I had a very busy morning, and I could have easily called Joe and said I can't make it. A lot going on in the State Department this morning. We had a terrible crisis in the Middle East and tragedy in the Middle East this morning, a suicide bomber who is trying through violence to end peace and reconciliation in a dangerous part of the world, the level of violence that we're trying to get stopped and reversed, and that took part of my time.

I also greeted this morning and had breakfast with the Foreign Minister from the Russian Federation, Mr. Igor Ivanov, and he and I just finished a meeting on regional issues and matters that we have in common with the Russian Federation, a great nation that is in the process of transformation to a solid democracy and market economic form of government. And we are very pleased to have him here, and I'll be going back in just a few moments to continue my meetings with him. But I excused myself because I did not want to disappoint Joe, who asked me to be here, but above all, I wanted to be here this morning to see these wonderful young people. Nothing was more important to me than that. (Applause.)

And the simple reason for wanting to be with you is I wanted to look at your faces; I wanted to see that sense of pride and accomplishment that you should have today. I wanted to let you know that we are counting on you. I wanted to let you know that even though I've had some success in life, all of the other people on this stage have had success in life, the greatest success we really enjoy in our life is if we help the next generation get ahead. You are that next generation. (Applause.)

We all have our own children in our homes and we have been successful in raising those children and watching them go ahead, but you are our children too. You are our children, just as surely as the children I raised in my own home. You are as important to the future of this nation as I consider my own children. I want you to know that all of us on this stage, all of the adults in this audience here today, believe that if you fail, we fail. And we're not going to fail, and we're not going to let you fail. You are the future. (Applause.)

We have come so far in this country. This country is unlike any other on the face of the earth. It's a country of enormous opportunity. I stand before you now as Secretary of State, and people say nice things about me. I used to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And a lot of young people will look up and say, well, you know, he's made it -- you know, whatever.

But I didn't start here. I started in South Bronx section of New York City, a little black kid living at a time when everybody said little black kids are tenth class citizens and you are really not as good as anyone else. But my parents refused to believe that. My teachers refused to believe that. People in my neighborhood, my family members, refused to believe that. What they said to me is you're as good as anyone. You are as good as anyone if you are willing to believe in your own heart you're as good as anyone. You can get anywhere you want in this life if you believe in yourself, but if you go beyond that, if you educate yourself, if you prepare yourself, if you do those things that you know will put you on a path to success.

And so, notwithstanding the obstacles that might have been before me because of my color or my immigrant background or the circumstances in which I was raised, my parents taught me, as your family members are teaching you today, not to let any of that be a hindrance to you. Because if you believe in yourself and if you have people like these and people like your parents who believe in you, you can go anywhere you want, you can be anything you want, as long as you dream, as long as you believe, and as long as you do what's necessary, as long as you prepare yourself.

People have said to me, well, you knew you were going to be a success when you were a young kid in the eighth grade, ninth grade, in the South Bronx section of New York City standing in the street corner. I mean, did you ever stand there in the street corner and say, "I believe I'm going to grow up and become Secretary of State of the United States of America"? (Laughter.) I wasn't even sure I was going to get out of the eighth grade. (Laughter.)

But my parents wouldn't let me quit, my heart wouldn't let me quit. I was going to keep going. That's the advice to you this morning: keep going. These people have invested in you. They've given part of their treasure, part of their love, part of their lives, to you. Your obligation now is to reward them, reward them in the simplest, easiest way possible, by continuing to strive for excellence, by continuing to believe in yourself, by continuing to improve yourself.

Master the English language. Make sure you do not recede from mastering the English language. Don't step back from it. Don't be afraid of it. Master the English language. Learn to read it and write it and speak it correctly. And then you can absorb all kinds of knowledge and information, learn about science and math and so many other things. Make sure that you are not afraid of the hard challenges that your educational experience will put before you. Go for the hard courses. Go for the A's. Don't let anybody tell you you can't get that A.  Don't let anybody tell you you're wasting your time studying; come on out here and do this. You're like somebody you shouldn't be; you ought to be like us and not study and not get ahead. Don't you believe it, because five years from now you'll be on your way to college, on your way out of college. They'll still be sitting on the street corner. (Applause.)

Get that education, master the English language, master the other subjects that are out there. Be kind to each other. Be selfless. Make sure you give back. Make sure that you do early in life what these adults have done for you. Start to give back. Start to share. Start to help others coming along. You're young, but you already are prepared to be role models to your younger sisters and brothers and the other kids on the street. They'll look up to you and say, "Is that the way to go? Should I really stay in school? Should I really take advantage of this? Should I really get my high school diploma and move on to a degree?"

They'll look at you. And if they see you are successful in life, they will follow you. So you are already role models. Make sure you carry that role model responsibility in your heart. I want you to stay away from those things that are wrong and bad in life. You know what they are. Your parents have taught you. Your teachers have taught you. Whether it's drugs or getting involved in things that you know are wrong. Always have that conscience kick in, that sense of shame.

One thing that kept me straight coming up was I had this sense of shame that my parents drilled into me. Don't do those things that are wrong because those things will hurt you; but, more importantly, you'll shame yourself; and above all, don't you ever shame your family. So always have that little mental circuit breaker, that little light bulb that goes off when somebody is about to tempt you with something, say no, wrong, I'd shame myself, I'm going to do right. I'm going to build my reputation, I'm going to be a person of character, I'm going to be a person that when people look at they say, "That's a person with a reputation. That's a person of character."

You build that reputation, you build that character, one step at a time, and you can lose it all with one false act, one false move. The people behind you today are here, they left their work places, they left their offices, they left other things they might have been doing, because they believe in you, because they love you, because they want the very best for you, because they have the highest, highest expectations for you.

Your country needs you. Your country needs you to grow up to be strong and true, to be the next Secretary of State, the next very successful business person. We need you to show to the rest of the world what democracy is all about, what the free enterprise system can do, how America can take people from all over the world and become this single great nation and continue to move into the 21st century as an example to the rest of the world.

I need you in the State Department. I need you to think about Foreign Service. I want to see you come out of those colleges and say, "I want to be an Ambassador to a foreign country. I want to serve my country overseas." But wherever your path takes you, whether it's into the Foreign Service, whether it's into the military, whether it's into teaching, always, above all, believe in yourself. Believe to the depth of your heart that you can be anything you want to be as long as you're willing to dream big, have ambitions, do the right things in life, get all the education you can. And remember, remember above all, you live in a country that provides you such opportunities.

And so my simple message to these young people today is go forth from here up to the next step on the staircase of your education; take with you the love and the investment that has been made in your by your teachers, by your family members, by these gentlemen on the stage and ladies and gentlemen throughout the community that have contributed to your education. And above all, let your dreams be your only limitation, never be afraid of failure, and make us proud of you. And I know that you will do that.

God bless you. Best of luck in the next phase of your lives. Thank you very much. (Applause.)