【正文】 rsion of ourselves we can part of that means treating others the way we want to be treatedwith kindness and that’s something else that I want to municate to students not just here at Masterman but all across the kids can be mean to other ’s face don’t always treat each other with respect and ’s true for adults as well, by the sometimes that’s especially true in middle school or high school, because being a teenager isn’t ’s a time when you’re wrestling with a lot of I was in my teens, I was wrestling with all sorts of questions about who I had a white mother and a black father, and my father wasn’t around。ve stayed in bed just a little bit longer this know that I was young, my family lived lived in Indonesia for a few my mother, she didn39。s expected of all of you in this new school , I39。ve talked a lot about your government39。ll need an education to do want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You39。t do thatif you quit on schoolyou39。m not proud of, and I got in more trouble than I should my life could have easily taken a turn for the I wasI was got a lot of second chances, and I had the opportunity to go to college and law school and follow my wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, she has a similar of her parents had gone to college, and they didn39。t have to determine where you39。s headed to college this then there39。m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your educationand do everything you can to meet goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending some time each day reading a you39。s fought brain cancer since he was 39。ve got going on at homenone of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in 39。t fit I wasn39。ll need the insights and criticalthinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more 39。s the opportunity an education can you could be a great writermaybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaperbut you might not know it until you write that English paperthat English class paper that39。 responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and you get your homework done, and don39。m here today because I have somethingimportant to discuss with 39。re a little imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now(applause)with just one more year to no matter what grade you39。about where to apply and whether you can afford to go to beyond all those concerns, I know a lot of you are also feeling the strain of some difficult know what’s going on in the news and you also know what’s going on in some of your own ’ve read about the war in hear about the recession that we’ve been sometimes maybe you’re seeing the worries in your parents’ faces or sense it in their a lot of you as a consequence, because we’re going through a tough time a country, are having to act a lot older than you got to be strong for your family while your brother or sister is serving overseas, or you’ve got to look after younger siblings while your mom is working that second maybe some of you who are little bit older, you’re taking on a parttime job while your dad’s out of that’s a lot to ’s more than you should have to it may make you wonder at times what your own future will look like, whether you’re going to be able to succeed in school, whether you should maybe set your sights a little lower, scale back your I came to Masterman to tell all of you what I think you’re hearing from your principal and your superintendent, and from your parents and your teachers: Nobody gets to write your destiny but future is in your life is what you make of nothingabsolutely nothingis beyond your reach, so long as you’re willing to dream big, so long as you’re willing to work long as you’re willing to stay focused on your education, there is not a single thing that any of you cannot acplish, not a single believe that last part is absolutely essential, that part about really working hard in school, because an education has never been more important than it is ’m sure there are going to be times in the months ahead when you’re staying up late doing your homework or cramming for a test, or you’re dragging yourself out of bed on a rainy morning and you’re thinking, oh, boy, I wish maybe it was a snow day.(Laughter.)But let me tell you, what you’re doing is worth is nothing more important than what you’re doing right is going to have as great an impact on your success in life as your education, how you’re doing in and more, the kinds of opportunities that are open to you are going to be determined by how far you go in farther you go in school, the farther you’re going to go in at a time when other countries are peting with us like never before, when students around the world in Beijing, China, or Bangalore, India, are working harder than ever, and doing better than ever, your success in school is not just going to determine your success, it’s going to determine America’s success in the 21st you’ve got an obligation to yourselves, and America has an obligation to you, to make sure you’re getting the best education making sure you get that kind of education is going to take all of us working hard and all of us working hand in takes all of us in governmentfrom the governor to the mayor to the superintendent to the Presidentall of us doing our part to prepare our students, all of them, for success in the classroom and in college and in a ’s going to take an outstanding principal, like Principal Neff, and outstanding teachers like the ones you have here at Mastermanteachers who are going above and beyond the call of duty for their it’s going to take parents who are mitted to your , that’s what we have to do for ’s our ’s our you’ve got a job, ’ve got to sho