First lady Michelle Obama talks about family, service at UNI

CEDAR FALLS - Whether they're looking for a job in Des Moines or New Delhi, University of Northern Iowa graduates have been given the values and the skills to make their impact on the world, first lady Michelle Obama said Saturday during spring commencement.

“The values you've learned here - commitment to family, openness to diversity, willingness to serve community and country, the courage to follow your passion - these are the keys to success in any field,” Obama told the nearly 17,000 gathered in the UNI-Dome who gave her a warm welcome.

The first lady received loud cheers and a standing ovation when she first took the stage and again before her speech. She also helped pass out service awards to UNI graduates.

The first lady told graduates to value the power of family, hold highly the concept of service to others and be open to new people and experiences.

She said Iowans have exemplified service and connection to community, pitching in to sandbag in the 2008 flood and helping with clean-up after the deadly Parkersburg tornado.

In a speech that referenced the State Fair butter sculpture and the UNI interlude dance and namechecked former UNI basketball star Ali Farokhmanesh, Obama recalled how Iowans welcomed her and her family into their homes on the campaign trail for the 2008 election.

She admitted to being nervous when she first started visiting the state, wondering how people would interact with strangers who may have different backgrounds and upbringings. But what she realized was that “these folks weren't strangers at all.”

“But the more that I shared my story with all of you and you shared your stories with me, the more I realized that what truly connects us is our shared values, in the end there is so much more that unites us than divides us,” Obama said.

Iowa has become important to her personal journey, Obama said, and she oftens feels that she's spent more time in the state than she has anywhere else except for Illinois and Washington D.C.

Iowans understand the power of family, and how family sustains you like nothing else will, Obama said. Service to others also is woven through the state and UNI, the first lady said.

Serving others keeps everything else in perspective, Obama said. It's also what connects us to our neighbors, communities and country, she said.

Service includes the people who serve the country in a military uniform, Obama said, and she noted the four UNI graduates who were commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army Saturday morning. She said that kind of service was evident in the past week, in the group of soldiers involved with the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, a statement that drew applause from the crowd.

“They did not hesitate, risking everything for us, for our freedom and security,” she said. “Their families were back here, with no idea of their mission or whether their loved one would ever come home. Now that's the very essence of the word ‘service.'”

Helping military families is a passion of the first lady's, and she said finding a passion through work or volunteering is important throughout life. Obama spoke of how she quit her job with a Chicago law firm because she felt she was losing her connection with the community. She went to work for city government and eventually started a nonprofit to help young people pursue careers in public service.

“I found that I would wake up every day with excitement, with a sense of purpose and possibility, because I was finally doing something that made me feel fully alive,” the first lady said. “And graduates, that's what I wish for all of you today - for you to find that career, that calling, that makes you feel alive.”