--- title: Michelle Obama: Transcript of Her Last Remarks as First Lady description: Michelle Obama gave an emotional final speech as first lady on Friday, urging young Americans to remain hopeful. Read the full transcript canonical: https://time.com/4626283/michelle-obama-final-remarks-transcript/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-06T18:31:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:35:44.755Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read What Michelle Obama Said in Her Final Remarks as First Lady og:description: "I want our young people to know that they matter, that they belong" og:url: https://time.com/4626283/michelle-obama-final-remarks-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee4667319e941bab/6988b49dcf40a8a434c45fdd/michelle-obama-final-remarks-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Michelle Obama Delivers Final Speech At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read What Michelle Obama Said in Her Final Remarks as First Lady twitter:description: "I want our young people to know that they matter, that they belong" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee4667319e941bab/6988b49dcf40a8a434c45fdd/michelle-obama-final-remarks-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read What Michelle Obama Said in Her Final Remarks as First Lady  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 6, 2017 6:31 PM UTC  First lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks during a ceremony honoring the 2017 School Counselor of the Year in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 6, 2017. First lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks during a ceremony honoring the 2017 School Counselor of the Year in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 6, 2017.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 6, 2017 6:31 PM UTC [Michelle Obama](http://motto.time.com/4607893/michelle-obama-melania-trump-help-oprah-interview/) gave her [final remarks as First Lady](http://time.com/4626173/michelle-obama-hope-final-first-lady-remarks/) on Friday, choking up as she urged young Americans to remain hopeful and engaged in the country’s future. “I want our young people to know that they matter, that they belong, so don’t be afraid. You hear me? Young people, don’t be afraid. Be focused, be determined, be hopeful, be empowered,” Obama said at the White House, speaking at an event honoring the [2017 School Counselor of the Year](http://time.com/4624004/michelle-obama-final-remarks-school-counselor/). “Lead by example with hope, never fear, and know that I will be with you, rooting for you and working to support you for the rest of my life.” She called serving as First Lady “the greatest honor of my life.” Here are her full remarks: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4626283/michelle-obama-final-remarks-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4626283/michelle-obama-final-remarks-transcript/"},"headline":"Read What Michelle Obama Said in Her Final Remarks as First Lady","datePublished":"2017-01-06T18:31:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:35:44.755Z","description":"\"I want our young people to know that they matter, that they belong\"","url":"https://time.com/4626283/michelle-obama-final-remarks-transcript/","keywords":["White House","Michelle Obama","flotus","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee4667319e941bab/6988b49dcf40a8a434c45fdd/michelle-obama-final-remarks-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee4667319e941bab/6988b49dcf40a8a434c45fdd/michelle-obama-final-remarks-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Michelle Obama Delivers Final Speech At The White House","caption":"Michelle Obama Delivers Final Speech At The White House","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4626283/michelle-obama-final-remarks-transcript/","name":"Read What Michelle Obama Said in Her Final Remarks as First Lady"}}]}] ```