MERCED, Calif. — First lady Michelle Obama praised graduates at California’s smallest, youngest public university for their struggle to succeed, urging the jubilant members of her audience to give back to their communities.
In her debut as a commencement speaker Saturday at the University of California at Merced, Obama evoked the struggles of the state’s founders — settlers and former slaves, trailblazers and truck drivers — to urge the 493 members of the school’s first full graduating class to use their skills to lift up those around them.
“Many of you may be considering leaving town with your diploma in hand, and it wouldn’t be unreasonable,” Obama said before a crowd of 12,000 wilting in the afternoon sun.
“By using what you’ve learned here you can shorten the path perhaps for kids who may not see a path at all. I was once one of those kids.”
She recounted her own struggle to get ahead on Chicago’s South Side.
