My latest assignment had me working with Michelle Obama. It was my biggest assignment to date. Since others have put the words together quite eloquently, it would serve no purpose for me to rewrite any of it. So, here is the press release direct from the White House.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the First Lady/For Immediate Release April 26, 2016
REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY AT COLLEGE SIGNING DAY/Harlem Armory/New York, New York/3:45 P.M. EDT
“…MRS. OBAMA: I love every single one of you! Every single one of you! (Applause.) I’m so proud of you all. (Applause.) But I also want to thank La La and Sway and all of MTV for co-hosting this. You know they put this together for you all? Do you know that? (Applause.)
But most of all, I want to give a huge shout-out to all the amazing young people who are here today because just — I want you to take a moment because you saw what just happened on this stage. You understand how many people it took to put this together. We did this because of you all. (Applause.) You all are the reasons we did this. Melissa, Ben, Allan Houston, Sway, La La, Carmelo — I mean, all of us are here today because we are beyond proud of you. (Applause.)
I want you all to listen to this: These Grammy Award winners, these NBA All-Stars, these Hollywood celebrities all wanted to be a part of this day. I called, they came. They love me, but they love you even more. They want to celebrate your achievements. (Applause.)
So I want you to take this in, because no matter what path any of us on this stage took to our success, we all know that completing your education past high school is the most important thing you can do to reach your dreams. That’s why we’re here.
So while you all might be in awe of us, let me tell you, we are in awe of you. (Applause.) Because we know how much work it took for you to get to this point. We know that you have been studying. (Applause.) We know how early you had to wake up every morning to either catch the bus or walk to school. (Applause.) We know about all those applications and essays, all those FAFSA forms you had to complete to make it to this day. It wasn’t just a notion! (Applause.)
But we also know that even in those moments when you were tired and a little frustrated, maybe filled with a little doubt, that you never gave up. (Applause.) You never stopped fighting for your dreams. And you did it! Every single one of you in this room is going to college! (Applause.) Man! Look at you all! And that’s really what College Signing Day is all about. It’s about celebrating your academic achievements. Listen to this. We are celebrating education up in here! (Applause.)…”
The following individuals joined the First Lady in celebrating over 4,000 students at the Harlem Armory:
- 1. Aidy Bryant
- 2. AJ Calloway
- 3. Alessia Cara
- 4. Allan Houston
- 5. Allison Williams
- 6. Bailee Madison
- 7. Ben Falcone
- 8. Bradie Gene James
- 9. Brandon Carr
- 10. Calvin Johnson
- 11. Carla Hall
- 12. Carmelo Anthony
- 13. Chef Roble
- 14. Common
- 15. Darren Criss
- 16. Daymond John
- 17. Derek Hough
- 18. Deon Grant
- 19. Diggy Simmons
- 20. Elle Varner
- 21. Emmy Rossum
- 22. FC Harlem Team Members
- 23. Jay Pharoah
- 24. Jidenna
- 25. Jon Rudnitsky
- 26. Julianna Margulies
- 27. Kelvin Beachum
- 28. La La Anthony
- 29. LZ Granderson
- 30. Matt and Kim
- 31. Matthew Morrison
- 32. Mariska Hargitay
- 33. Mario Batali
- 34. Melissa Benoist
- 35. Melissa McCarthy
- 36. Nicole Beharie
- 37. Sasheer Zamata
- 38. Ted Allen
- 39. Tom Colicchio
- 40. Tracee Ellis Ross
- 41. Yara Shahidi
This event was hosted by MTV in conjunction with Viacom’s Get Schooled initiative. This was the third annual College Signing Day the First Lady has hosted to celebrate high school seniors choosing to pursue higher education at a professional training program, a community college, or a four-year college or university. The First Lady has hosted College Signing Day events in Detroit, Michigan in 2015 and in San Antonio, Texas in 2014. Information provided by the White House.
Until next time.
Teresa, 51art
adventure is life, live it! ®
A Touch of Yellow in NYC 