Michelle Obama Tells Youth to Help Empower Each Other

Washington — In her first solo international visit as first lady, Michelle Obama asked young people in Mexico and around the world to empower each other through service and volunteer work. That will help spread opportunities to other members of what she described as the “youth bulge” — the largest-ever global population of people between the ages of 15 and 24 who now make up 20 percent of the world’s citizens.

Speaking to students at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City April 14, the first lady said young people everywhere possess the potential to succeed to the benefit of their societies and the world at large, even “in some of the most unlikely places.”
“Ambition and ability are found in every corner of the globe. The question is, how do we ensure that opportunity is too?” Obama asked.

While President Obama and other leaders are working to improve education and create economic opportunities that will help young people, ordinary citizens, including the young, have their own responsibilities, she said.

“It’s not just enough just to change laws and policies. We must also change our perceptions about who can and who can’t succeed,” Obama said, citing “wrong and outdated ideas and assumptions” that have limited educational and economic opportunities due to gender, religion, disability, ethnicity or socioeconomic class.

“Throughout our world history, it has so often been that unlikely hero, that unusual perspective, that improbable journey that has been the key to our progress. So when we dismiss any of our young people, when we fail to tap into their potential, we risk losing their promise,” she said.
Even as many university students continue to struggle through difficult economic times, the first lady called on them to take action to spread opportunities to the less fortunate through their career choices or through volunteer work.

“The truth is that those of you who already have a seat at the table must do your part to make room for others who don’t. Young people around the world must reach out to help others realize their talents and make their voices heard,” Obama said.
She cited examples of young people who have become teachers for the disabled, led service projects to help the less fortunate, and performed relief work to help Haiti recover from its January earthquake.

“Each and every one of these young people is working to break down barriers and to open doors. Each of them is giving others the chances they’ve had to succeed,” she said.
She also encouraged the students to develop their own self-confidence, despite the fact that they inevitably will face difficulties and some may have more difficult obstacles to overcome than others.

“When you start to get discouraged … I hope that you’ll think about young people like you all around the world who have toiled in laboratories and libraries, in factories and fields, who have marched and fought and bled to make our world a better place,” she said.
“We are going to need the passion and the daring and the creativity of every last one of you” to tackle the immense challenges of the 21st century and make the world a better place, Obama said.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)