President Barack Obama is taking to the nation’s airwaves once again, this time to tell America’s schoolchildren that nothing is beyond their reach as long as they dream big, work hard, and focus on learning, reports the Associated Press. Obama will make that point Sept. 14 at a Philadelphia school when he delivers his second back-to-school pep talk. “Nobody gets to write your destiny but you,” Obama says in the speech, which the White House released a day early so people could read the remarks beforehand and judge the contents for themselves. After the White House announced last year’s speech, some conservatives accused Obama of trying to foist a political agenda on children. A similar outcry is largely missing this year. In his speech, the president urges students to stay in school, study hard, and take responsibility for their education. Obama long has said an educated work force will help the U.S. compete globally in the 21st century. He’ll hit that note again, telling students that nothing will affect their success in life as much as their education. “The kinds of opportunities that are open to you will be determined by how far you go in school,” Obama says. “In other words, the farther you go in school, the farther you’ll go in life.”
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