On Tuesday, September 29th the First Lady of the United States of America graced our presensce in Harlem at the Apollo Theatre. The event was held in hopes to publicize her campaign “Let Girls Learn”.

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In a country where our children now have access to technology, she urges our young girls to take advantage of them. First Lady Michelle Obama advises the youth to stay in school and stick it out. In the long run all the hard work, late nights of studying, sweat and tears will pay off. I’m sure we all can relate to the trials and tribulations faced while trying to further our education.

Education is something we take for granted in America. As to millions of children across the globe would love to have the opportunity and the experience to learn. She takes into consideration that being a teenager is hard, given that she has two of her own. The First Lady understands that these girls are faced with peer pressure from friends especially pertaining to boys. She goes on to say “There is no boy at this age that is cute enough or interesting enough to stop you from getting your education”. Girls all over the world needed to hear this, living in a world where being naked on social media will get more likes quicker than a speeding bullet. Our young girls aren’t being told their beautiful at home so they look to outsiders for validation. The new pretty is considered having a small waist, a big butt, and hair down to their calves. There aren’t enough people standing up trying to empower the youth and steer them in the right direction.

Speaking from my own personal experience I can attest that being a teenager for me was hard. My first two years of high school I flunked majority of my classes. Within those two years I had only gained 10 credits. It wasn’t until my junior year in a new school I became more focused and applied myself to do the work. Once I started recieving outstanding grades, doing good became addictive and was 2nd nature to me. Do you know how I felt when I saw my name on the Honor roll semester after semester?! It felt great! Even throughout my college years I was faced with adversity. I dropped out of college twice to only enroll a third time and stick it out. Long nights of studying, early mornings typing papers, or not going out with friends because I was swamped with assignments. Days I felt like giving up I hung in there. I’d say this quote “My faith to succeed is greater than my fear to fail” to remind myself to PUSH THROUGH. The day I applied for graduation I cried tears of joy the entire two hour commute home. For the first time I felt I had finally accomplished something great! I was so proud of myself, for each time I gave up I came back 10 times harder and stronger than before.

There are 62 million girls world wide who happen to not be in school. Here in America we have access to programs such as financial aid, grants and scholarships. Young ladies please take advantage of it. Being hungry for education is opening the doors to your future. It should be something yearned for. If I can stick it out so can you! PUSH THROUGH!