Then in high school, I learnt that music wasn't just about connecting with others, like Brian and I were connected through music.
然后在高中我才知道了音乐不仅是把我们联系在一起,就像布莱恩和我 通过音乐联系在一起。
It was a powerful tool of influence and inspiration.
而且它还是影响和激励他人的有力工具。
Sam Nguyen was my high school janitor.
山姆·阮是我高中里的保卫人员。
He was an immigrant from Vietnam who barely spoke a word of English.
他是越南移民。他几乎不说英语。
Sam swept the floors and cleaned the bathrooms at our school for twenty years.
山姆在我们学校扫地清洁厕所20年了。
He never talked to the kids and the kids never talked to Sam.
他从不和孩子说话,孩子也从不和他说话。
But one day, before the opening night of our school's annual musical, he walked up to me and holding a letter.
但是有一天在我们学校年度音乐会的前一个晚上,他走到我面前,拿着一封信。
And I was taken aback and I was thinking, why is Sam the janitor would approaching me?
我很吃惊,我在想为什么保卫人员山姆会向我走来。
And he gave me this letter that I've kept to this day.
他给了我这封信,我一直保存到今天。
It was scrolled, in a shaky hand written in all capitals, and I read.
它皱巴巴的,像是用颤抖的手写的,全是大写字母,于是我看了。
In all my years of working as a janitor at Sutherland, you are the first Asian boy to play the lead role.
在萨瑟兰德做了那么多年工,你是第一个当主唱的亚洲男孩。
I'm going to bring my six-year-old daughter to watch you perform tonight, because I want her to see that Asians can be inspiring.
我要把我六岁的女儿带来,今晚带她来看你的演出,因为我想让她看见亚洲人也可以激励人。
And that letter just floored me.
这封信简直击倒了我。
I was 15 years old and I was absolutely stunned.
我只有15岁,我完全懵了。
That was the first time I realized how music was so important.
这是第一次我意识到音乐是如此重要。
With Brian, music helped two kids who were initially enemies become friends.
在布莱恩那里,音乐帮助两个最初是敌人的孩子最终变成朋友。
But with Sam, music went beyond the one-on-one.
而在山姆这里,这已经不只是两个人之间的关系了。
It was an even higher level, it influenced others I didn't even know in ways I could never imagine.
这是更高一层的,它甚至影响了我不认识的人,这是我从来没有想过的。
I can't tell you how grateful I am to Sam the janitor to this day.
我无法形容直到今天我还有多感谢保卫人员山姆。
He really is one of the people who helped me discover my life's purpose.
他真的是帮助我发现人生目标的一个人。
And I had no idea that something I did could mean more than ever imagined to an immigrant from Vietnam who barely even spoke English.
我以前不知道我所做的对于一个几乎不说英语的越南人能发挥如此超乎我想象的作用。
Pop culture, music, and the other methods of storytelling, movies, TV dramas, they are so key, and they do connect us, like me and Brian, and do influence us, and inspire us.
流行文化,音乐,以及其他讲故事的方式,电影,电视剧,他们都是连结我们的关键,就像我和布莱恩,它们确实影响了我们,激励了我们。