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Time for ten minutes of commercial free current events. I`m Carl Azuz. Welcome to CNN STUDENT
NEWS.
U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama has gotten a lot of attention over the years for her
efforts to fight childhood obesity in America. She promotes another cause involving young
people. She wants them to study abroad. Right now she`s in China where she discussed exchange
programs yesterday with Chinese and international students. But she recently sat down with CNN
I-Report to answer some viewers` questions about studying abroad.
Hi. I`m First Lady Michelle Obama and I`m here to answer your I-Report questions.
Hi, Mrs. Obama. My name is Willie James. I`m from Atlanta, Georgia. And I studied abroad
in Kyoto, Japan, for one year, back in 2008-2009. My question to you is what advice would you
give to young American students going abroad for the first time?
Number one, be open. Try to enter the experience with no preconceived notions about the country
you`re going to or the people in that country. You`ve got to try to shake the fear. You know,
you can`t approach this opportunities thinking that everything is going to feel good and
comfortable and you`ll get everything right. You probably are going to make a lot of mistakes,
but you know what, that`s life.
In other parts of the world that you go to, they will appreciate your effort, your energy
as long as you come into the experience respecting the people and the culture that you`re coming
for you is where did you receive your first passport stamp and how that experience impact
the person that you are today?
Our sophomore class had an opportunity to spend a week for break in France, and initially,
I was nervous about taking that week. I didn`t want to ask my father to pay for that trip.
It felt like an extravagance. And I remember breaking down in tears feeling guilty about
even asking him if I could go. He wanted me to have all the experiences that he didn`t`
have. And he didn`t blink an eye in paying for that trip.
So, I got on a plane with some of my classmates and we stayed in a youth hostel and spoke
a lot of bad French and learned a lot.
You heard the First Lady mention cost there, and while studying abroad can unlock a lot
of cultural and educational doors for students, it`s usually done at an additional fee, and
not everyone can afford it. Student loans might help, but as things stand now, the average
debt for college graduates who got student loans is more than $27,000.