Beating the Odds Summit 2015!

A gathering of 130 college-bound students from across the county participated in the 2015 Beating the Odds Summit, hosted in the White House’s East Room Thursday, July 23, 2015. The summit is part of First Lady, Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher Initiative.

“Education should be cool again,” Michelle Obama told students on Thursday. “This should be the cool thing to do in life.”

Terrence J emceed the panel discussion with Michelle Obama, leading intimate conversations with recording artist, Wale; Education Secretary, Arne Duncan; and Manuel Contreras, a student at Brown University.

President Obama made a special appearance, delivering some candid life-advice to the students, saying “Failure is a necessary part of growth and success. Don’t let that be your mental barrier. Roll up your sleeves, don’t be afraid to work hard and if you fail, recover. Get over it.”

In addition to performing, Wale gave some insight from his own college experiences – Telling the students that college eventually taught him how to become “self-made” and “take the training wheels off” in life.