Over the past few years as First Lady, I have had the extraordinary privilege of traveling all across this country. And everywhere I've gone, in the people I've met, and the stories I've heard, I have seen the very best of the American spirit.//

过去的几年来，借由作为第一夫人的非凡殊荣，我几乎游遍了整个美国。而无论我去到哪里，从我所见到的人们，所听到的故事中，我都看到了最真切的美国精神。//

I have seen it in the incredible kindness and warmth that people have shown me and my family, especially our girls. I've seen it in teachers in a near-bankrupt school district who vowed to keep teaching without pay. I've seen it in people who become heroes at a moment's notice, diving into harm's way to save others, flying across the country to put out a fire, driving for hours to bail out a flooded town.//

在人们对我和我的家庭，特别是我的女儿们那难以置信的友善和热情中，我看到了它。在一个濒临破产的学区的教师们不收分文、坚持执教的誓言中，我看到了它。在人们在突如其来的紧急召唤下化身英雄，纵身扑向灾害去拯救他人,飞过整个国家去扑灭大火,驱车数小时去援助被淹没的城镇时，我看到了它。

Every day, the people I meet inspire me; every day, they make me proud; every day they remind me how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on earth. Serving as your First Lady is an honor and a privilege, but back when we first came together four years ago, I still had some concerns about this journey we'd begun. While I believed deeply in my husband's vision for this country and I was certain he would make an extraordinary President, like any mother, I was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance.//

每一天，我所见到的人们都鼓舞着我, 每一天，他们都令我骄傲, 每一天，他们都在提醒我，能够生活在这地球上最伟大的国度中是多么的幸福。成为诸位的第一夫人，是我的荣耀和幸运, 但当我们四年前首次聚在一起的时候，我仍对我们即将展开的旅程心怀疑虑。对我丈夫心中的祖国愿景，我满怀信心, 对他将成为一位出色的总统，我也深信不疑, 但是就像所有的母亲一样，我也曾担心如果他当选，这对我们的女儿们意味着什么。

Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we're from, or what we look like, or who we love. And he believes that when you've worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you, you reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.//

巴拉克懂得什么是美国梦，因为他正用一生去实践它, 而他想让生活在这个国度里的每一个人都拥有同样的机会，无论我们是谁，无论我们从哪里来，无论我们肤貌如何，无论我们爱的对象。而且他认为，当你努力工作，获得成功，并且跨越了那扇机遇的大门之后, 你不应该砰地一声关上身后的大门, 你应该伸出援助之手，将成功的机会同样给予后来之人。