It’s the speech Harvard University is calling "the most powerful, heartfelt" speech "you will ever hear."
這篇演講被稱作“你從未聽過的”,“最有力量的,最誠(chéng)摯的”哈佛大學(xué)演講。
Donovan Livingston, a master’s graduate at the university, was chosen by a committee of faculty, staff and students to speak at the School of Education’s convocation, a rep for Harvard told ABC News.
Instead of a traditional speech, Livingston used spoken word to perform his poem, "Lift Off."
區(qū)別于傳統(tǒng)演講,利文斯頓朗誦了他的詩(shī)歌《啟飛》。
Livingston told ABC News that the "true inspiration behind the piece" was the fact that he couldn’t perform a poem when he gave his commencement remarks during his senior year of high school.
"The teacher who was in charge...threatened to take me offstage or cut my microphone when she caught wind that I wanted to incorporate a poem," he recalled. "She wanted it to be traditional. So I complied, but I really wanted to address my class in my most authentic voice, which is what I said onstage Wednesday."
Livingston -- who hopes to become a faculty member or an administrator at a university one day -- said he did not expect to get a standing ovation, nor did he expect the speech to go viral.
It makes sense for the son of two educators: His father is a retired principal and his mother is a speech pathologist, working with special needs students.
"I’ve always been around education, but I didn’t know it was something I was really passionate about until I got to college and looked around and saw ... that everything I did catered to college access [and] college success. It felt natural," the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, resident said. "I’m just really happy to carry on the legacy of my mother and father and I’m just grateful to walk in their footsteps."