Natalie Portman Acknowledges What Many of Us Feel: Impostor Syndrome1

Elahe Izadi

Many of us have felt, at some point, that we haven’t truly earned our accomplishments. Part of impostor syndrome’s power is believing that the ultra-successful never feel like frauds.2. ultra-: 表示“極其，極端”（與形容詞連用）；fraud: 欺騙行為，騙局。

Well, the next time you feel that way, consider Natalie Portman’s speech to graduating Harvard seniors3. senior: （美國四年制大學(xué)或中學(xué)的）四年級(jí)生。. During the Class Day address, Portman revealed how much self-doubt she battled after she enrolled in Harvard following the release ofStar Wars: Episode 1.4. Class Day: （美國大學(xué)、中學(xué)等畢業(yè)生的）班級(jí)日，畢業(yè)紀(jì)念日；enroll:入學(xué)；Star Wars: Episode 1: 《星球大戰(zhàn)首部曲》，此處指《星球大戰(zhàn)前傳1：幽靈的威脅》（The Phantom Menace）。

“Today I feel much like I did when I came to Harvard Yard as a freshman in 1999,” she said. “I felt like there had been some mistake,that I wasn’t smart enough to be in this company, and that every time I opened my mouth I would have to prove that I wasn’t just a dumb5. dumb: 笨的，愚蠢的。actress.”

《黑天鵝》電影海報(bào)

她13歲憑借《這個(gè)殺手不太冷》驚艷世界；她天資聰穎，勤奮努力，精通四國語言，30歲便以《黑天鵝》封后奧斯卡。除此之外，她還是哈佛大學(xué)的心理學(xué)博士……她，就是集美麗與智慧于一身的猶太女神娜塔莉·波特曼。2015年5月27日，她以優(yōu)異的成績從哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)，并在畢業(yè)典禮上發(fā)表了演講。她告訴我們，相信自己，努力奮斗，勇敢迎接生活中的每一個(gè)挑戰(zhàn)，做自己的贏家，才能做人生的贏家。

Portman won an Oscar in 2011 for her performance inBlack Swanand has racked up a number of other accolades during her acting career.6. 波特曼憑借其在《黑天鵝》中的表演摘得2011年奧斯卡（最佳女主角）獎(jiǎng)，并且在她的演藝生涯中還獲得了許多其他榮譽(yù)。rack up: 大量獲得；accolade: 榮譽(yù)，獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。But when she first came to Harvard at age 18—after being a self-described nerd in high school—she felt incapable of meeting the “intellectual rigor”of the school.7. nerd: 呆子，乏味的人；rigor: 嚴(yán)密，縝密，此處指學(xué)術(shù)縝密的人。

And she was certain that her acting resume helped her through the admissions process: “I got in only because I was famous. This was how others saw me, it was how I saw myself,” she said.

Portman recalled in her speech that she enrolled in challenging classes to prove her seriousness. Among them: neurobiology and advanced Hebrew literature.8. neurobiology: 神經(jīng)生物學(xué)；Hebrew literature: 希伯來文學(xué)。But all around her, friends and classmates took up less intense classes.

“Sometimes, your insecurities and your inexperience may lead you, too, to embrace other people’s expectations, standards or values,”Portman said. “But you can harness that inexperience to carve out your own path, one that is free of the burden of knowing how things are supposed to be, a path that is defined by its own particular set of reasons.”9. 但是你可以利用缺乏經(jīng)驗(yàn)來開拓一條自己的道路，這條路沒有“事情本該如此”的負(fù)擔(dān)，而是由自身特有的理由來定義。harness: v. 利用。

Portman, who graduated with a degree in psychology in 2003, became the first Harvard graduate to win an Oscar for best actress,according toThe Harvard Crimson10. The Harvard Crimson: 《哈佛大學(xué)學(xué)生日?qǐng)?bào)》，創(chuàng)辦于1873年，完全由哈佛本科生運(yùn)行。. Upon her win, former professors and mentors described her as a diligent and intelligent student.

“It was very clear when she was a student that she is a very determined person and capable of focused effort over a sustained period,” Stephen M. Kosslyn, a former Harvard psychology professor and former dean11. dean:（大學(xué)的）學(xué)院院長，系主任。of social sciences, told the school paper. “She is now demonstrating the results of that determination and focus.”

Alan M. Dershowitz, who said Portman was in his neuropsychology and the law class, told theCrimsonthat “she was a terrific student”who earned an A+ on a paper—“the highest grade in the class,”the newspaper noted.

Abigail Baird, her mentor at Harvard, told theNew York gTimes: “I’ve taught at Harvard, Dartmouth and Vassar, and I’ve had the privilege of teaching a lot of very bright kids.12. Dartmouth: 達(dá)特茅斯學(xué)院，美國著名的常春藤學(xué)院之一；Vassar: 瓦瑟學(xué)院，美國一所高等私立文理學(xué)院。There are very few who are as inherently bright as Natalie is, who have as much intellectual horsepower,13. inherently: 本質(zhì)地，內(nèi)在地；horsepower: 馬力（功率單位）。who work as hard as she did.She didn’t take a single thing for granted.”

Portman came to Harvard feeling “alarmed and intimidated14. intimidated: 害怕的，受到威脅的。by the calm eyes of fellow students” who thought the work was easy compared to high school, she said. But after years of serious coursework, she accepted that acting was her passion and not a frivolous15. frivolous: 瑣屑的，無意義的。pursuit. She couldn’t wait to get back to making films.

“I realized that seriousness for seriousness’s sake was its own kind of trophy, and a dubious one, a pose I sought to counter some half-imagined argument about who I was,”16.“我意識(shí)到，為了認(rèn)真而認(rèn)真只是其本身的戰(zhàn)利品，是一種模棱兩可、為了對(duì)抗想象中的自己而采取的一種姿態(tài)?！眛rophy: 戰(zhàn)利品，獎(jiǎng)品；dubious: 含糊的，可疑的；counter: 反擊，反駁。Portman said. “There was a reason I was an actor: I loved what I do. And I saw from my peers and mentors, not only was that an acceptable reason, it was the best reason.”