<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" Last week, Seventeen South Africa Editor-In-Chief Janine Jellars sat down with First Lady Michelle Obama to discuss an issue that&amp;#039;s close both womens&amp;#039; hearts\u2014education! Four amazing South African teens joined the pair on stage to talk about the importance of education and the power that teens have to change the world! American teens (including Girl Up ambassador Victoria Justice!) in Los Angeles, Kansas City, New York City and Houston also had the chance to speak to Mrs. Obama during her trip to South Africa via Google + Hangouts. During her opening speech, the First Lady explained how the Little Rock Nine and the youth of Soweto 1976 in South Africa fought for fair access to education and made a global difference. She encouraged young people to &amp;quot;use your education to make history and build a better future.&amp;quot; Mrs. Obama has surely done so\u2014after studying at Princeton and Harvard, she worked to prepare young people for public service careers and inspire volunteerism in Chicago. Mrs. Obama shared her goal to live her life &amp;quot;by honoring all those who sacrificed so much for me, from my dad all the way up to heroes like Madiba [Nelson Mandela]. Every day, I do my best to make my life worthy of their sacrifices.&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;You have everything you need right now,&amp;quot; she continued. &amp;quot;You have a brain in your head. You have passion in your heart. And I know that if you&amp;#039;re willing to work for it and fight for it, you can be anything you dream of.&amp;quot; She asked the crowd to follow South African President Nelson Mandela&amp;#039;s example: &amp;quot;If President Mandela can endure being confined to a tiny cell, being forced to perform back-breaking labor, being separated from the people he loved most in the world, then surely, I and all of you can show up for school every day and do your homework every night.&amp;quot; That&amp;#039;s some serious inspiration to take with you to class this fall! Now that Mrs. Obama&amp;#039;s inspired you to hit the books, tell us, how do you use your education to change your future? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/school/reviews/a21175/michelle-obama-seventeen-south-africa/>