i saw their young hands picking up trash from the ground, when i felt their enjoyment and harmonious relationship with the animals, when i found their purest eyes filled with passion and love for nature, i realized to my great satisfaction that there doesn't have to be a tradeoff between tourism and ecology, because deep within us is an inclination toward natural beauty and a desire to protect it. yes, environmental problems will eventually ease with the advancement of science and technology and improvement of our management system. however, an increase of ecological education and hands-on environmental involvement of our fellow citizens will do even better. to realize this, the best way for us lies in tourism itself because nothing other than nature can teach us how to love and cherish our sweetest home. at the end of my speech, please let me quote bob dylan:

the answer, my friend, is not in the wind-the answer is ours! thank you!

第3篇

we've all been taught that we should help people. it is the right thing to do and will make us popular with others. it may even win us favors in return. however, we must be realistic. we can't say yes to every request. if we did, we would fail or go crazy for sure. sometimes we simply don't have the time to help. in this case, we must know how to say no politely.

when we need to say no, here is one method we can try. first, we should tell the truth. if we really can't do something, we should just say so. second, we should remember to refuse requests politely. we must communicate clearly, but must also be sincere and sympathetic. a true friend will understand. finally, we must not feel guilty about saying no. sometimes refusing others is the right thing to do. it can save ourselves, and them, a lot of trouble. in short, we cannot please everyone all the time. refusing favors is a part of life.

我们都被教导说，我们应该要帮助别人。这是应该做的事，而且这样做会使我们受人欢迎。它甚至会为我们赢得一些回报。但是，我们必须要实际一点。我们不能答应每一个要求。如果我们这么做，我们就一定会失败或发疯。有时候我们确实没有时间去帮忙。既然如此，我们就必须知道如何有礼貌地说不。

当我们需要说不的时候，有个办法我们可以试试。首先，我们应该要说实话。假如我们真的办不到某件事，我们就应该说不。第二，我们应该记得要客气地拒绝对方的要求。我们必须清楚地表达，但态度也必须真诚并且表示同情。一个真正的朋友会谅解的。最后，我们不必为了说不而觉得有罪恶感。有时候拒绝别人才是我们应该做的事。它可以替我们自己和别人，都省下许多麻烦。总而言之，我们无法一直取悦每个人。拒绝请求是人生的一部分。

第4篇

as everyone knows,english is very important today.it has been used everywhere in the world.it has become the most common language on internet and for international trade. if we can speak english well,we will have more chance to succeed.because more and more people have taken notice of it,the number of the people who go to learn english has increased at a high speed.

but for myself,i learn english not only because of its importance and its usefulness,but also because of my love for it.when i learn english, i can feel a different way of thinking which gives me more room to touch the world.when i read english novels,i can feel the pleasure from the book which is different from reading the translation.when i speak english, i can feel the confident from my words.when i write english,i can see the beauty which is not the same as our chinese...

i love english,it gives me a colorful dream.i hope i can travel around the world one day. with my good english, i can make friends with many people from different contries.i can see many places of great intrests.i dream that i can go to london,because it is the birth place of english.

i also want to use my good english to introduce our great places to the english spoken people,i hope that they can love our country like us.

i know, rome was not built in a day. i believe that after continuous hard study, one day i can speak english very well.

if you want to be loved, you should learn to love and be lovable. so i believe as i love english everyday , it will love me too.

正如每个人所知，英语在今天十分重要。它已经被应用到世界的各个角落。它已经成为商业上最为通用的一门语言并广泛的用于国际贸易。如果我们能说好英语，我们就有更多的机会成功。因为越来越多的人注意到这一点，学英语的人数正在已很高的速度增长。

但是对我而言，我学英语不仅仅因为它的重要性以及它的实用性，更是因为我喜爱英语。当我学英语时，我可以体会到一种不同的思维方式，它可以给我更多接触世界的空间。当我读英语小说时，我能感受到不同于阅读翻译文的快乐。当我说英语时，我可以感到自信。当我写英语时，我能够感到不同于汉语的那种美……

我爱英语，它给了我一个色彩斑斓的梦。我希望有朝一日我可以畅游世界，用我流利的英语，我可以和世界各地的人交友。我能看到许多的名胜。我希望我能够到伦敦去，因为那里是英语的故乡。

我也希望用我流利的英语来将我们的名胜介绍给说英语的朋友，我希望他们可以像我们一样的爱我们的国家。

我知道，罗马不是一天筑成的。(成功需要日积月累。)我相信在持续不断的努力学习下，总有一天我可以拥有一口流利的英语。

如果你想被爱，你就应该学着去爱他人。所以我相信我对英语的爱定将换来它对我的爱。

第5篇

what would you do if you failed? many people may choose to give up. however, the surest way to success is to keep your direction and stick to your goal.

on your way to success, you must keep your direction. it is just like a lamp, guiding you in darkness and helping you overcome obstacles on your way. otherwise, you will easily get lost or hesitate to go ahead.

direction means objectives. you can get nowhere without an objective in life.

you can try to write your objective on paper and make some plans to achieve it. in this way, you will know how to arrange your time and to spend your time properly. and you should also have a belief that you are sure to succeed as long as you keep your direction all the time.

如果失败了你会怎么做?很多人可能会选择放弃。然而，要想成功，最可靠的方法就是坚持你的方向和目标。

在通往成功的路上，你必须坚持你的方向。它就像一盏灯，在黑暗中为你指路，帮助你度过难关。否则，你很容易就会迷失方向或犹豫不前。

你可以试着把你的目标写在纸上，并制定实现目标的计划。这样，你就会懂得如何合理安排时间，如何正确地支配时间。而且你还要有这样的信念：只要你一直坚持自己的方向，你就一定可以成功。

第6篇

when i was young,i always dreamed that i lived in a beautiful country. there were many flowers and trees around our city.we could hear the birds singing and see the children dancing. the streets were clear and the the air was very fresh! how nice it was! as is known to all , we have a beautiful world .we can see the sun shining. we can see the moon in a full view. we can see the birds flying in the sky. we can see the horses running on the plain. but that only was a dream of mine! the world is not as beautiul as before, for human beings have brought a disaster to the world.how i wish that it would be come true! so i think we should do something to protect our environment.

however, there are still many problems of environmental protection in recent years. one of the most serious problems is the serious pollution of air, water and soil. the polluted air does great harm to people’s health. the polluted water causes diseases and death. what is more, vegetation had been greatly reduced with the rapid growth of modern cities.on the one hand, the environment pollution and destruction are getting worse and worse in the modern world. on the other hand, the lack of knowledge about the importance of protecting environment hinders the solving of the problem. in a word, there is a long way to go before we enjoy a clean and comfortable world.

to protect the environment, governments of many countries have done a lot. legislative steps have been introduced to control air pollution, to protect the forest and sea resources and to stop any environmental pollution. therefore, governments are playing the most important role in the environmental protection today.

in my opinion, to protect environment, the government must take even more concrete measures. first, it should let people fully realize the importance of environmental protection through education. second, much more efforts should be made to put the population planning policy into practice, because more people means more pollution. finally, those who destroy the environment intentionally should be severely punished. we should let them know that destroying environment means destroying mankind themselves.

of course ,not only government but also everyone should make a contribution to protect the environment.have you ever thrown any litter onto the groundhave you ever drawn pictures on public wallshave you ever cut down treesif your answers are "no",it means that you have already helped protect our environment. protecting our environment is everyone's business.

第7篇

president pitzer mr. vice president, governor, congressman thomas, senator wiley, and congressman miller, mr. webb, mr. bell, scientists, distinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen:

i appreciate your president having made me an honorary visiting professor, and i will assure you that my first lecture will be very brief.

i am delighted to be here and i'm particularly delighted to be here on this occasion.

we meet at a college noted for knowledge, in a city noted for progress, in a state noted for strength, and we stand in need of all three, for we meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. the greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.

despite the striking fact that most of the scientists that the world has ever known are alive and working today, despite the fact that this nation's own scientific manpower is doubling every 12 years in a rate of growth more than three times that of our population as a whole, despite that, the vast stretches of the unknown and the unanswered and the unfinished still far outstrip our collective comprehension.

no man can fully grasp how far and how fast we have come, but condense, if you will, the 50,000 years of man's recorded history in a time span of but a half-century. stated in these terms, we know very little about the first 40 years, except at the end of them advanced man had learned to use the skins of animals to cover them. then about 10 years ago, under this standard, man emerged from his caves to construct other kinds of shelter. only five years ago man learned to write and use a cart with wheels. christianity began less than two years ago. the printing press came this year, and then less than two months ago, during this whole 50-year span of human history, the steam engine provided a new source of power. newton explored the meaning of gravity. last month electric lights and telephones and automobiles and airplanes became available. only last week did we develop penicillin and television and nuclear power, and now if america's new spacecraft succeeds in reaching venus, we will have literally reached the stars before midnight tonight.

this is a breathtaking pace, and such a pace cannot help but create new ills as it dispels old, new ignorance, new problems, new dangers. surely the opening vistas of space promise high costs and hardships, as well as high reward.

so it is not surprising that some would have us stay where we are a little longer to rest, to wait. but this city of houston, this state of texas, this country of the united states was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. this country was conquered by those who moved forward--and so will space.

william bradford, speaking in 1630 of the founding of the plymouth bay colony, said that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage.

if this capsule history of our progress teaches us anything, it is that man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred. the exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the great adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space.

those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolution, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power, and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. we mean to be a part of it--we mean to lead it. for the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. we have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.

yet the vows of this nation can only be fulfilled if we in this nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first. in short, our leadership in science and industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, to solve them for the good of all men, and to become the world's leading space-faring nation.

we set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. for space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the united states occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war. i do not say that we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea, but i do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours.

there is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. its hazards are hostile to us all. its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation many never come again. but why, some say, the moon? why choose this as our goal? and they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? why, 35 years ago, fly the atlantic? why does rice play texas?

we choose to go to the moon. we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

it is for these reasons that i regard the decision last year to shift our efforts in space from low to high gear as among the most important decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office of the presidency.

in the last 24 hours we have seen facilities now being created for the greatest and most complex exploration in man's history. we have felt the ground shake and the air shattered by the testing of a saturn c-1 booster rocket, many times as powerful as the atlas which launched john glenn, generating power equivalent to 10,000 automobiles with their accelerators on the floor. we have seen the site where five f-1 rocket engines, each one as powerful as all eight engines of the saturn combined, will be clustered together to make the advanced saturn missile, assembled in a new building to be built at cape canaveral as tall as a 48 story structure, as wide as a city block, and as long as two lengths of this field.

within these last 19 months at least 45 satellites have circled the earth. some 40 of them were made in the united states of america and they were far more sophisticated and supplied far more knowledge to the people of the world than those of the soviet union.

the mariner spacecraft now on its way to venus is the most intricate instrument in the history of space science. the accuracy of that shot is comparable to firing a missile from cape canaveral and dropping it in this stadium between the 40-yard lines.

transit satellites are helping our ships at sea to steer a safer course. tiros satellites have given us unprecedented warnings of hurricanes and storms, and will do the same for forest fires and icebergs.

we have had our failures, but so have others, even if they do not admit them. and they may be less public.

to be sure, we are behind, and will be behind for some time in manned flight. but we do not intend to stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and move ahead.

the growth of our science and education will be enriched by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the school. technical institutions, such as rice, will reap the harvest of these gains.

and finally, the space effort itself, while still in its infancy, has already created a great number of new companies, and tens of thousands of new jobs. space and related industries are generating new demands in investment and skilled personnel, and this city and this state, and this region, will share greatly in this growth. what was once the furthest outpost on the old frontier of the west will be the furthest outpost on the new frontier of science and space. houston, your city of houston, with its manned spacecraft center, will become the heart of a large scientific and engineering community. during the next 5 years the national aeronautics and space administration expects to double the number of scientists and engineers in this area, to increase its outlays for salaries and expenses to $60 million a year; to invest some $200 million in plant and laboratory facilities; and to direct or contract for new space efforts over $1 billion from this center in this city.

to be sure, all this costs us all a good deal of money. this year's space budget is three times what it was in january 1961, and it is greater than the space budget of the previous eight years combined. that budget now stands at $5,400 million a year--a staggering sum, though somewhat less than we pay for cigarettes and cigars every year. space expenditures will soon rise some more, from 40 cents per person per week to more than 50 cents a week for every man, woman and child in the united states, for we have given this program a high national priority--even though i realize that this is in some measure an act of faith and vision, for we do not now know what benefits await us. but if i were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have ever been experienced, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun--almost as hot as it is here today--and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out--then we must be bold.

i'm the one who is doing all the work, so we just want you to stay cool for a minute.

however, i think we're going to do it, and i think that we must pay what needs to be paid. i don't think we ought to waste any money, but i think we ought to do the job. and this will be done in the decade of the sixties. it may be done while some of you are still here at school at this college and university. it will be done during the terms of office of some of the people who sit here on this platform. but it will be done. and it will be done before the end of this decade.

and i am delighted that this university is playing a part in putting a man on the moon as part of a great national effort of the united states of america.

many years ago the great british explorer george mallory, who was to die on mount everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. he said, "because it is there."

well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. and, therefore, as we set sail we ask god's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.

第8篇

my mother is a family of women, she did not work. i have two sister, the family is not very rich so young my mother to take good care of our three special especially hard. in this mother and the mother of all thank the world.

when young unhealthy body always, always go to the hospital, in order to reduce the burden of home so her mother would give up the opportunity to have been home to care for me, every morning she would like to personally give me injections, she was very understanding, total she shot than others feel that pain, but also complained that she had a good long time, the injections in the future and her some pocket money to buy some sugar go, but she had never refused.

i remember that once burned in the middle of the night, carrying my mother immediately went to the hospital, half-way because of the darkness to throw, the legs of the bloodshed, and now also has been scar.

mama, thank you has been on our love, and now we have grown up around the outside of you, i hope you can take care of good health, and also for all the mothers, i hope that you can safely life!

第9篇

inmy18yearsoflife,therehavebeenmanythings.universitydaysarethebestpartofthem.icanneverforgetthedayswhenisteppedintomyuniversity.iwasimpressedbyitsgarden-likecampus,itsenthusiasticstudentsandespeciallyitslearningatmosphere.iatoncefellinlovewithit.

在我这18年的生命中，有着许多美好的经历，而大学生活则是其中最难忘的一段。我永远不会忘记刚刚跨进大学校园的那几天：花园一样的校园，热情活跃的学生，特别是那里的学习气氛，给我留下了深刻的印象。

afterthearduousmilitarytraining,igetabsolutelyabsorbedinmystudies.theclassesgivenbytheteachersareexcellent.theyprovideuswithinformationnotonlyfromourtextbooksbutfrommanyothersourcesaswell.theyeasilyarousemyinsatiabledesiretotakeinasmuchasican.

经过了一段艰辛的军事训练后，我完全融入到了学习中。老师的讲课真是棒极了。他们传授给我们的不仅是课本上的知识，还包括其他各种各样的信息。我渴望获得尽可能多的知识，是老师激发起了我这个不能满足的欲望。

franklyspeaking,atfirstihadsomedifficultyfollowingtheteachers.however,throughmyowneffortsandthankstomyteachers'guidance,imaderemarkableprogress.nowi'vebenefitedalotfromlecturesandmanyotheracademicreports.

坦率地说，一开始我还不能跟上老师的讲课。但是，通过我自己的努力以及老师的指导，我取得了巨大的进步。我从老师的授课和其他许多学术报告中获益匪浅。

learningisalongprocess;i'llkeepexploringinthetreasurehouseofknowledgetoenrichmyself.thissummerigotoutoftheivorytowerandenteredtherealworld.apublishinghouseofferedmeapart-timejobincompilationandrevision.

学习是个循序渐进、长期的过程，我会在知识的宝库中不断探索，丰富自我。今年暑假，我跨出象牙塔，进入并接触到了真正的社会。一个出版社给了我编辑和校对的兼职工作。

atthebeginningiwasbelittledbymycolleagues.buttheywerereallysurprisedwhenitranslatedsevenenglisharticlesover5,000wordsononlyoneday.gradually,theybegantolookatmewithrespectfuleyes.intheiropinioniturnedouttobeausefulandtrustworthycolleague.

工作初期，同事们都礁不起我。但是，当我在一天之内翻译完7篇（总字数超过5000字）的英语文章后，他们真的是大吃一惊。渐渐地，他们开始用尊敬的眼光看待我。他们认为，我变成了一个有用并值得信赖的好同事。

ialsorealizethatonlythosewhobringhappinessforotherscanbetrulyhappy.soioftentakepartinactivitiesconcerningpublicwelfare.ioncewenttoabarrenmountainvillagewithmyclassmates.wetaughtthekidstherewhocouldnotaffordschool.whileshowingthemhowbroadandhowcivilizedtheouterworldis,iwasdeeplytouchedbytheireagernesstolearn,theirhonestyandtheirpurity.icouldn'tcontrolmytearsonthedaywhenweleft.thepreciousexperiencewiththepoorkidsmademeawareoftheresponsibilityontheshouldersofus,futureteachers.

我也同样意识到，只有那些为别人带来幸福的人才能真正的幸福。因而，我经常参加有关公众福利享业的活动。有一次，我和同学去了一个贫痔的山区村庄。在那里，我们教那些没钱上学的孩子。我向他们展示了一幅宽广、文明的外部世界的画面，但同时我也被那些孩子学习的渴望、他们的真诚和纯洁深深打动了。在我们离开的那一天，我那不争气的眼泪禁不住流了下来。这次珍贵的经历让我们这些未来的教师意识到了自己肩上的责任重大。

besidesstudyandsocialpractice,thereareentertainmentsaswell.idobodybuildingeveryday,hopingtokeephealthyandenergetic.wealsowriteaplayandputitoninoursparetime.

除了学习和社会实践，我还经常参加娱乐活动。我每天都锻炼身体，希望保持健康和充满活力。我们还在业余时间写剧本并排练演出。

campuslifeisthemostsplendidtime.butdifferentpeoplehavedifferentchoices.themajorityofstudentscherishtheirbeautifulseasonandcherishthehopethatonedaythey'llbecomeoutstanding.butthereareindeedsomestudentsstillunderignorance.theygathertogetherforeating,drinkingorplayingcards.they'rebusyinsearchingforagirlfriendoraboyfriend.theyforgetcompletelyabouttheirmissionascollegestudentsandthehopeoftheirmotherland.

园生活是最丰富多彩的。但是，不同的人有着不同的选择。大多数的学生珍惜他们的美好时光，并殷切希望将来能出类拔萃。可是，的确有学生无动于衷。他们聚在一起吃喝玩乐，他们忙于追求异性朋友，他们完全忘记了自己作为大学生的使命和祖国对他们的厚望。

finally,idohopeeverybodycantrytheirbesttobecomeaworthycitizenofthecountry.idohopeeverybodycanbecomethebackboneofournationandmakegreatcontributionstosociety!

最后，我希望每个人都能尽努力成为国家的有用人才。我也希望每个人都能成为我们民族的脊梁，为社会做出巨大的贡献!

第10篇

hello, everybody! thank you. thank you. thank you, everybody. all right, everybody go ahead and have a seat. how is everybody doing today? (applause.) how about tim spicer? (applause.) i am here with students at wakefield high school in arlington, virginia. and wesquo;ve got students tuning in from all across america, from kindergarten through 12th grade. and i am just so glad that all could join us today. and i want to thank wakefield for being such an outstanding host. give yourselves a big round of applause. (applause.)i know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. and for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, itsquo;s your first day in a new school, so itsquo;s understandable if yousquo;re a little nervous. i imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now -- (applause) -- with just one more year to go. and no matter what grade yousquo;re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you couldsquo;ve stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.i know that feeling. when i was young, my family lived overseas. i lived in indonesia for a few years. and my mother, she didnsquo;t have the money to send me where all the american kids went to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with an american education. so she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, monday through friday. but because she had to go to work, the only time she could do it was at 4:30 in the morning.now, as you might imagine, i wasnsquo;t too happy about getting up that early. and a lot of times, isquo;d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. but whenever isquo;d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and shesquo;d say, this is no picnic for me either, buster. (laughter.)so i know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. but isquo;m here today because i have something important to discuss with you. isquo;m here because i want to talk with you about your education and whatsquo;s expected of all of you in this new school year.but at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world -- and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. thatsquo;s what i want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.i want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. every single one of you has something that yousquo;re good at. every single one of you has something to offer. and you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. thatsquo;s the opportunity an education can provide.