Michelle Obama's Plea for Education
And I'm honored to meet you,
the future leaders of Great Britain and this world.
And although the circumstances of our lives
may seem very distant,
with me standing here
as the First Lady of the United States of America,
and you, just getting through school.
I want you to know that we have very much in common.
For nothing in my life's path
would have predicted that I'd be standing here
as the first African-American First Lady
of the United States of America.
There is nothing in my story that would land me here.
I wasn't raised with wealth or resources
or any social standing to speak of.
I was raised on the South Side of Chicago.
That's the real part of Chicago.
And I was the product of a working-class community.
My father was a city worker all of his life.
And my mother was a stay-at-home mom.
And she stayed at home to take care of me and my older brother.
Neither of them attended university.
My dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
in the prime of his life.
But even as it got harder for him
to walk and get dressed in the morning-
I saw him struggle more and more-
my father never complained about his struggle.
He was grateful for what he had.
He just woke up a little earlier and worked a little harder.
And my brother and I
were raised with all that you really need:
love, strong values and a belief
that with a good education and a whole lot of hard work,
that there was nothing that we could not do.
I am an example of what's possible
when girls from the very beginning of their lives
are loved and nurtured by the people around them.
I was surrounded by extraordinary women in my life.
Grandmothers, teachers, aunts, cousins, neighbors,
who taught me about quiet strength and dignity.
And my mother, the most important role model in my life,
who lives with us at the White House
and helps to care for our two little daughters, Malia and Sasha.
She's an active presence in their lives, as well as mine,
and is instilling in them the same values
that she taught me and my brother:
things like compassion, and integrity,
and confidence, and perseverance.
All of that wrapped up in an unconditional love
that only a grandmother can give.