My Education, My Future

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect, so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. I know it’s not always easy to do well in studies. I know a lot of you have challenges in your life right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork. Some of you might not have many advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost her or his job and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things that you know aren’t right. However, the circumstances of your life like what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, and what you’ve got going on at home — none of them is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude to school, or talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. There is no excuse for not trying. Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one has written your destiny for you. It is you who write your own destiny and make your own future. That’s what young people like you are doing every day. Also, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education, and do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending some time each day reading a book. But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it. I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through singing or basketball or being a reality TV star. The chances are you’re not going to be any of those things. No one is born being good at all things. You become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit big the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. So I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down, don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud.