--- title: Michelle Obama Encourages First-Generation College Students description: Michelle Obama offered support and words of encouragement to first-generation college students, drawing on her own experience. canonical: https://time.com/5369429/michelle-obama-on-college/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-16T18:08:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:22.335Z og:title: Michelle Obama Encourages First-Generation College Students og:description: The former First Lady drew on her own experience as a first generation student og:url: https://time.com/5369429/michelle-obama-on-college/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca0cb4674f471d82/698937ecbc6cfcaa193e6b58/michelle-obama-encourages-first-college-students.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2018 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michelle Obama Encourages First-Generation College Students twitter:description: The former First Lady drew on her own experience as a first generation student twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca0cb4674f471d82/698937ecbc6cfcaa193e6b58/michelle-obama-encourages-first-college-students.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michelle Obama Encourages First-Generation College Students: 'There Are So Many People Who Believe In You'  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 16, 2018 6:08 PM UTC  NEW ORLEANS, LA - JUNE 21: Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama speaks during the Opening General Session of the 2018 American Library Association Annual Conference at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on June 21, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Erika Goldring/WireImage) NEW ORLEANS, LA - JUNE 21: Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama speaks during the Opening General Session of the 2018 American Library Association Annual Conference at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on June 21, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Erika Goldring/WireImage)Erika Goldring—WireImage  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 16, 2018 6:08 PM UTC [Michelle Obama](http://time.com/5178890/michelle-obama-president-leadership/) offered support and words of encouragement for [first-generation college students](http://time.com/money/4495797/first-generation-college-student-advice/) headed to school this fall. As a part of [_Good Morning America_](https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/firstgen)‘s “First Gen” series, the former First Lady drew on her own experience as a first-generation student to express the excitement she has for these students and their families. “I am so proud of you because as a first-generation college graduate myself, I know it isn’t easy to get to this point,” Obama said. “I want you to know that Barack and I are proud of all of you and we can’t wait to see everything you go on to achieve.” Obama then shared the challenges and triumphs she encountered when she began college at Princeton University, urging them to be “brave” because “there are so many people who believe in you.” “These years are a precious opportunity to discover who you are and what you love doing, so be brave,” she said. “Take some risks. Make some mistakes, and then learn from them.” Watch the full clip below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5369429/michelle-obama-on-college/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5369429/michelle-obama-on-college/"},"headline":"Michelle Obama Encourages First-Generation College Students: 'There Are So Many People Who Believe In You'","datePublished":"2018-08-16T18:08:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:54:22.335Z","description":"The former First Lady drew on her own experience as a first generation student","url":"https://time.com/5369429/michelle-obama-on-college/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca0cb4674f471d82/698937ecbc6cfcaa193e6b58/michelle-obama-encourages-first-college-students.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca0cb4674f471d82/698937ecbc6cfcaa193e6b58/michelle-obama-encourages-first-college-students.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2018 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition","caption":"2018 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition","creditText":"Erika Goldring—WireImage","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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5369429/michelle-obama-on-college/","name":"Michelle Obama Encourages First-Generation College Students: 'There Are So Many People Who Believe In You'"}}]}] ```