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Everyone in my family went to school here at Michigan: me, my brother, my Mom and Dad--all of us. My Dad actually got the quantity discount: all three and a half of his degrees are from here. His Ph.D. was in Communication Science because they thought Computers were just a passing fad, when he earned it 44 years ago. He and Mom made a big sacrifice for that degree. They argued at times over pennies, while raising my newborn brother. Mom typed my Dad's dissertation by hand. That's ironic for a Communication Science dissertation. This velvet hood I'm wearing, this was my Dad's. And this diploma that I have here, just like the one you are about to get, that was my Dad's. And my underwear, that was... oh never mind.
我们家的所有成员都毕业于密歇根大学：我、我哥哥、我妈妈和爸爸——我们全家。事实上，我父亲得了大宗折扣：他在这里获得了三个半学位。他的博士学位是通信科学，因为他们认为计算机只是一时热门，他是在44年前获得的。他与我母亲为之做出了巨大牺牲。在抚养我刚出生的哥哥时，他俩经常因为缺钱而争吵。母亲用手敲出了父亲的论文，这对于通信科学论文来说具有讽刺意味。我戴的这顶天鹅绒帽是我父亲的。这张文凭，和你们即将拿到的一样，是我父亲的。还有我的内衣，也是……哦，不用说了。
My father's father worked in the Chevy plant in Flint, Michigan. He was an assembly line worker. He drove his two children here to Ann Arbor, and told them: This is where you're going to go to college. I know it sounds funny now. Both his kids actually did graduate from Michigan. That was the American dream. His daughter, Beverly, of course with us today.
我的祖父在密歇根州弗林特的雪佛兰汽车工厂工作，他是装配线上的一名工人。他曾开车把两个孩子送到安娜堡这儿，并告诉他们：这是你们今后要上的大学。我知道现在听起来很好笑。他的两个孩子也的确从密歇根大学毕业。这就是“美国梦”。他的女儿，贝芙丽，今天自然也和我们在一起。
