Michelle Obama at National College Signing Day: 'We've Got to Make Education Cool Again'
The NFL Draft is making headlines this week, but First Lady Michelle Obama is focusing on another kind of signing day, speaking to high school kids across the country as they commit to colleges and furthering their education.
"They need to know that all the struggle, all the hard work, all the sacrifice, all the doubt was worth it and that we, the grown ups in the world, value that," Obama said of the over 2,000 students she spoke to at Wayne State University in Detroit on Friday. "They felt valued today."
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The College Signing Day event, one of 600 such events taking place this weekend, highlighted by the First Lady as part of her Reach Higher initiative, aims to excite students about further education and place as much hype and importance on college commitment for students as there is for athletes and other superstars.
"We've got to make education cool again," the first lady told ET’s Kevin Frazier. "Because not everybody is going to be a pro-athlete or a reality TV star. That's the gamble, the education is the sure shot investment."
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Seventeen-year-old Myla Smith beat out hundreds of other students for the privilege of introducing Obama and told her fellow classmates that "to actually have the first lady here, it just shows how significant our city is, how significant all of us are." Smith also learned first-hand that the first lady is a hugger!
"The hugs are as much for me as it is for them," Obama told Frazier. "Barack and I both are people who get energy from other people. It makes me feel connected."
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