And I was so proud, because I was finally going to have my chance to be like Barbara Walters, which is who I had been trying to emulate since the start of my TV career. So, I was 22 years old, making $22,000 a year. And it's where I met my best friend, Gayle, who was an intern at the same TV station. And once we became friends, we'd say, "Oh my god, I can't believe it! You're making $22,000 and you're only 22. Imagine when you're 40 and you're maing 40!" When I turned 40, I was so glad that didn't happen.
我非常自豪,因为我终于有机会像芭芭拉·沃尔特斯一样了,她是我从事传媒行业以来一直效仿的对象。那时我22岁,每年挣2.2万美元。我遇到了在同一个电视台做实习生的盖尔,我们立刻成了好朋友。我们说:“我的天啊,简直难以置信。你仅22岁,每年就能挣2.2万美元。那你到40岁时,年薪就是40万美元啦。”当我真的40岁时,我很高兴这并没有成真。
So, here I am 22, making $22,000 a year and, yet, it didn't feel right. It didn't feel right. The first sign, as President Hennessy was saying, was when they tried to change my name. The news director said to me at the time, "Nobody's going to remember Oprah. So, we want to change your name. We've come up with a name we think that people will remember and people will like. It's a friendly name: Suzie."
这就是我,22岁时每年挣2.2万美元,然而,感觉不太对。第一次迹象就是,正如汉尼斯校长所说,他们试图让我改名字。当时新闻总监对我说:“没人会记住奥普拉这个名字。因此我们想让你改名字。我们已经为你想了一个大家都会记住并且肯定会喜欢的名字:苏西。”
Hi, Suzie. Very friendly. You can't be angry with Suzie. Remember Suzie. But my name wasn't Suzie. And, you know, I'd grown up not really loving my name, because when you're looking for your little name on the lunch boxes and the license plate tags, you're never going to find Oprah.
嗨,苏西。一个很友善的名字。你不会厌恶苏西。记住苏西吧。但我的名字不叫苏西。你们知道,自小我就不怎么喜欢我的名字。因为当你在午餐箱和牌照上找你的名字时,你永远也不会找到奥普拉。
So, I grew up not loving the name, but once I was asked to change it, I thought, well, it is my name and do I look like a Suzie to you? So, I thought, no, it doesn't feel right. I'm not going to change my name. And if people remember it or not, that's OK.
所以,我从小就不喜欢这个名字,但是当我被告知要改名字时,我想,好吧,这是我的名字,但是苏西真的适合我吗?我想,不,它并不适合我。我不会改我的名字。人们是否记得住我的名字没什么大不了的。