奥普拉.温弗里女子领袖学院迎来首批毕业生

In 2007, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy opened its doors to academically gifted, underprivileged girls in South Africa. On Saturday, the first class graduated, with a 100 percent pass rate.

2007年，在南非的奥普拉·温弗里女子领袖中学向成绩优秀的、贫苦的女孩们敞开了它的大门。星期六，这家学院第一个班的学生毕业了，毕业率达到100%。

A proud mother. That is how Oprah Winfrey has described herself, as she watches the Class of 2011 leave the nest. The girls are the first batch to graduate from the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy, in Johannesburg’s south. And the American media mogul has reason to be proud. The school boasts a perfect pass rate, and all of the girls have secured spots at universities, either in South Africa or the United States.

奥普拉·温弗里看着2011级的学生们毕业离开学院，她称她自己为骄傲的母亲。这些女孩是位于约翰内斯堡南部的奥普拉·温弗里领袖学院的首批毕业生。这位美国传媒女王有理由感到骄傲。这家中学学院拥有完美的毕业率，所有女孩都被南非或美国的大学录取。

“The thing that I’m most proud of is not the academics, the academics I expected," said Oprah Winfrey. "The thing I’m most proud of is that everyone’s been accepted to college, and everyone’s going and we’ve created a support system to make that happen. But even more important than that, everyone walks out of here with the grace and dignity from which they were raised. Their integrity, their character, their grace and their kindness is what every parent would wish, that’s what you want, as a parent.”

奥普拉说:"我感到最骄傲的一点不是我期待的学习成绩。我感到最骄傲的是，她们每个人都被大学录取，每个人都将去上大学，我们为此建立了一个支持系统。但更为重要的是，每个人带着优雅和高贵的品质走出这个学院。她们的真诚、她们的品质和她们的善良是每位父母所希望看到的，这就是作为父母的你们所想要的。"

The school’s concept arose from a conversation Winfrey had with former South African president Nelson Mandela years ago.

这个学院的办学理念来自于几年前温弗里与南非前总统曼德拉的一段对话。

“When I had the conversation with Madiba in his living room, our conversation revolved around how do we end poverty. This is how we do it. This is the beginning of the ending of poverty," she said. "These girls have now broken the cycle of poverty in their families, being the first to go on to college and to do whatever they choose to do - key word, what they choose to do - with their lives, they no longer have to accept the standard that their mothers and their forefathers had to bear, because there were not the opportunities.”

奥普拉说:"当我和马迪巴在他的客厅进行那次谈话时，我们的谈话涉及如何消除贫困的问题。这就是我们所做的。这就是消除贫困的开始。这些女孩现在已经打破了她们家庭的贫困循环，成为第一个上大学的人，成为第一个做自己选择的事的人。最重要的正是，她们走自己选择的人生，她们不再必须接受她们的母亲和祖辈因为没有机会而不得不忍受的一切。"

Education is currently in the spotlight in South Africa, where a number of students who leave school are not able to gain admission to universities, either because their grades are not good enough, or tertiary institutions are full for the year. Recently, a mother was killed in a stampede outside the University of Johannesburg as she lined up, hoping to register her son. Winfrey says there is a lesson to be learned from her academy’s success.

如今教育在南非受到关注。在南非，有很多离开中学的学生无法进入大学，要么是因为他们的成绩不够好，要么是因为高校年度招生名额已满。最近，一位在约翰内斯堡大学外排队希望给儿子递交入学申请的母亲被拥挤的人群踩踏致死。温弗里说，从她的学院的成功中可以汲取到一个教训。

“This model was created specifically to say to South Africa, if you invest in leadership, not just in schools, not just in passing tests, not just in trying to get the exams, but you invest in leadership, the leadership will pay off to your communities and to your nation,” she added.

奥普拉说:"这个学院的模式是特别为南非而建立的。如果你投资于领袖的培养，那就不仅仅是投资于学校，不仅仅是为了通过测验，不仅仅是设法通过考试，而是投资于培养领袖人才，领袖人才将会给你们的社区和国家带来贡献。"