Remarks by the First Lady at a Let Girls Learn Event in London, United Kingdom

MRS. OBAMA: I didn't want to forget about you all here. I wanted to come by and see your faces and just thank you. I am so impressed by all of you. You all are so lucky to have this school and to have this community of people who are investing their heart and soul into each of you.

And I will say what you heard me say in the question-and-answer session. I want you all to pay it forward, which means find someone that you're going to mentor, whether it's someone in your family or your community. But as you rise -- and you all will -- and rising looks like a bunch of different things. It may be the prime minister, it may be a teacher, it may be being a good parent -- those are -- that's rising too. But whatever role you play, your job is to reach back and help someone up, someone just like you.

And if we keep doing that -- look at this roomful of amazing young women. If all of you find one other person to pull along, to show the ropes, to help them get over their fears and their worries and their challenges, just imagine what power that is, right?

So I want you to keep doing what you're doing. Work hard in school. We know it's hard. We know it's frustrating. I use my story because I want kids to see themselves in me. I stumbled, I failed, I struggled, I had doubts -- and I still do. We all do. That's human. That's the course of learning. So don't let that be your barrier. Let that fuel your hunger, okay?

Be hungry for this. Want this so badly that no one can say anything ever that will stand in your way. Be that hungry for it, okay?