US First Lady: A Role Model for UK Schoolgirls

US First Lady: A Role Model for UK Schoolgirls

US First Lady Michelle Obama gave a message of hard work on Wednesday as she drew on her own family life to inspire a group of London schoolgirls on a visit to Oxford University.

"She's amazing," one schoolgirl whispered excitedly on her way out, after Obama rounded off a speech and question and answer session for each of the 40 or so pupils visiting Oxford from London's Elizabeth Garrett Anderson school.

The ethnically diverse school is in one of the most deprived areas of north London and has 59 languages spoken among its 900 female pupils.

The first lady encouraged the girls to believe that they could do anything if they were prepared to work hard enough.

"You should be pushing yourself to dream big because if you can see yourself in Oxford you can see yourself anywhere," she said.

Michelle Obama grew up in Chicago and went to a state school before winning scholarships to Princeton and Harvard law school.

"I used to think there was some magic that happened, I didn't know back then it was just plain old hard work.

"But the more success you have, the more chances you take. You don't let the failures and the stumbles defeat you."

Obama also spoke about her daughters Malia and Sasha and described her first impressions of husband Barack.

"I call myself mom-in-chief not because I don't value my career or education ... but the most important thing to me is raising strong women because that's what my mother did for me," she said in a heartfelt answer.

"The things I tell my girls are the same thing I would tell you -- don't be afraid to fail, don't be afraid to make mistakes, ask stupid questions and get laughed at. Trip and then get back up."

She was also asked about the first meeting with Barack Obama, she said: "When I met him I knew he was a special person. It was how he felt about his mother, his work ethic, he was smart, not impressed with himself and he was fun. We joked a lot.

"He loved his little sister and he was a community organiser. Coupled with that his talent and he was cute. I always thought he would be useful but I had no idea he would be president."

EGA English teacher Holly Wilkins told Reuters Michelle Obama's second meeting with the schoolgirls would have as big an impact as the first and help encourage many of them to apply to Oxford University.

"We say this a lot as teachers but it takes someone like that to say it for them to believe it, particularly for girls like ours who come from all sorts of backgrounds. Her story really resounds with them."

Posted by M.Ferrer on Saturday May 28 2011, 4:34 AM EST. Ref: REUTERS. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0