How Global Virtual Communities Can Help Kids Achieve Their Dreams | Matthew Garcia | TED

翻译人员: Ryan Wei 校对人员: Yan Li Xiao

I'm a Latinx son of immigrants from a small Texas border town.

我是一名来自边境城市德克萨斯州的 一个小镇的拉丁裔移民的儿子。

Growing up, I didn’t have access to classical music,

成长过程中没有接触过经典音乐，

and I had never been to the symphony.

并且我从来没有观看过交响乐表演。

But I always knew that I wanted to play a string instrument.

但我一直都知道 我想弹奏一种弦乐器。

So in sixth grade,

所以在六年级的时候，

we got the opportunity to pick our instruments for orchestra class.

我们获得了机会 为管弦乐课选我们的乐器。

I took one look at the viola and said, "Great, that'll work."

我看了一眼中提琴就决定， “太好了，就是它了。”

And as I began to play the instrument, I immediately fell in love with it.

我一开始拉中提琴 就立刻爱上了小它。

Even though my middle school orchestra director

尽管我们中学的管弦乐主任

was a fabulous bass teacher,

是一个很出色的贝斯老师，

she could only teach me so much on the viola.

但在中提琴上她却只能教这么点。

And because there weren't any viola teachers in my town,

还因为我们镇上 没有一个中提琴老师，

to be able to play the things that I heard in my head,

为了能弹奏我脑中听到的音乐，

I turned to a teacher who seemed to know everything:

我转而找到了 一个好像什么都懂的老师：

YouTube.

YouTube。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

By watching countless hours of YouTube videos

通过观看无数小时 的 YouTube 上的

of the great virtuosos performing everything from Beethoven

由最优秀的演奏家演奏的从贝多芬

to the musical suite from "Star Wars,"

到《星球大战》的音乐组曲视频，

I tried to mimic their techniques

我试着模仿他们的技巧

and incorporate them into my own playing.

并将其融入到我自己的演奏里。

With a few difficult years of practice, a lot of blood, sweat and tears

经过几年的艰苦练习， 大量的鲜血、汗水和泪水，

and the endless support of an entire community of people

以及整个社区的人们的不断支持，

who really, really wanted me to succeed,

他们真的非常非常希望我成功，

I began to play in places that I'd never even dreamed of,

我开始在我做梦 都不曾想过的地方演奏，

like Carnegie Hall,

像卡内基音乐厅，

and bring my music to audiences across four different continents.

并将我的音乐带给四大洲的听众。

It had been one of the most difficult learning experiences of my life,

这是我一生中 最困难的学习经历之一，

but one that proved an important point:

但是我证明了一个重要的观点：

anyone from anywhere can do incredible things,

来自任何地方的任何人 都可以做出不可思议的事情，

if you connect them with the knowledge and resources that they need to thrive.

如果将他们与他们成功所需要的 知识和资源连接起来。

On my travels, I became friends with the elite young musicians

在我的旅行过程中， 我与一些年轻的精英音乐家成了朋友，

who seemed to have all the resources.

他们看起来拥有所有的资源。

Because they lived next to musical capitals

因为他们生活在音乐之都附近，

like New York, Chicago or LA,

像纽约，芝加哥或洛杉矶，

they studied at places like Juilliard on the weekends.

他们在周末的时候 去像朱丽亚这样的地方学习。

They watched their teachers perform at major symphony orchestras.

他们观看他们的老师 在大型交响乐团的表演。

They had access to almost every musical opportunity that you can imagine

在他们的居住社区就能获得

right in their home communities.

几乎所有你能相像到的机会。

And even though I was proud of the hard work that I'd done

尽管我为使我 达到他们水平的艰苦练习

to get to their level,

感觉骄傲，

I hated always feeling behind

但是我痛恨一直感觉落后

because I never had access to private lessons.

因为我从来没有获得那些私教课。

So you can imagine how excited I was

所以当我有机会第一次参加

when I had the opportunity to take my first professional private lesson

由世界上最好的提琴之一 教授的专业私教课时，

with one of the best violists in the world.

你能想象到我有多么兴奋了吧。

I just knew he'd be so excited about how much progress I'd made on my own

我只知道他会为 我靠自己所取得的进步而兴奋，

and encourage me to become a professional musician.

并且鼓励我成为一名专业的音乐人。

So it came as such a surprise when he told me to quit.

因此当他告诉我放弃时 我是多么的吃惊。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

He said kids like me who didn't start playing at an early age,

他说道像我这样 没有从很小年纪开始练习，

who didn't have access to private teachers and the best resources,

没有私教老师和最好资源，

who didn't really understand

没有真正理解经典音乐产业

how the classical music industry really operated,

是怎样运作的孩子，

generally could not make it as professional musicians.

通常都不能成为专业的音乐人。

Now, classical music is incredibly competitive

如今，经典音乐的竞争真的非常的大，

and sometimes people with all the resources don't even make it.

有时就算有 所有的资源也不一定能成功。

So I'm sure he thought he was doing me a favor,

因此我确定他认为是在帮我的忙，

and maybe he was, but I was shocked.

也许他确实是， 但是我还是被震惊到了。

It hurt.

它伤害了我。

But I didn’t want to disrespect him, so I smiled, said, “OK,” and left.

但是我不想不尊重他， 因此，我笑着说：“好的，”然后离开了。

I was a 15-year-old who loved playing the viola more than anything,

当时我是一个喜爱弹奏中提琴 胜过任何东西的 15 岁少年，

but in that moment I seriously considered putting my instrument away forever.

但是，在那时，我严肃地思考了 永远地将我的乐器拿走。

Now I'm 21 years old

现在我 21 岁，

and I couldn't be more grateful to have experienced that moment of discouragement

我非常感激经历了那一刻的沮丧，

because it opened my eyes to the fact

因为它让我认清人现实。

that for 13 million children in the United States

在美国有 1300 万儿童

who live outside of major US cities,

生活在主要的城市之外，

pursuing a career in something like classical music, ballet, art,

正在追逐一职业， 像经典音乐，芭蕾，艺术，

research or many other historically exclusive fields

研究或者很多其他的从历史上看是

is incredibly more difficult, if not practically impossible.

就算不是不可能， 也是困难到难以致信的特属领域。

In classical music, for example,

以经典音乐为例，

people of color make up only around 15 percent of America’s orchestras,

有色人种只构成美国 管弦乐的百分之十五，

despite representing almost 42 percent of the US population.

尽管他们在美国的人口占比 是百分之四十二。

So in some ways, I don't blame the viola teacher for telling me to quit.

因此在某些方面， 我并不责怪让我放弃的提琴老师。

Music opportunities tend to cluster around major cities,

音乐机会， 趋向于集中在大城市周围，

especially the charities and nonprofits that try to help underserved students.

尤其是那些想要帮助没有被 服务到的学生的慈善机构和非营利组织。

And I just wasn't around them.

而且我刚好不在他们的附近。

But people have talent everywhere,

但是在每个地方都有有天赋的人，

and everybody deserves a chance

并且每个人都应该有机会

to grow that talent and share it with the world.

去发展那种天赋并与世界分享。

Because when we allow people like me to systemically be prevented

因为当我们允许 像我这样的人被系统性地

from entering into these competitive fields,

挡在进入这些竞争性的领域，

we uphold the elitist and exclusionary systems

我们坚持精英主义和排他性制度

that allow so many children to be told

就是允许很多孩子被告知

that they're not worthy enough to pursue their dreams.

他们不配去追逐他们的梦想。

I wanted to change that.

我想要改变这个。

For many years, I had no clue how.

很多年来，我都没有方向如何去做。

But when the COVID pandemic hit and our entire world went virtual,

但当新冠疫情来袭 让我们整个世界都转到线上，

I saw an opportunity to help others learn music online,

我看到了帮助其他人 在线上学习音乐的机会，

regardless of who they were, where they lived,

不管他们是谁，他们生活在哪里，

or what they could afford.

或者他们能支付得起什么。

So I texted a few friends I knew from around the country

所以我给全国各地 认识的几个朋友发了短信

and put together a founding team.

并组建了一个创始团队。

Together we reached out to 20 other musicians that we knew

我们一起接触了 我们认识的另外 20 个音乐人,

and asked each of them to teach a free virtual private lesson a week

并且要求他们每个人每个星期免费

to an underserved young student.

向一名未被照顾到的 年轻学生提供么教课程。

This meant that students like Samuel Igbo,

这意味着像塞缪尔·伊博这样的学生，

a 14-year-old violinist from a small town in Texas

一个来自德克萨斯州小镇 的 14 岁小提琴者，

who dreams of pursuing a career as a concert violinist,

他梦想成为一名 职业音乐会小提琴演奏者，

could receive personalized musical mentorship from Nikki Naghavi,

能够得到尼基·纳加维 提供的定制音乐辅导，

a prize-winning violinist at the New England Conservatory.

她是一名新英格兰音乐学院 获奖的小提琴家。

My idea inspired and connected hundreds of people from all walks of life

我的想法激励 并连接了各阶层的数百人

to offer their time and expertise to aspiring musicians like Sam

贡献他们的时间与专长来帮助

from around the country.

来自全国的像山姆 这样胸怀大志的音乐人。

And now, just two and a half years later,

现在，仅仅过了两年半，

this little idea has turned into Through the Staff,

这个小小的想法 通过我们的员工已经变成了

a national nonprofit that has provided almost 600,000 dollars

一个国家级的非营利组织，

of free virtual private lessons

它已经向大约 1000 名年轻的音乐人，

to almost 1000 young musicians

提供了大约 60 万美元的 免费虚拟线上私教课程。

from Fresno, California to Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

覆盖了从加利福尼亚州的弗雷斯诺 到北卡罗来纳州的威尔克斯伯勒。

I didn't realize it, but I'd accidentally started a virtual nonprofit.

我没有意识到， 我不小心开始了一个虚拟的非营利组织。

We didn’t just use the internet to deliver our services,

我们不只是通过互联网 来传递我们的服务，

our organization existed on the internet.

我们的组织就存在互联网上。

Because our program was run entirely by volunteers

因我们的项目全部是由

from around the country

来自全国的自愿者在运营，

who work together for a common cause,

我们为了一个共同的原因一起工作，

despite never meeting once in person.

尽管我们从来没有在线下见过。

Because our students and teachers could learn from each other online,

因为我们的学生 和老师能够在线向彼此学习，

wherever they were,

他们在哪里，

geographic boundaries no longer mattered.

这个地理边界就不现重要了。

This digital workspace meant virtually no startup or scaling costs.

这个数字的工作空间意味着 虚拟的不需要启动或扩展成本。

So we've been able to grow and make incredible changes

因此我们才能够 只用 9000 美元的预算

with a budget of only 9,000 dollars over two and a half years.

在两年半的时间内 完成成长及不可想象的改变。

It was only after I began to see this profound potential for impact

直到我开始看到 这种深远的影响潜力之后，

that I realized that virtual organizations

我才意识到虚拟组织

can help us better distribute educational resources

能够帮助我们更好地

directly to those who would benefit from them the most.

直接向那些能够从这些资源获得 最大受益的人分配教育资源。

And if this worked in classical music,

并全如果 这能够在经典音乐方面起作用，

I figured it can work in other places, too.

我认为它也可以在其他地方起作用。

This time in academic research.

这次是学术研究。

When I began to explore biological research

当我在大二

in my second year of college,

开始探索生物研究时，

I remember trying to find a mentor

我记得我在尝试找到一个导师

and being discouraged to only see white male researchers.

并且因只看到白人男性 研究人员而气馁。

Just like in music, this trend is systemic.

就像在音乐一样， 这个趋势是系统性的。

Only 15 percent of all doctoral researchers were Native American,

所有博士研究人员中 只有 15% 是美洲原住民，

African-American or Hispanic.

非洲裔美国人或西班牙裔。

I wanted to change that.

我想要改变这个。

And I knew that the virtual nonprofit model

我知道那个我已经建立的

that I had already developed

虚拟非营利模式，

could make a difference here, too.

也可以在这里有所作为。

I could start something that could help generations of future young researchers

我可以开始一些 可以帮助未来几代年轻研究人员

break into academia.

进入学术界的事情。

So in 2021, my best friend and I gathered a founding team of 31 college students

因此在 2021 年，我和我最好的朋友召集了 31 名大学学生共同成立了一个创始团队，

and started another virtual nonprofit called the Pre-College Research Institute.

并且建立了另一个虚拟的非营利组织， 称为大学预科研究所。

Together, we've created four 32-hour virtual research courses

一起，我们已经创建了 4 门， 每门 32 课时的虚拟研究课程，

that have taught, trained and inspired 160 high school students of color

已教授、培训和启发了来自

from Klerksdorp, South Africa

从南非克莱克斯多普，

to New Delhi, India,

到印度新德里，

to Alpharetta, Georgia.

到格鲁吉亚的阿尔法利塔的 160 名有色人种高中生。

If I could break down barriers in access to music and academic research,

如果我能够打破 在音乐与学术研究上的障碍，

anyone can do it anywhere.

任何人在任何地方也可以。

That's exactly what makes virtual nonprofits so powerful.

这正是虚拟非营利组织 如此强大的原因。

They transcend geographic boundaries

它们超出了地理边界，

and bring opportunities to those

并为那些原本永远

who would literally never otherwise have them.

也不能拥有的人带来机会。

They're a new way to find and connect the world

它们是寻找和连接世界

to a huge source of untapped talent

与大量未开发人才的新途径，

and a necessary step to nurturing the future of these industries.

也是培育这些行业的未来的必要步骤。

This is the future that will not only change the fabric of these institutions,

这是未来， 不仅会改变这些机构的结构，

but ensure they survive and prosper for years to come.

不但确保他们的生存 还能保证接下来几年的繁荣。

And as more and more children are connected to the opportunities

随着越来越多的孩子

and knowledge and resources that they need to chase their dreams,

与他们追逐梦所需的机会、 知识和资源相结合，

I'm excited to see the people that lead every industry

我很高兴看到 领导每个行业的人看起来

look a lot more like the world around them.

更多就像他们周围的世界。

I know this transformation can happen,

我知道这种转变会发生的，

but I can't do it alone.

但是仅靠我自己是做不到的。

So if you have an idea or interest

那么如果你对如何 使一个之前不可获取的领域

for how to make a historically inaccessible field more equitable,

变得更公平有想法或兴趣，

grab a few friends,

那么找几个朋友，

brainstorm a way that you can break down the barriers in your field

开一场在你的领域 打破障碍的头脑风暴

and start a virtual nonprofit.

然后建立一个虚拟的非营利组织。

You may never meet the majority of the people that you serve,

你可能从来 都不会与你服务的大从数人见面，

but the effects of your hard work

但是你努力工作的影响

will touch them in ways that they will never forget.

将通过他们永生难忘的方式触动他们。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)