Terrence J: Hey guys and
guys welcome to the White House. Make some noise. (cheering) I still get excited every
time I sit next to the First Lady. I still get excited. I see you're phones
out around here. How long have you
guys been here? This entire morning? Multiple Speakers: Yeah. Terrence J: Okay,
so make sure -- Mrs. Obama: I heard
them upstairs. (laughter) You all are loud. (laughter) Terrence J: And on your way
out, we're going to check your pockets. So, I don't know. You guys have been stealing
napkins from the White House. (laughter) All right. Some of you, you. You went to the bathroom. "Did you see the White
House napkins (inaudible) ? Do they see us?" Mrs. Obama: We saw you. Terrence J: We see
that, all right. Mrs. Obama: I'm
just kidding. Terrence J: Yeah, see you
got one in your -- you're on the panel. Manuel Contreras:
(inaudible) First Lady will
sign it for me. Terrence J: Man, you're
going to get the signature later? Guys, welcome. There's just no place more
exciting than here right now, and I think I can speak
for everybody on the panel, that we're more excited to
see you than you are to see us. Congratulations. Everybody here is
going to college. You guys have
worked really hard. Let's give a round of
applause for that. (applause) And today is all about
reaching higher, reaching out to those goals. Without further ado, let me
introduce our panel, then we're going to get into some
questions, and we're going to have a fun morning,
as you can tell, guys. This is going to
be a lot of fun. Of course I'm sitting next
to the First Lady of the United States of America,
Mrs. Michelle Obama. (applause) Manuel Contreras is a rising
senior at Brown University and the co-founder of 1vyG. It's an organization that
strengthens and empowers first generation college
student networks. Give him a round of
applause, please. (applause) That guy over there
needs no introduction. Wale, ladies and gentlemen. (applause) Wale and the Secretary of
Education, Arne Duncan, who's also a fantastic
basketball player. (applause) Mr. Secretary, it's so great
to be with you again today. So, Mrs. Obama, tell
us why this program is important to you. It's all about reaching
higher, reaching after your goals. Why is this so important? Mrs. Obama: Well, I wouldn't
be where I am without education, and I say that
time and time again. I was blessed to have
parents who didn't go to college, but they knew that
an investment in education was the best gift they could
give me, and when I realized that with a little hard work
and some determination, that I could compete and succeed
at some of the top schools in the country. Yeah I think about the
thousands, the millions of kids just like me, who don't
get that encouragement, but have the same
skills and ability. And part of what I want to
do through Reach Higher is to make sure that young
people like you all own that future, that you don't
listen to the doubters, that you figure out how to make
your own path, that you understand that hard work
is at the key to everything that you're going to do,
and that you make sure you finish your education past
high school because that's what it's going to take. So, our goal is to help
give you the tools, and the resources, and the
information, and the encouragement, so that
we can make education cool again. This should be the cool
thing to do in life. You know, there are a lot of
wonderful people out there, celebrities, ballers,
all of them, but the best investment you can make,
Wale is here for a reason. (laughter) He is here for a reason
because he understands that message, and he's going
to talk about that. So, there's a reason he's
here, you know, because he knows that this is
your first stop. This is the first star you
grab for is your education. So, we want to make
education cool again. That's why I'm sitting on
this panel with all these handsome men. Right, ladies? If this is what
education is about -- (cheering) -- we're going to go for it. Terrence J: Wale, she spoke
a little bit about you. You started college and your
career took off, while you were still in school. Why is being a part of this
program important to you and why is college important? Olubowale Akintimehin:
I just think it's -- I legitimize it a little bit
because you know, I'm close to you guys' age, and I
remember being a senior in high school, not really
knowing what I was going to do. I knew I wanted to -- I
thought I was going to go to the NFL at that point, but I
did know I was going to do something. The important thing about
college to me, it gave me -- it allowed me to have more
time to figure out what I want to do. I think honestly when you're
18, when you graduate, you don't know much about life. You don't know what
you want to do. A lot of people going to
college, undecided majors, and things of that nature,
but even a community college you have time to
think about it. You have time
to get serious. You have time to learn
your independence. You have time to learn how
to make oodles of noodles at 1:00 in the morning, while
studying, you know, studying a test for tomorrow. Like, you learn these life's
skills that you're going to learn, that you're going
to need, and even in my profession now you know,
myself, or like a J. Cole, or guys like that, a
lot of us went to school. And a lot of the guys that
went to college apply some of the things that we
learned in school to even this music career. Terrence J: Yeah, and Wale
and I talk about that all the time. You know, it's kind
of that safety net. While you were at school,
you were still doing shows, freestyling, working
on your craft. When I was in school, I was
student body president. I was doing speeches. So, you know, whether it's
directly or indirectly, it prepares you for what your
future is going to be. The communication classes
I took -- how are you? Good to see you. The communications classes I
took while I was in school are the same ones that
prepared me for my career right now, and I wouldn't
be here if it wasn't for getting that background. Now, Mr. Secretary, you work
with this, you know, every day. Talk to us about beating the
odds, coming from nothing, and making it to something
in this country. Secretary Duncan: Well, one
of the joys of my job is getting to travel the
country, and I've been to all 50 states, and been to
Alaska, and Hawaii, and been on Native American
reservations. I just can't tell you how
inspiring it is everywhere I go to meet young people who
weren't born with a silver spoon in the mouth, who
haven't had all the advantages, but they
are working so hard. And we'd always say is
whatever you want to do in life, get an education. It'll always open doors for
you, and sometimes there's a false conflict between
being a rapper, or being an entertainer, and
going to school. I know you said, "I'd
love to play basketball." My dream was to, you know,
you wanted to go to the NFL, I wanted to go to NBA. I remember I went to a camp,
sort of an all-star camp between my junior
and senior year. There were about 100 of us. We were, you know, pretty
good players, and the camp director stood up and said,
"If you're lucky, one of you, one of this top 100"
-- and he actually ended up being right. One of us made it. He was seven feet tall,
Kevin Duckworth, and what he said is, "Chase that dream,
but catch an education," and that really
resonated with me. So, chase whatever dream you
might have, whether it's, you know, being on TV, or
being a rapper, or being a ball player, but
catch an education. And if you catch an
education, that's going to open doors for you wherever
you go, but I think it's just incumbent upon us. There's so many young people
working so hard every single day to beat the odds. It's up to us as adults to
provide more opportunities: better classes, better
mentoring, more after school programming, more summer
programs, summer jobs to help more young people
fulfill that extraordinary potential. So, I think young people are
more than doing their side of the bargain. It's up to us as adults to
try and do better and meet them halfway. Terrence J: Absolutely. Now, we're in the room with
a group of young people that are extraordinary. Now, you guys are
from all over. I read some of your
bios before I came out. From Florida, to North
Carolina, so you can make noise where --
Chicago, New York. You guys are, you know, from
all over, and you guys are heading into
college this year. Now, Manuel has a very,
very special story. He's a really
bright young man. Tell them a little bit about
the challenges that they're going to face, and a little
bit about, you know, what it's like to be going
into your senior year. You're just a couple of
years removed from them, but you've been doing
extraordinary things. Manuel Contreras: All
right, howdy you all. So again, my name is Manuel
Contreras, and before we talk about beating the
odds, I think it's really important for us to
think about the odds. And the odds for a lot of
the students in this room, they're not unfamiliar. So, what do I want to say? I want to say is hi. I want to say that I'm a
little nervous, but I also want to say that I'm really
excited and proud of each one of you. And I just -- I think a lot
about how excited I was to go to college growing up. Being the first one to go to
college was not something that was an expectation of
me, but it was necessary. So, raise your hand if
you felt the same way. I knew that I needed -- so,
both my parents emigrated from -- my family emigrated
from Mexico, and I was very lucky to be born in this
country for many reasons. And my parents always told
me that, you know, (speaks Spanish). In this country if you work
really hard, and you get an education, all this can be
yours, and I really believed that. And, you know, whenever
there was a struggle, whether that was like, you
know, WIC, or that was figuring out to like,
translate for your family, or like figuring out how to,
like see like a path when all of this stuff was
going on around you. I always knew that I
had to go to college. Now, when I was in your
shoes, college was a glass ceiling. I wanted to go to college,
but I never really thought about what happens once you
go to college, what happens once you actually arrive. I was really lucky
in high school. I worked really hard. I had some really
great mentors there. Shout out to Sarah High
School, and I got to school. And I remember my -- so, I
go to Brown University, and I remember my first week
wishing that -- well, feeling really excited,
really disoriented. All of this stuff was
happening around me, and I remember having this moment. I was like, "This
is too much. I wish I could like, close
my eyes, blink, have my diploma, and be out of
here," because I didn't know how to college, right? There were a lot of
students that were a lot wealthier than me. There were a lot of students
having a talks about like, books, and books that I had
never read because, you know, my high school wasn't
as resourceful as other schools were. And I also remember reeling
a lot of the shame that I wasn't as ready
as everyone else. I felt a lot of the times
that like, well Brown was wonderful, and there was
this great community, and all of this stuff
is really exciting. There were so many times
that I felt like I didn't belong there, and it
wasn't until I went home. And I also realized there,
when I went home during winter break, that I might
not belong there either, that home was no longer home
in the same way, that I had been able to see both sides. I had been able to see Brown
and all of the opportunities here, and I was able to see
all of the opportunities that weren't at home. And I was very confused
about who I was, where I was going, who was I pretending
to be in either situation. And then I went
back to Providence. One of my great friends,
co-founder if 1vyG as well, Stanley Stewart, calls it,
"Providrizzle," because it's winter and it's my -- I'm
from San Diego, so to see like, winter and
blizzards, no sun at all. (laughter) Mrs. Obama: Sad. Manuel Contreras: What is
it called, effective seasonal disorder? Mrs. Obama: Yeah, yeah. Manuel Contreras: Yeah, so
that is real and legit. So, be on the
lookout for that. Olubowale Akintimehin:
Around October. Mrs. Obama: Right. Olubowale Akintimehin:
There you go. Manuel Contreras: October
through April, right? Mrs. Obama: Yeah. Manuel Contreras: No sun,
but I remember feeling really, really sad, and in a
way where like, when you're you know, the one in your
family that has to like, kind of keep going,
and work really hard. You can't let yourself get
down, but I was really down, and there was this senior
who -- he was a junior actually, who saw me in the
basement of sci li, which is our science library, which
is a really ugly building. So, it's a really
sad place to be sad. (laughter) In February. It's like 2:00 a.m. I'm like struggling to do my
work, and I was, you know you have to do it, because
you have to do it. And he asked me like,
"Why do you feel so sad?" And I told him things that I
hadn't even told myself yet, things around like not
really knowing how to communicate, what was
happening at Brown, with my family. They put me on a plane and
prayed to God that I'd be okay, and like I would
tell them (speaks Spanish) I'm eating. But they still, you know,
didn't believe that. I didn't know how to talk
about here, and I couldn't ask for help there, and I
couldn't tell them that I was like, that things were
going hard here, because if I did that would add
additional stress to the family. So, I'm like just, "Oh," to
him, and he's listening, and taking it. So, God bless him, and he
told me, it was two hours of like, recognition of
empathy, and he told me that I belonged here. And I really -- there was
something so incredibly validating about having
someone tell me that, and I felt -- to say that that
conversation changed my life sounds like a stretch, but
it was so important to me. And so, I felt so much
better afterwards, and I got really angry, because it
occurred to me that there are so many students
who never get that. So, why did it take so many
months for me to have that conversation? There are so many students
who don't have that conversation. I was with a group of
friends, we call each other the Jamison lounge, and
we're all sitting there really like, you know, we
would do our work together. We would eat together, and
we were all struggling together, but we would talk
about how we were going to be stronger than
the struggle. But we weren't really -- a
lot of that struggle was being internalized, and
we would sometimes blame ourselves for the
difficulties we were having. And once I learned that so
many of us were first gens, and once we learned that so
many of us were the first in our families to go to
school, we realized that we wanted to change Brown
and other schools for the better, that we wanted
students to have those conversations, and have a
sense of community a lot earlier on in their college
careers, so that they would not only get to college,
but get through college. So, that led to a group
of six of us developing a course our sophomore fall
that we took our spring semester with Professor
Gregory Elliot in sociology on the experience of
first generation students experiencing social
inability, going through school. It allowed us to
deinternalize a lot of the feelings and stigma, and
shame that we had felt, and start pointing to societal
issues that were producing these: things like income
inequality, things like underfunding of schools,
things like racism, all of these things that were
very much a part of our experience. The forces that were shaping
us, we could now name, and that was incredibly
empowering. From there on, two of my
closest friends at Brown, Jessica Brown, and Stanley
Stewart, and I had started something called 1vyG, which
is the Inter-Ivy First Generation Student Network. The idea was to bring
together students, administrators, identify the
best practices to support first gens, and implement
those in these schools, because if you could do
that, if we can get eight really wealthy schools to
start doing that, then we can start getting others in. They can measure the
impact of those changes. Then that can start
spreading to other campuses, but from there on I just
wanted to like, back them and say that's the work
that we've been doing. But I think one of the
most important things for everyone in the audience to
remember is how rare it is for people like us, who
come from our communities whatever they may be, that's
what's really cool about First Gen is that it
includes so many different kinds of people. But one thing that it does
point out is that so many of us in our communities don't
have voices in this country. By getting an education, we
can speak truth to power, speak truth to
those experiences. By getting an education you
are able to speak and walk between two very different
worlds, your home and your communities that are often
just ignored by so many in society, but affected by
so many societal problems. You also through an
education will gain access to power and opportunities
to make a difference there. So, rather than feeling
like you're from two very different worlds, I've
learned and 1vyG has taught me that we can really be a
bridge between both worlds, and we can go off, get our
education, and come back to our communities, and work
with our communities, all of our communities to make
a difference there. (applause) Terrence J: Nice. Mrs. Obama: (inaudible) Terrence J: Yeah, I know. I know. Mrs. Obama: (inaudible) Terrence J: Good job. Manuel's definitely the guy
that if you're in class -- Mrs. Obama: He faked us out. "I don't know what
I want to say" -- Terrence J: "But." Mrs. Obama: -- "but" -- Terrence J: "I'm
going to say this." Mrs. Obama: "I've
got 10 points." Terrence J: He's the guy you
want to be in a group with. Who do you want to
be a partner with? Manuel. Mrs. Obama: That's right. Manuel Contreras: All
of you, all of you. Terrence J: All right. Manuel, that's when I -- I
don't know what I did in college. I think I was getting my
hair braided in college and Manuel is -- (laughter) -- running for
governor over there. What is going on? Great answer there. We have some questions, some
tweets that came in to E News that we're going to
ask right now to the panel. The first one that came
into us was from as told by Danny; if you're at home
or watching, how are you? "During your college years,
what was the hardest thing to adapt to, #retire,"
and they added, "FLOTUS." You tweeted me the other
day, so I felt really special. Mrs. Obama: Aww. Terrence J: I
screen grabbed it. Mrs. Obama: I want you to
feel special, Terrence. Terrence J: Oh gosh. Mrs. Obama: And all of
you to feel special. That's why we
invited you here. Now, what was the question? Terrence J: The
hardest thing -- (laughter) -- I forgot too, the hardest
thing to adapt to in college. Mrs. Obama: Well, for me and
you know, unlike Manuel, it was years, decades ago since
I was there, but I remember it like it was yesterday,
and you know, Manuel's story was very similar. I mean I think you
put it so well. It's adapting to an
entirely new culture. You know, I went to Whitney
Young, which was the top magnet school, but getting
there, I mean, I'd never used a syllabus before. I'd never been in
big lectures before. I'd never lived in a dorm,
sharing a bathroom, and you know, many times you're
walking downstairs, and around the block, in the
basement to go to the bathroom. That's a little
overwhelming, figuring out how to just get in the
grove with your schedule. It takes some adjustment
plus feeling, you know, like what am I doing here. You know, feeling like, you
know, maybe my counselors were right that I had
reached too high, and I had, you know, overstepped
my abilities. So, I think sharing that,
you know, and articulating that out loud is really
important for all of you, all of you, you know, to
kind of own those feelings. But the one thing that you
have to do is reach out for help, and I say that again
and again to young people like all of you because
there's something about kids like us who think we're
always already supposed to know the answers, or that
everybody else in the room must have the answer, so
that's why they're not asking the question. If you have a question and
if you are feeling those feelings, I guarantee you
there are several other people in the room, in the
college who feel the same way. You have to sort of develop
that maturity to ask for help when you need it
and ask for it soon. Do not wait until the end of
the quarter or the semester to try to catch up
on that problem set. You know, if you're feeling
day one like, "I didn't understand what that
professor just said," the chances are he didn't
really make it clear. So, you know, you've
got to reach out. You've got to find the
tutoring, and resources, and support networks, and the
student organizations that are going to, you know, give
you that place to feel a sense of home, and I think
that was what saved me. I found what for me felt
like a substitute for home, a place I could go and just
be Michelle Robinson, you know, and be afraid, and
scared, and laugh, and have people not question how I
did my hair, or all these other things, you know,
where my thoughts and experiences were
not so odd. You have to -- you cannot
live in isolation when you go to college. You know, the kids who
didn't make it from my school or graduated later
usually were the ones that I didn't see. Terrence J: Yep. Mrs. Obama: You know, they
just disappeared, and they tried to fix the stuff
themselves without having conversations, without --
you cannot do this alone, and you're not supposed to
do it alone, and you have to get into the habit
forever and ever and ever of asking for help. I cannot be
First Lady alone. I have a team of people. I have my mother
living here. It's like it's some days
I'm just like, "Ma." (laughter) "Help me. Help me." So, you have to start that
now because it's not just getting through college. It's getting
through your job. It's becoming a good parent. It's being a partner
in a relationship. It all requires help and
support, and there is no, no shame in doing that. The shame is if you wait
until you're kicked out, you know. That's the shame of it and
help is going to come in financial aid. You're going to have
questions about that; you're going to -- you know, and
let me not go into the -- but do not spend your
financial aid money on stuff. Do not take your financial
aid money and try to take care of home with it. You cannot pay the electric
bill with your financial aid money. You have to take care of
your school, and you have to understand that
financial commitment. And if that means sitting
down with your financial aid advisors every week, every
month to understand what this means, then you have to
do it, but nobody is going to do it. You know, they can set up
these programs all they want, but if you don't take
advantage of them, then it's on you, and that's the
ownership part that you guys have got to understand. That's the maturity part. That's the next step is that
now you've got to embrace the stuff and go for it, and
the only person who can do that for you is
you, all right? And you can do it,
because I'm sitting here. Manuel is sitting
here, you know? If we're here, then
you can do this. (applause) Terrence J: Absolutely. She touched on so many good
points, and make sure before you leave here,
meet a new friend. Start building that
network immediately. You guys are all, you
know, the same class. Make a new friend that's
going to a different school. Stay in touch. Share information. Communicate, because
it takes a team. It takes a network of people
to help you reach your goal. Mrs. Obama: Hey, Terrence. It's even something as small
as like, Manuel, you said you went home for the
first winter break? Manuel Contreras: Yes. Mrs. Obama: I didn't and
that was a bad move because I was on campus alone,
and all of these kids had resources to travel, and you
know, make some friends even if -- because if you can't
afford to go home, maybe you want to go home
with a friend. You know what I'm saying? But if you don't make any
friends, you know, you got nowhere to go, and sometimes
that can lead to the depression. Just because you're sitting
on campus by yourself, because you won't be able to
go home for every break, but after that last break, I
never stayed on campus by myself. I was at somebody's house on
the floor, in the bathroom, doing whatever it took -- (laughter) -- and that in and of itself
made a huge difference to me feeling like I
wasn't an outsider. So. Manuel Contreras: Yeah, can
I just make two really quick points? I get the heebie-jeebies
whenever I hear the word network. I'm always told,
"Build your network. Have a network," and raise
your hand if you also feel that way? Yeah, so networks are
really communities. So, I want to stop building
networks and I want to start building communities,
because all around you we are one community
right now. We're first gens. We're going this together. You all came here together. A community you
ask for help with. You reach out with. You share things with. You're vulnerable with,
but more importantly, a community trusts you, and
they trust that if something is hard, you might not
have the words to say it. But I will believe that this
is hard for you, and I will be there for you, and
with you, and we'll go it together. Another point, so on asking
for help, raise your hand if you've never had an extended
conversation with someone with a Ph.D. or a professor. You're all amazing and great
job with your organizations, but I'd never talked
to someone with a Ph.D. before. So, how could I go into
office hours and ask a question when
you're the smartest person I've ever met? That was a lot of like the
stuff that I was thinking about, and that's
why I didn't go. And that's because I learned
through the examples of my friends, and I learned
through conversations with adult mentors that it's more
than just asking for help, but it's learning
how to relearn. When you are the first in
your family to go to school, you sometimes just like
learn to like put your nose to the books, or like hit
the grindstone, pavement -- Mrs. Obama: Yes. Manuel Contreras: -- all of
that, and you're like, I have me and I
will do it myself. And that doesn't
work in college. It can't work in college. Everyone around you -- the
structure is designed for students who aren't like a
lot of us, students who are entitled to asking for help. So, the onus is on
universities to change, so that they start proactively
reaching out to students, particularly students like
us, if they're recruiting us, making sure that we have
equitable access to those opportunities. But the onus is really on
not only you to go and do the work, but for you to
help your friends do that work, because if I didn't
have Stan or Jess with me, and if I didn't have like
the First Gen babies that we now had, who are now part of
our community at Brown, then we wouldn't be able to do
any of that, because we wouldn't know how
to do any of that. So, spread knowledge and
help each other out. Terrence J: Yeah, give it up
for him one more time, of course. (applause) Wale and I have kind of
grown up with each other in this industry. We kind of started our
careers around similar times, and we've been
friends for quite some time. I've watched him and I've
been so proud of him as he's grown, from his records, to
reaching out and doing other things, his shows. You've acquired a lot of
wealth, and you've had to manage that, and you've had
a lot of sustainability in this industry. How has education and your
background helped you in all facets of your very
successful career? Olubowale Akintimehin: Well,
like Manuel here, both of my parents aren't from this
country either, but they met in D.C. at UDC. They both went there, and
they had us, and I don't know. I had a lot of confidence
issues when I first got to college, like because I was
like -- I mean let's not pretend like I'm here for --
I'm here to play ball, like, you know what I'm saying? Like, so I'm in my first
class, like they don't even say my name. They're doing roll call and
I'm a number, and I'm like, and there's so many people
here, and they're all writing fast, and
they're on their laptops. And I'm like, man I didn't
even bring a notebook. I'm just -- (laughter) -- so, I'm like, what time
is practice, you know? But one thing it is, is
like, I always refer to my college days, because it
taught me to be self-made. It taught me how to be my
own boss, like, and a lot of you guys are going to be
your own bosses one day. And there's good and bad
to being your own boss. The bad thing about being
your own boss is like, you really have to
wake yourself up. Like there's no, like, I'm
not going to get fired if I wake up at 11:00, but I
might miss an opportunity. So, I'm up at 6:00. You know what I'm saying? Like, I've got to
tell myself that. That came from college. College essentially to me
was taking the training wheels off my life, taking
the training wheels off. My parents were very strict. I grew up in D.C. and in
Maryland, and you know D.C. was real bad
in the early '90s. And I was -- I was -- I
couldn't do -- I couldn't go outside. I couldn't do anything. So, you mean to tell me I
get to go to be around girls all day. (laughter) I don't have no curfew. My mom is not going to like,
"Get in the house," and like you know, I had to fall. I had to fall. I had to go to school. I had to fall. I had to be on academic
probation, and I had to realize like, "Yo,
nobody's going to do it." Like, I'm really putting
money inside of a -- my scholarship money inside of
a bowl and burning it if I don't apply myself. So, even when I ended up
transferring to Virginia State, and when I got there
I was like, "This is it. I've got to really get
myself together like." So, that's when I started
really realizing like, I've got to be my own boss. I've got to be
my own person. I've got to wake myself up,
because they're not going to be like, "Oh, you're late." Like in high school was so
organized, and the bell rings, and you go
to another class. It's not that in college. You've got to be
like, "I want this. I want this, either because
I want it for myself or I don't want to waste
my mother's money. I don't want to waste
my scholarship money." You've got to want it. You've got to really,
really, really want it, and that's something
that I had to learn. And now my life, all
I do is run my life. Like, nobody tells me when
to get up, none of that. Like, I have to do it, and
if I don't do it, I won't be here no more. You won't see Wale
at the White House. You might see me outside
somewhere, washing some cars. (laughter) You know, so I had to really
want it, you know, and being self-made, if anybody knows
anything about my music, it's about being self-made
and having ambition. And like, I really
live by those words. Terrence J: #ambition,
#TrainingWheelsOffLife. Olubowale Akintimehin:
Hashtag -- Terrence J: I like that,
taking the training wheels off life, #BeatingTheOdds. Where is Jessica Waters? Where is Jessica Waters? Jessica, you're in trouble. You stole something
from the back. I'm joking. (laughter) I need you to give back that
spoon you took from the -- Jessica, you have a
question, and we'd love to have it for the
panel right now. Thank you, Jessica. Jessica Waters: My question
is for Mrs. Obama. What was the most important
advice that you would give kids and teens aspiring not
just for college, but for all of their dreams and
future achievements that they want to reach? What would your most
important piece of advice be? Mrs. Obama: That's a tough
one because it's, you know, it's a lot of things, but if
I were just sort of to go to the core, you know, don't
be afraid of hard work, you know, because I think some,
you know, sometimes -- and I've talked to kids -- I
know, you know people of my own life who think that
somehow the folks who succeed if they come from a
different community, they have the silver spoon. They think, "Well
they don't work hard. They just lucked
up on it, you know. They just were in the right
place at the right time," and let me tell you, I've
gone to the best schools. My kids go to good schools,
and I'm telling you folks work hard, you know. People are going
to class, you know. They're doing
their homework. They're studying
for the SATs. When they get to college,
they don't play. They don't think
it's a joke. They know why they're
there, you know. So, if anything, they
have the advantage of understanding that success
is hard work because maybe they've seen their parents,
who get up every day and go to jobs, and travel, and you
know, make sacrifices for the money that they
make, you know. Hard work is at the core of
everything, and if it's too easy, then you're probably
not working hard enough, you know? I am where I am, Barack is
where he is because, let me tell you, this
President works hard. I'm just -- you know. (applause) He works hard. He works all the time. He is always reading. He is always writing. He is never off, you know. You're not --
success is not easy. So, you've got to embrace
that reality, you know, and then not think that if you
stumble that somehow it's over, you know. Everybody up here knows that
failure is a necessary part of growth and
success, you know. Each and every one of us on
stage has failed in some big, horrible, embarrassing
way at some point in our lives, and I'm sure it's
going to happen again. That's the way it is, and I
tell my kids this all the time. "Do not be afraid to fail,"
and sometimes that's why we don't work hard because we
think maybe if we put our all into it, and we don't
really achieve what we want, then that's somehow a
statement, you know. Don't let that be
your mental barrier. Roll up your sleeves. Don't be afraid to work
hard, and if you fail, then recover. Get over it. Get up. Figure out what went
wrong and go back in. If you fail again, get up. Brush yourself off. You will fail. You will fail again. You will fail some more, you
know, and the difference between that failure and a
failure is that somebody just stopped trying. Terrence J: Absolutely. Mrs. Obama: So, don't
stop trying, all right. Terrence J:
Words to live by. Who knows what they want to
do when they graduate from college? Does everybody? And there are some of you
that didn't raise your hand, and I was on that list of
not knowing what it was when I went into college. And my entire life I was
told that I was, you know, I wasn't able to play sports. I wasn't athletic. I was always too
short or too skinny. I was called corny, and
goofy, and awkward, but the only thing that I knew that
I could do is that I could work hard. I can get up in the morning
and I can keep going when other people stopped. So, to her point, I saw a T
shirt -- no, I'm sorry, on Instagram, and it said,
"Barack Obama has the same 24 hours in the day that
you do," and it just -- it really hit me because it's
like, we all have the same amount of time. But it's all up to us on
when you're going to get up, like Wale said, and go chase
after your dreams, go chase after what you're
passionate about. And make sure to ask
questions, like the question I'm going to ask -- I don't
know how to pronounce this next name. So, if you know you have the
next question, where are you? Amelfi? Amelfi? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. How do I say it? Amelfi Peña: Amelfi. Terrence J: Amelfi. Amelfi Pena. Amelfi Peña: Peña. Terrence J: Thank
you so much. You're beautiful. What's your question? Amelfi Peña: Thank you. I'm nervous, but I realize
that as teenagers, we often envision what our lives will
be like in the future based on our passions. So, my question for you
is, did your passion ever change. Did you know that you would
be right here right now back then? Terrence J: Mr.
Secretary, if you would. Secretary Duncan: So, I'm
still trying to figure out what I'm going to
do when I grow up. (laughter) So, it's not something
you ever know right away. Olubowale Akintimehin:
Never change. Secretary Duncan: But I will
say I've been very, very lucky that I have
always had two passions. I love playing basketball. I love working with kids and
education, and those are the only two jobs I've
ever had in my life. So, I played basketball
for four years after I graduated, and the rest of
my life I've worked with kids and education. And a lot of my friends who
have done other things, and honestly made a lot more
money than me, but I don't think they've been as
happy as I've been. And I don't think they've
had the impact that I've had or had as meaningful a life. And so, your
passions may change. There are different ways to
do it, but I always say find over time what your genius
is, what you love, and all of us have to make a living,
but find what you would get up and do every single day
if you didn't have to make a nickel. And then you
know, pursue that. And if you can figure out
over time, whether you're 18, or 28, or 58 what your
passion is and what you love to do, I think there's
nothing more important in life than pursuing
that with all you have. And there are folks again my
age, who wish they had done some other things, and
didn't for, you know -- for chasing, you know, more
money, or doing whatever. And you don't get
that time back. So, I've been very, very
lucky, and been able to stay focused on those things
that I truly love.
