毕业典礼发言稿简短英语（实用20篇）

Passions are stoked, and the assault on truth begins. The necessary predicate for discrediting your opposition and for creating supporters. It usually starts with attacks on the press and journalists. And then it moves to universities and students and professors.

Since truth is the real enemy, and whoever pursuit it must be declared the enemy. Evidence of nation after nation making this distressing turn is now all around us. We must be careful not to underestimate the negative consequences to our own values caused by this pervasive form of censorship and suppression.

Given the ever-increasing integration of peoples of the world. Through the powerful forces of economic activity, communication, and movements across borders, we depend on professors, students, and ideas flowing freely through our community of institutions. We may therefore sometimes look at these acts of intolerance abroad as matters of here foreign consequence, but they almost also have much more direct and immediate consequences for our own values.

The most recent case that vividly makes this point is the hideous torture and murder of Khashoggi. A Saudi national and unsparing critic of that regime. A violation of international law and human rights, yes, it certainly appears so. But it was potentially a violation of American law, and the interests protected by those laws for Khashoggi was a communist with the Washington post and a legal resident of the United States. With two children of his four who are U.S. citizens. As such he was protected by the first amendment for the things he said and for which he was killed. This is a crime under American laws against torture and violation of civil rights, for which there is extraterritorial jurisdiction to pursue prosecution. Though it is deplorable that no action has been taken in this country to bring this killer to justice and to vindicate U.S. interests. A precedent that should concern us all.

Of course, there is no shortage of attacks on truth and on truth seekers right here at home. The undermining of honest discourse has occurred so far not through official acts of censorship, but more indirectly, if not very subtlety, the means of suppression.

英语科代表竞选的优秀演讲稿

我从小英语成绩都很好，所以我有决心和经验来承担英语课代表这个职责。下面就由第一范文网小编为你分享英语科代表竞选的优秀演讲稿，欢迎欣赏。

英语科代表竞选的优秀演讲稿 篇【1】

敬爱的老师、亲爱的同学们：

大家好!

今天我非常高兴能够参加班上的班干部竞选活动，我这次竞选的是英语课代表。

我知道，英语课代表这个职位人人都向往，而且这个职位的要求也很高，我不能保证我是最好的，但假如我当上了语文课代表，我会尽我的全力去做好这个职位的任务，向班上的同学证明我是一位能干的语文课代表。

假入我当上了英语课代表，我会严格的要求自己，要求自己做好这个职务，成为同学们心中的好榜样，成为老师身边最得力的助手。当有同学在语文方面又困难的时候，我也会主动的帮助你，让你成为语文方面的尖子生。

也许有人更我还不熟悉，又点怀疑我的实力。在这里，我郑重的告诉你，你们不用怀疑我的实力，因为无论如何，不管我实力差还是实力强，我都会尽我的全力去做这份工作。我相信只要通过我的努力，我就一定会做的最好。请你们相信我。

如果我这次落选了，我也不会气馁，我会再接再励，努力学习争取在下次的班干部竞选的时候，成为语文课代表。到时候，你们也应该知道我的实力了!

今天我站在这里，这是因为我做好了充分的心理准备，我相信只要我又自信，相信自己能胜任这个人人争取的职务，我就一定会成功!

希望大家可以多多支持我，给我投上你们手中那宝贵的一票吧!

我今天的演讲完了谢谢大家!!!

英语科代表竞选的优秀演讲稿 篇【2】

敬爱的老师、亲爱的同学们：

大家好!很是初一(4)班的,我想竞选的是英语课代表。

很荣幸能站在这里参加班干部的竞选，在此我对大家的支持表示由衷的感谢。 小时候，父亲曾对我说过：做事要脚踏实地，一步一个脚印的去做。”不止一次，站上讲台参加竞选，我深感机会的来之不易，需要好好珍惜。正是由于这种动力，当我站在这里的时候，倍感自信。 当然仅仅有自信是不够的，还要有一定的能力。然而农村的教育水平终究不如城里，我比起班里的一些同学还是有差距的。从不会到会，从不好到好的过程，就是凭借着自信和虚心的态度来认真完成每一件工作的。但“人非圣贤，孰能无过”，我也犯过错，但我敢于面对自己的错误，从同学与老师的 帮助中虚心的接受批评，并改正错误，而且决不容许自己第二次在同一地方跌倒。 今天我之所以在这里参加竞选，是为了锻炼自己的能力，提高自己的英语水平，同时也会让全班的成绩一同提高。?当然，我如果没有当选，我也不会懈气，我会更加努力的。 最后，我真诚希望大家相信我，支持我，给我这次展示能力的机会。我将在这一片属于我们的天空中挥洒春的汗水，为班级的明天绘出一幅美好的蓝图。

谢谢!

英语科代表竞选的优秀演讲稿 篇【3】

敬爱的老师，亲爱的同学们：

大家好!我叫谢沛燃。这次我很荣幸能站在讲台上进行英语科代表的竞选。这次，我要通过我的努力，成为老师的助手，同学的榜样，我相信我一定能竞选上英语科代表这个职务。

一个人最可怜的是无知，最可悲的是自私，最可敬的是拼搏。不管我竞选成功与否，我都会让自私、无知与我无缘。只有那一股子拼劲，为大家，为班级做事。我在每次的英语考试中都能达到95分以上，成绩很不错，此外，我有着强烈的责任心，有丰富的经验，可以帮助老师做一些力所能及的事。如果我竞选成功，我一定会全心全意地为同学服务。每天早上，我会带领同学们进行早读，并把同学的作业收齐。在课上，我会带头积极举手发言;课下，如果有同学来问我不会的题，我也一定会耐心爽快地回答。如果遇到了一些难题，我会组织其他的同学共同探讨，并寻求老师的帮助。正因为如此，我有信心做好一名英语科代表。

假如我落选了，我也不会伤心，因为那说明我还有许多缺点，我将继续自我完善，因为每一个失败都会提醒我下次努力。俗话说“失败乃成功之母“，我还会继续努力，找出自己的不足并及时改正，争取下次能竞选上。

希望大家支持我，投出手中神圣的一票吧!谢谢大家!

Youth Ideal Future

Good evening, everyone. My name is WangHaili. I am an outgoing girl who likes reading and traveling. It’s really my great honor to stand here and give everyone a short speech.

People say, youth is fire which is ignited by passion. People say, youth is a chapter of the poem which is written by stories. The color of youth is bright and we make most use of our ardor to draw the scenes to the canvas of painting. But we may be confused and lose our direction in the youth time. Under this, youth slips away. Roman Roland says, life doesn’t issue return ticket and can never come back once sets out. So we should seize the short youth time and try our best to pursue our ideal. Do what should we do and let our youth without regret.

When we refer to ideal, we will realize the importance of ideal. Ideal is the beacon,. Without ideal, we will lose the firm direction. Without direction, we will lose our life. According to this, every one of us should establish our own ideal .so that we have the direction of straggle to the future. Tolstoy tells us, we should have the life objective from the whole life to the second. So we should cherish every moment and form our systematic objective. Youth is the prime time. We have strong body and energy and can sense the meaning of life under the guide of ideal.

As we know, the ideal is plentiful and reality is skinny. But we should believe that we will become stronger and stronger in the way to pursue ideal. Future is unknown,. If we hope our future is nice, we should enrich our youth time and find the direction of future.

Let us use our youth to pursue our ideal and make our future wonderful. So we will have gorgeous life.

大家好!国学经典是中华民族的传统文化，蕴含着民族精神和民族情感，承载着中华民族的思想精华。今天，我们全校师生在这里隆重集会，举行经典诵读比赛，在比赛中，同学们的表现非常出色，朗诵的语调抑扬顿挫，有的清新优美，有的动情感人，有像山洪暴发、又像涓涓溪流，一篇篇经典让我们回味无穷，也再一次诠释了经典诗文在朗诵上平仄、押韵的美感。可见我们各位老师再背后付出的辛劳，在这里我道一声，你们辛苦了!同时此次经典诵读也突显了我校师生追求美、欣赏美、展示美、歌颂美的思想情操。让我们感受到了中华文化的博大精深，让我们享受着五千年的文明给我们留下的巨大的精神宝典，同学们，本次经典诵读比赛已圆满落幕，但是，诵读的任务却没有结束，它应该是延续的，是长久的。诵读经典诗文可以使我们加深对民族精神和优秀文化的理解，在诵读中亲近经典，在亲近中热爱经典，在热爱中弘扬经典，爱我中华，就要读经典，每个人，教师也好，学生也好，都要参与到中华经典诗文诵读活动中去，希望我们以此次活动为契机，结合我校每天一小时的读书等一系列的活动，通过诵读延续我们中华经典，这些打着中华烙印的经典将会深深的印入我们的骨髓里，改变我们的气质、我们的格调。在中华美德的滋养下，我们的生活将更加阳光，在诵读千古美文中，我们的人生将更加多彩。

最后，我衷心地希望，在我们全校师生的共同努力下，以经典诵读活动为载体，与经典同行，以圣贤为友，让诵读伴随我们成长，让书香溢满我们校园!让诵读经典成为我们传承优秀传统文化的一个亮点。

谢谢大家

Beloved teacher, dear students:

Everybody is good!

My name is Zhang Xiaohua, chose to run for the monitor, because I get up the courage. In the class, I was a leader, learning has always been good to answer questions -- class actively accurate, is the teachers small cotton padded jacket; in the morning reading, I have a certain management ability, is the small guards maintain class order; in the class, I can play with my classmates together, remind they dont play dangerous games. Of course, I will redouble its efforts to study, communication, training, to contribute to the honor classes!

Although, I know there is a lot of good than their own students, but I understand, participation.

If you choose me, I will try to the leaders responsibility, work hard together with classmates, there are dissatisfied with my fellow

Science can and I said, I must correct the errors in time.

Thank you!

nize; feel with your body and spirit, and see if you can sense the freshness in the air.

Yes, yes, yes, it’s a new day, it’s a different day, and it’s a bright day! And most importantly, it is a new beginning for your life, a beginning where you are going to make new decisions, take new actions, make new friends, and take your life to a totally unprecedented level!

In your minds eye, you can see clearly the things you want to have, the paces you intend to go, the relationships you desire to develop, and the positions you aspire to reach.

You can hear your laughters of joy and happiness on the day when everything happens as you dream.

You can see the smiles on the people around you when the magic moment strikes.

You can feel your face is getting red, your heart is beating fast, and your blood is rushing all over your body, to every single corner of your being!

You know all this is real as long as you are confident ,passionate and committed! And you are confident, you are passionate, you are committed!

You will no longer fear making new sounds, showing new facial expressions, using your body in new ways ,approaching new people, and asking new questions.

You will live every single day of your life with absolute passion, and you will show your passion through the words you speak and the actions you take.

You will focus all your time and effort on the most important goals of your life. You will never succumb to challenges of hardships.

You will never waver in your pursuit of excellence. After all ,you are the best, and you deserve the best!

As your coach and friend, I can assure you the door to all the best things in the world will open to you, but the key to that door is in your hand. You must do your part, you must faithfully follow the plans you make and take the actions you plan, you must never quit, you must never fear. I know you must do it, you can do it, you will do it, and you will succeed! Now stand firm and tall, make a fist, get excited, and yell it out:

I must do it! I can do it! I will do it! I will succeed!

I must do it! I can do it! I will do it! I will succeed!

I must do it! I can do it! I will do it! I will succeed!

尊敬的老师们，亲爱的同学们：

大家好!

我叫__，今天我我站在这里，是因为我对自己有信心，我认为自己有能力胜任副班长这个职位。

在上个学期，我担任的职位是__委员和__委员，大家对我的工作有目共睹，通过我自身的努力，我的工作获得了老师与同学们的认可，被评为了“优秀班干部”。但是我认为，我的工作仍然有做得不足的地方，所以在这一学期里，我要改正这些我做的不足的地方，为同学服务，得到大家更高的评价!

各位老师、同学们，如果我评选上了，我会在各方面积极带头，当好老师的助手，团结同学，为同学们服务。如果我没有评上，我会寻找自己存在的不足，积极改正，同时也会为班级的建设与发展做出贡献!

请将您手中宝贵的一票投给我吧!

谢谢大家!

Amnesty mobilises thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.

Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s places.

Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise.

And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.

I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces leads to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.

What is more, those who choose not to empathise enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.

One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

each examiner:

I call____, come from shandong province.this year is 21 years old, is astudent who will soon graduate.

passes the foundation knowledge that the teachers guidance controled acalculator with personal effort firmly in the school.mainly studied c languageat the software aspect. c#. java etc. plait the distance language, the datastructure, vf. access etc. database is applied, calculator operatesystem.studied the dreamweaver web page manufacture and the asp network to weavea distance also.studied the calculator network at the hardware aspect, thecalculator construction with bine many times to attend to pack machine, set thefulfillment of the net operation lesson, make me control the work principle ofthe calculator and the set of the calculator network net process.

in addition, i attend various activities of the school organization to cometo the oneself of 锻炼 actively and do various part-time to increase socialexperience.the teacher is divided into the group to us in the experiment andpractice of the lesson remaining to complete mission, make we the deepcomprehension arrive the importance of the team.the and the rise time acquiresthe school scholarship during the period of school, three staffs.

however necessarily limited at the knowledge that the school learn,therefore i would ready to take advice study in the later work, the backlogworking experience, the exaltation work ability.hope your company to give me adisplays an own opportunity!

Goodmorning/afternoon,everybody!A famous American poet says , "Life is short, study is long." Everyone should work hard and study well. Never waste any time. Now we are young, we have so many things to do. Youth time is like a happy bird. If it flew away, it would never return. Nothing is more important than time.

Today some students spend too much time enjoying their lives such as eating, clothing, traveling and so on. Others spend too much time reading some useless books. A lot of time has been wasted. They have no idea that waste of time means wasting of one’s life.

While we are young and full of energy, let’s study hard.

My speech is over ! Thank you.

敬爱的老师，亲爱的同学们：

大家好！

今天我非常荣幸的站在这里竞选班长，古人云：“群龙不能无首。”我的目标就是成为这个班的首席。

是大树的，就要长得茂盛；是花儿的，就要开得鲜艳；是班长的，就要起好带头作用。

我竞选班长，是因为我从小管理能力就不错。从一年级开始，我就知道自己要整理房间，把各种各样的东西都摆放地井井有条。当爸爸妈妈的店里很忙的时候，我就会去帮忙。有时还会像个大人一样给大家分配工作，生意一个都没落下，大人们都夸我厉害。

而且我的脑子动得很快，只要一出现什么难题，脑子一咕噜一转，马上，答案就清晰可见。然后把它安排好。

同时，我也当过很多年的班长，是“老手”了，很有经验。可以更好地维持班级的秩序，更好地带领班级，管理班级。

如果我有幸当上了班长，我会让大家看到一个崭新的我，一个尽职尽责的我，一个在奋进向上的我，一个在勇往直前的我。我会以的态度管理班级，并以精神饱满的状态面对同学，帮助同学们，更会提升自己的学习情况。让我们在学习中寻找乐趣，在集体中互帮互助。

当然，我也会在老师的带领下展开各种各样丰富多彩的班队活动，让班队活动成为我们最能展现自我的舞台。并且，我会当好老师的小助手，为同学们排忧解难，积极的参加各项活动与活动的策划。我也已经回更好地完成老师教给我的任务，这是我的职责。

若是落选了，我也不会气馁，这就说明我还有一些不足之处，我将会继续完善自我。

我相信，在我们的努力之下，一定可以让班级拥有更好的辉煌历史，让班级拥有更完美的小学生活，可以让自己自豪的小学生活。希望大家能为我投上神圣而又宝贵的一票。

谢谢大家！

敬爱的老师，亲爱的同学们：大家好!

我叫___，今天竞选的是副班长这个职务。

今天是我第一次竞选副班长，也是第一次站在讲台上竞选。也许你们会很奇怪，我竞选的岗位居然是副班长。有的同学可能会暗自发笑：副班长不是应该有能力的人来担当吗?我知道我的能力不足，但是我认为我可以带领大家创造一个优良的环境，因为我不但有一颗积极向上、负责任的心，并且我热爱集体，团结同学，有较强的工作能力，所以我认为我可以胜任这个职务。虽然我各科成绩都很一般，但是我会努力做到优秀。

倘若我可以竞选成功，那么我会以身作则，做好大家的榜样，配合老师和班长搞好集体。不会偏袒自己的朋友，做到人人平等。我会在大集体中起到带头的作用，尽到自己的责任，不失职。我可以向大家保证做到以下几点：

1.遵守纪律，不乱丢垃圾，帮助同学，为班集体争光。

2.不摆班干部的架子。

3.积极帮助同学，不斤斤计较。

我的演讲完了，希望大家多多支持我!请投给我宝贵的一票吧!

谢谢大家!

Sometimes it takes things falling apart, for better things to fall into place. Sometimes it takes the most uncomfortable path, to lead your life to the most beautiful place. Theres gonna be bad days, theres gonna be dark days, but youve gotta embrace it.

Because that pain is what makes you stronger. Failure is what makes you stronger.

You have to accept those down times, because once you realize those down times, are just as much part of life as anything else, youre able to strive again.

Youll never see the purpose of the storm, until you see the growth it produced. Youll never understand why you went through what you went through, until you see the strength, the power, the resilience that it built inside of you. Ask yourself why.

But this why is a better why, "Why am I doing this? Why am I failing? Why am I even getting myself in a situation where I could fail? Because I have a dream. Because I have goals."

尊敬的老师，亲爱的同学们：

大家好!我是孙宏宇，今天我要来竞选——英语课代表。

为什么我要竞选英语课代表呢?因为第一：我喜欢英语。第二：我口语很好。第三：我愿意成为老师的小帮手。我上了很多个英语培训班，在那儿，也令我学到了不少知识，我如果成为了英语课代表，相信这些也可以变成我的优势!

既然是花，就要开放;既然是树，就要长成栋梁;既然是英语课代表，就要成为一名出色的领航员!

如果我当上了英语课代表，那么我将会引导同学们去学习一些相关的英语知识，加上每天可以让同学们欣赏一个有趣的英语小故事，让大家体会到英语的有趣之处。在同学需要帮助时，我会挺身而出，耐心地教他们不会做的题目。如果别的同学比我优秀，我也不会气馁，而会去请教老师或请教别的同学。

我还会成为老师的小帮手：

一，在上课前提醒同学们做好课前准备，安静地等老师来。

二，提前去办公室拿这节课要用的作业本。

三，如果老师有事不来上课，我会及时向班主任通知。

四，老师让我做的一些事儿，我会尽量完成，可不耽误学习。

最后我想说，流星的光辉来自天体的摩擦，珍珠的璀璨来自贝壳的眼泪。如果我竞选成功，我会更加充满自信;如果失败，我会找出我的不足之处来加以改进，希望同学们投我宝贵的一票。

谢谢大家!

Tim is also known as a strong advocate for environmental issues, broader educational access, racial equity, and for the rights of the LGBTQ community.

He has been vocal in his belief that corporations should do their part to make the world a better place.ell, thank you, Provost Drell.

Again, to the members of the Class of 20xx:

On behalf of Stanford University, congratulations to you on this very special day.

You have graduated from the family of Stanford students, and you have joined the family of Stanford alumni.

From this day forward, wherever you go in the world, whatever path you explore, and whatever contribution you seek to make – you will remain forever Cardinal, and forever a part of the Stanford community.

And so, in closing, as you start a new journey as graduates of Stanford, I hope you will remember these words:

Let today serve as a beginning, and not an ending.

Follow your talents, your interests, and your foundational values to discover your own unique path to living a life of purpose.

And most importantly: Embrace the opportunities ahead of you and use the platform you’ve earned to change the world for the better.

Congratulations, Class of 20xx!

I believe in our future

Honorable Judges, fellow students:

Good afternoon!

Recently, ther is a heated debate in our society. The college students are the beneficiaries of a rare privilege, who receive exceptional education at extraordinary places. But will we be able to face the challenge and support ourselves against all odds? Will we be able to better the lives of others? Will we be able to accept the responsibility of building the future of our country?

The cynics say the college students are the pampered lost generation, which would cringe at the slightest discomfort. But the cynics are wrong. The college students I see are eagerly learning about how to live independently. We help each other clean the dormitory, go shopping and bargain together, and take part time jobs to supplement our pocket money.

The cynics say we care for nothing other than grades; and we neglect the need for character cultivation. But again, the cynics are wrong. We care deeply for each other, we cherish freedom, we treasure justice, and we seek truth. Last week, thousands of my fellow students had their blood type tested in order to make a contribution for the children who suffer from blood cancer.

As college students, we are adolescents at the critical turning point in our lives. We all face a fundamental choice: cynicism or faith, each will profoundly impact our future, or even the future of our country. I believe in all my fellow classmates. Though we are still inexperienced and even a little bit childish. I believe that we have the courage and faith to meet any challenge and take on our responsibilities. We are preparing to assume new responsibilities and tasks, and to use the education we have received to make our world a better place. I believe in our future.

hello! everyone. i’m tony, an 11-year-old happy boy.i live with my parents and we love each other.

i have many hobbies, such as sports, singing and reading books.and i love animals most. now i will tell you about my favorite animal.

they are very precious sea animals with long bodies.theylive on fish, shrimpsand so on.they are very clever. people often train them for performances which brings us a lot of happiness and joy.they are very friendly and peaceful. they never attack people. instead, they have saved many people in danger.

now,do you know what they are? yes, you are right. they are dolphins.

i hope we can take actions to protect dolphins, so they will always be with us.

二 good morning boys and girls, it’s a great pleasure for me/it’s nice to to give you a speech here. nowadays mastering a foreign language is very helpful in our daily life. i feel it a great honor to share my opinions about english learning with you. firstly, i believe it is useful to remember as many sentence patterns as possible. secondly, we should try our best to read more english newspa-pe-rs and magazines after class, which helps to improve our reading abilities. besides, tv programmes are of great help to us. last but not least, it’s necessary for us to communicate with foreign friends as much as possible and increase our awareness of foreign cultures, which can also help to improve our english. however, sometimes i find it difficult to pronounce some english words correctly. i would appreciate it if someone could give me some advice. thanks for your attention.

my name is richard daphne. i have over 30 years in different sizebusinesses, with many ups and downs. my question is for ivanka.what do you feel has been your biggest challenge, most exciting success? mrs.

as an entrepreneur you try to balance yourown time, energy, focus, especially when you think big. you sometimes have to slow yourself down. so, to not -- to impose thediscipline on yourself to enable you to achieve the growth youwant, especially in the early days, you have limited people. you arejust launching a product or a service. you hopefully feel thatearly momentum. when you are an entrepreneur you have to be a visionary. we also have to be an secured her. successfulentrepreneurs are both. they dream big. they think big. they also are highly pragmatic, able to execute at the task at hand.sometimes there is an imbalance. i think for anyone to besuccessful, they have to reconcile those things. ultimately we were talking about it, in terms of recruitment, you are as good as your people. investing in your teams, your employees, making sureyou have cultivated a group that complements you, that pushesyou , that will enable you to succeed. for me, success that is scaled and done tremendously well is because they have a great team and great people.

thank you for doing this work today. we are a marketing publicengagement firm. we are a serviced a bold veteran small business. we have been based in northern virginia for many years. virginia is the number one state for veteran owned businesses. our right to pursue the american dream is something i hold dear to my heart.im curious, im sure you have had the opportunity to meet greatentrepreneurs. is there one story that is the most inspirational story?

it is been incredible to hear so many stories.during the two years prior campaigning, traveling around the country. one of the unique things about this experience, my father was running for president. people would come up to youwherever you were and tell you their stories. with suchtremendous detail, and tell you of their hardest challenges, and share with you things in a way they neither -- never would have.they would never open themselves up to you in the same way theydo during the process of a campaign. now today, being part of this administration. i feel blessed for the candor in which people share their ideas and personal stories. linda and i were together in baltimore just days after the inauguration. we did a roundtable with small business owners, predominantly female, hosted by the national urban league. one of those women who actually i brought her to the white house a few months later is named lisa phillips. she had a smalls ness. she told me her storyand i think -- we were all crying. it was so amazing. she started out homeless. she is now engaged. this spring she got her mastersdegree. she has a small but thriving small business and party planning. she is volunteering with homeless youth in baltimore. so this is -- these types of stories forever change you. it is unbelievable to hear the purser variants, the grant, the energy. i know she is going to make an enormous impact not just in her business but her community. we talk about small business, how it is going to grow our economy and benefit american workers, butthe amount of philanthropy being done on the local level by small business is a norm is enormous. im sure each of you can share your own stories just about how you are able to give act and you do in such a tremendous way. lisa story was moving to me.

W Ar Th World ,W Ar Th Fuur

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W r youn. “How o spnd h youh?” I is mninful qusion. To nswr i, firs I hv o sk “wh do you undrsnd by h word youh?” Youh is no im of lif, i’s s of mind. I’s no mr of rosy chks, rd lips or suppl kns. I’s h mr of h will. I’s h frshnss of h dp sprin of lif.

A po sid “To s world in rin of snd, nd hvn in wild flowr, hold infiniy in h plm of your hnd, nd rniy in n hour. Svrl dys o, I hd chnc o lisn o lcur. I lrn lo hr. I’d lik o shr i wih ll of you. L’s show our rih plms. W s hr lins h show how our lov.crr nd lif is. I hv shor lin of lif. Wh bou yours? I wondrd whhr w could s our fuur in his wy. Wll, l’s mk fis. Whr is our fuur? Whr is our lov, crr, nd lif? Tll m.Yh, i is in our hnds. I is hld in ourslvs.

W ll wn h fuur o b br hn h ps. Bu h fuur o br islf.

Look, at a Gridiron Dinner not long ago, the President said, I -- the President -- “I am learning to speak without a teleprompter, Joe is learning to speak with one.” (Laughter.) But if you looked at my speechwriters, you know why.And the granddaughter of one of my dearest friends in life -— a former Holocaust survivor, a former foreign policy advisor, a former Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Congressman Tom Lantos -— is graduating today. Mercina, congratulations, kiddo. (Applause.) Where are you? You are the sixth -- she’s the sixth sibling in her immediate family to graduate from Yale. Six out of 11, thats not a bad batting average. (Laughter.) I believe it’s a modern day record for the number of kids who went to Yale from a single family.

And, Mercina, I know that your mom, Little Annette is here. I dont know where you are, Annette. But Annette was part of the first class of freshman women admitted to Yale University. (Applause.)

And her grandmother, Annette, is also a Holocaust survivor, an amazing woman; and both I’m sure wherever they are, beaming today. And I know one more thing, Mercina, your father and grandfather are looking down, cheering you on.

I deeply respect and honor women who choose to work inside the home full-time to care for their families. We never want to discourage that incredible calling, but we must also ensure that every woman has the freedom to work outside of the home – if they so choose.

Therefore, in order to empower women to reach our full economic potential, we must embrace four fundamental changes that will propel us into the future.

First, as leaders in both business and government, we must pave the way in modernizing the workplace.

While the percentage of working women has dramatically increased, corporate expectations have remained all-too stagnant.

Today, in the United States, women now comprise 47 percent of the workforce.

In the vast majority of American homes with children, all parents work – and in 40 percent of households, women are the primary breadwinners.

Yet, work environments and social institutions still largely operate on a single-earner mindset, in which one parent – traditionally the mother – stays at home to provide full time care.

All too often, our workplace culture has failed to treat women with appropriate respect. This takes many forms, including harassment, which can never be tolerated.

Traditional and rigid corporate culture also fails working mothers – and fathers – who work long and often wildly unpredictable hours and get little time off.

Too many mothers dread telling their boss they must stay home to take care of a sick child – and many must go back to work just weeks after having a new baby – because they can’t afford not to.

Every day, working parents are forced to make hard but unavoidable choices.