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So, I want to talk to you about the forgotten middle.
我想要和你们讨论下被遗忘的中间人群。
To me, they are the students, coworkers and plain old regular folks who are often overlooked
对我而言，他们是学生、同事和普通人，他们通常会被忽视，
because they're seen as neither exceptional nor problematic.
因为他们既不是“三好学生”，也不是“问题儿童”。
They're the kids we think we can ignore because their needs for support don't seem particularly urgent.
他们是我们认为可以忽略的孩童，因为他们的需求看起来并不特别紧迫。
They're the coworkers who actually keep the engines of our organizations running,
他们是让组织引擎保持运行的同事，
but who aren't seen as the innovators who drive excellence.
他们却不被视为驱动创新的卓越者。
In many ways, we overlook the folks in the middle
在很多方面，我们忽视了中间人群，
because they don't keep us up awake at night wondering what crazy thing they're going to come up with next.
因为他们不会让我们夜不能寐，不会担心他们做出什么疯狂的事情。
And the truth is that we've come to rely on their complacency and sense of disconnection because it makes our work easier.
但事实是，我们依赖着他们的自足和脱离感，因为这会让我们的工作更容易。
You see, I know a little bit about the forgotten middle.
我对被遗忘的中间人群比较了解。
As a junior high school student, I hung out in the middle.
在初中时，我是中间人群中的一员。
For a long time, I had been a good student. But seventh grade was a game changer.
在很长一段时间内，我都是一个好学生。但是七年级成了一个转折点。
I spent my days gossiping, passing notes, generally goofing off with my friends.
我在传八卦，传纸条以及跟朋友的嬉闹中荒度光阴。
I spent my homework time on the phone, reviewing each day's events.
我把做作业的时间用在手机上，浏览每天的事件。
And in many ways, although I was a typical 12-year-old girl,
在很多方面，尽管我只是一个普通的12岁的女孩，
my ambivalence about my education led to pretty average grades.
我对教育游离不定的态度导致了我平平淡淡的成绩。
Luckily for me, my mother understood something important, and that was that my location was not my destination.
对我来说幸运的是，我妈妈知道一些重要的东西，那就是我所处的位置并不是我的目的地。
As a former research librarian and an educator, my mother knew that I was capable of accomplishing a lot more.
作为一个前研究图书馆员和教育家，我妈妈知道我能够完成更多的事情。
But she also understood that because I was a young black woman in America,
但是她同样理解由于我是一个美国的年轻黑人女孩，
I might not have opportunities out of the middle if she wasn't intentional about creating them.
我可能不会有从中间人群脱颖而出，如果她不刻意创造这些机会的话。
So she moved me to a different school. She signed me up for leadership activities in my neighborhood.
所以她把我转到另一所学校。她为我报名参加社区的领导活动。
And she began to talk to me more seriously about college and career options I could aspire to.
她开始更认真地和我谈论我可以渴望的大学和职业选择。
My mother's formula for getting me out of the middle was pretty simple.
我妈妈帮助我从中间人群走出的方法非常简单。
She started with high expectations. She made it her business to figure out how to set me up for success.
她从一个高的期望开始。她把如何让我成功当成她的工作。
She held me accountable and, along the way, she convinced me that I had the power to create my own story.
她要我负责起来，并且同时她说服我拥有能力去创造我自己的故事。
That formula didn't just help me get out of my seventh grade slump
这个方法不仅帮我走出了七年级的低谷，
I used it later on in New York City, when I was working with kids who had a lot of potential,
我后来在纽约城也使用它，当我与那些有很多潜能的孩子，
but not a lot of opportunities to go to and complete college.
但没有很多机会去上及完成大学的孩子一起工作时。
You see, high-performing students tend to have access to additional resources,
你们知道，高表现的学生趋向于有更多额外的资源，
like summer enrichment activities, internships and an expansive curriculum
比如夏季的充实活动，实习，以及一种广泛的课程，
that takes them out of the classroom and into the world in ways that look great on college applications.
可以把他们带出教室，走向世界，这些经历在他们申请大学时非常占优。
But we're not providing those kinds of opportunities for everyone.
但是我们并没有把这种机会提供给每一个人。
And the result isn't just that some kids miss out. I think we, as a society, miss out too.
结果是不只是一些小孩掉队了。我认为我们整个社会，也掉队了。
You see, I've got a crazy theory about the folks in the middle.
对于中间人群，我有一个疯狂的理论。
I think there are some unclaimed winning lottery tickets in the middle.
我认为中间人群中有一些无人认领的彩票。
I think the cure for cancer and the path to world peace might very well reside there.
我认为癌症的治疗和世界和平的道路很可能就在那里。
Now, as a former middle school teacher, I'm not saying that magically everyone is suddenly going to become an A student.
现在，作为一个前中学老师，我并不是说每个人都会神奇地突然成为一名A类学生。
But I also believe that most folks in the middle are capable of a lot more.
但是我同时相信中间的大多数人士有能力做更多的事情。
And I think people stay in the middle because that's where we relegated them to and,
并且我认为人们留在中间是因为我们把他们降级于此，
sometimes, that's just where they're kind of chilling while they figure things out.
而有时候，中间地带只是人们思考人生时喜欢待的地方。
All of our journeys are made up of a series of rest stops, accelerations, losses and wins.
我们的所有旅途都由一系列的休息，加速，损失和获得组成。
We have a responsibility to make sure that one's racial, gender,
我们有责任确保一个人的种族，性别，
cultural and socioeconomic identity is never the reason you didn't have access out of the middle.
文化和社会经济身份永远不会成为你无法从中间人群出来的原因。
So, just as my mother did with me, I began with high expectations with my young people.
所以，就像我妈妈对我做的那样，我开始对我的年轻人设定高的期望。
And I started with a question. I stopped asking kids, "Hey, do you want to go to college?"
我从一个问题开始。我不再问孩子们：“嘿，你想要上大学吗？”
I started asking them, "What college would you like to attend?" You see, the first question...
我开始问他们，“你想要读什么样的大学？”你看，这第一个问题...
The first question leaves a lot of vague possibilities open.
第一个问题留下了许多模糊的可能性。
But the second question says something about what I thought my young people were capable of.
但是第二个问题说了一些我认为年轻人有能力做到的事情。
On a basic level, it assumes that they're going to graduate from high school successfully.
在基本层面，这句话假定他们都能够成功从高中毕业。
It also assumed that they would have the kinds of academic records that could get them college and university admissions.
这同样假定他们的学科成绩好到可以让他们获取大学录取通知书。
And I'm proud to say that the high expectations worked.
我很荣幸的告诉大家高期望起作用了。
While black and Latinx students nationally tend to graduate from college in six years or less, at a percent of 38,
虽然全国的黑人与拉丁裔学生在6年或更短的时间从大学毕业的比例是38%，
we were recognized by the College Board for our ability not to just get kids into college but to get them through college.
我们帮助学生进入大学和帮助他们顺利毕业的能力得到了美国大学理事会的认可。
But I also understand that high expectations are great, but it takes a little bit more than that.
我同样知道，高期望值很棒，但这需要更多的东西。
You wouldn't ask a pastry chef to bake a cake without an oven.
你不能让糕点师在没有烤箱的情况下烤蛋糕。
And we should not be asking the folks in the middle to make the leap without providing them with the tools,
我们若要求中间的人们取得飞跃，就必须提供必要的工具、
strategies and support they deserve to make progress in their lives.
策略以及支持，让他们在生活中取得进步。
A young woman I had been mentoring for a long time, Nicole, came to my office one day,
妮可，一个我曾经长期辅导的年轻女性，有一天来到我办公室，
after her guidance counselor looked at her pretty strong transcript and expressed utter shock and amazement that she was even interested in going to college.
就在她的指导顾问看到她相当优秀的成绩，并对她有兴趣上大学表达出了极度的震惊和惊讶之后。
What the guidance counselor didn't know was that through her community,
指导顾问不知道的是，通过她的社区，
Nicole had had access to college prep work, SAT prep and international travel programs.
妮可可以参加大学预科、SAT预科和国际旅行项目。
Not only was college in her future,
她的未来不只有大学，
but I'm proud to say that Nicole went on to earn two master's degrees after graduating from Purdue University.
但我很自豪地说，妮可从普渡大学毕业后，继续获得了两个硕士学位。
We also made it our business to hold our young people accountable,
我们的工作是教导年轻人负责，
but also to instill a sense of accountability in those young people to themselves,
灌输负责感给这些年轻人，让每一个人对自己、
to each other, to their families and their communities.
家庭和社区都负起责任。
We doubled down on asset-based youth development.
我们加倍重视基于资产的青年发展。
We went on leadership retreats and did high ropes courses and low ropes courses and tackled life's biggest questions together.
我们参加领导力静修课程，参与高绳课程和低绳课程，一起应对生活中最大的问题。
The result was that the kids really bought into the notion that they were accountable for achieving these college degrees.
结果，孩子们真的接受了他们有责任获得大学学位的观念。
It was so gratifying to see the kids calling each other and texting each other to say, "Hey, why are you late for SAT prep?"
我们非常振奋得看到这些孩子互相打电话和发短信说：“嘿，为什么你SAT备考迟到这么久？”
And, "What are you packing for the college tour tomorrow?"
以及 “你为明天的大学参观准备什么东西？”
We really worked to kind of make college the thing to do.
我们真的努力在让上大学成为一件可以实现的事。
We began to create programs on college campuses and events
我们开始在大学校园里创建项目和活动，
that allow young people to really visualize themselves as college students and college graduates.
让年轻人真正把自己想象成大学生和大学毕业生。
Me and my staff rocked our own college gear and had lots of fun, healthy competition about whose school was better than whose.
我们穿着“大学装备”，玩得很开心，就谁的学校比谁的好展开健康有趣的竞争。
The kids really bought into it, and they began to see that something more was possible for their lives.
孩子们真的乐在其中，他们开始看到人生中更多的可能性。
Not only that -- they could look around at that college-going community
不仅如此，他们可以观察“进大学”的社群，
and see kids who came from the same backgrounds and the same neighborhoods and who were aspiring to the same things.
看到那些来自相同背景和街区，具有同样抱负的孩子们。
That sense of belonging was really key, and it showed up in a remarkable, beautiful way one day
那种归属感真的至关重要，有一天，它以一种非凡而美丽的方式出现了，
when we were in the Johannesburg airport, waiting to go through customs on our way to Botswana for a service learning trip.
当时我们在约翰内斯堡机场，等待通过海关前往博茨瓦纳的服务学习之旅。
I saw a group of kids kind of huddled in a circle. Usually, with teens, that means something's going on.
我看到一群孩子挤成一圈。通常对于十多岁的孩子，这意味着发生了什么。
So I kind of walked up behind the kids to figure out what they were talking about. They were comparing passport stamps.
所以，我特意走在孩子们后面想弄清楚他们在讨论什么。他们在比较护照上的盖戳。
And they were dreaming out loud about all the other countries they planned to visit in the future.
他们大声地梦想着未来要去的其他国家。
And seeing these young people from New York City go on to not just become college students
看到这些来自纽约的年轻人，不仅仅努力成为大学生，
but to participate in study abroad programs and to then take jobs around the world was incredibly gratifying.
并且在参与海外的学习项目，然后在全球工作确实非常鼓舞人。
When I think of my kids and all the doctors, lawyers, teachers, social workers,
当我想到我的孩子们还有所有的大夫，律师，教师，社会职员，
journalists and artists who came from our little nook in New York City,
记者和艺术家，想到他们都来自纽约的小角落，
I hate to think of what would have happened if we hadn't invested in the middle.
我不愿去想象如果我们不投资中间人群的话会发生什么。
Just think about all that their communities and the world would have missed out on.
想想他们的社区和世界将会错过的一切。
This formula for the middle doesn't just work with young people. It can transform our organizations as well.
这个针对中间人群的方法不止对年轻人有效。它同样会改变我们的组织。
We can be more bold in coming up and articulating a mission that inspires everyone.
我们可以更大胆地去倡导和阐明一个使命，激励每一个人。
We can authentically invite our colleagues to the table to come up with a strategy to meet the mission.
我们可以真诚地邀请我们的同事参加会议，一起谋划实现使命的战略。
We can give meaningful feedback to folks along the way, and -- and sometimes most importantly
我们可以给途中的人们提供有意义的反馈，并且...并且有时候更重要的是，
make sure that you're sharing credit for everyone's contributions.
确保你在分享每个人的贡献。
What happened when my staff aimed high for themselves is that what they were able to do for young people was pretty transformational.
当我的员工把目标定得很高的时候，他们能够为年轻人做的事情是非常具有变革意义的。
And it's been so wonderful to look back
我回首时感到很棒，
and see all of my former colleagues who've gone on to get doctorates and assume leadership roles in other organizations.
看到以前所有的同事获取了博士学位并在其它组织中担任领导角色。
We have what it takes to inspire and uplift the folks in the middle.
我们有能力激励和提升中间人群。
We can extend love to the people in the middle. We can challenge our own biases about who deserves a hand-up, and how.
我们可以把爱传播到中间人群中。我们可以挑战自己的偏见，即谁该举手及如何举手。
We can structure our organizations, communities and institutions in ways that are inclusive and that uphold principles of equity.
我们可以以包容和坚持公平原则的方式来构建我们的组织，社区和机构。
Because, in the final analysis, what is often mistaken for a period is really just a comma. Thank you.
因为，归根到底，生活没有句号，只有逗号。谢谢。
