DJ COMMUNITY

Obama offers surprise face time to Memphis high school seniors

AP110516021448

President Obama opened up to Booker T. Washington high school students Monday about his personal life, telling the Memphis, Tenn,. area graduates that education was the key to his own success.

"I'm standing here as president because of the education that I received," he said during their commencement address. The 150 students who made up the high school's graduating class are all black and go to school in the impoverished area known as South Memphis

"My father left my family when I was 2 years old and I was raised by a single mom--sometimes she struggled to provide for me and my sister," Obama said. "But my mother and my grandparents pushed me to excel ... they kept pushing me, especially on those rare occasions where I'd slack off or get into trouble ... I'm so blessed that they kept pushing."