Life is the most exciting opportunity we have. But we have one shot. You graduate from college once, and that's it. You're going out of that nest. And you have to find that courage that's deep, deep, deep in there. Every step of the way.
Michael Sanchez and I grew up in New Jersey, not far from here, playing soccer together. When I was in high school, I worked to start an organization to help senior citizens, which I learned a great deal from.
I have amazing friends who have led inspirational lives.
Community service has taught me all kinds of skills and increased my confidence. You go out there and think on your feet, work with others and create something from nothing. That's what life's all about.
The biggest lesson from Africa was that life's joys come mostly from relationships and friendships, not from material things. I saw time and again how much fun Africans had with their families and friends and on the sports fields; they laughed all the time.
There are 80 million moms in the United States. Forty million stay at home with their children.
I can pretty much call anyone, whether at the White House, in a company or in the media. I have access, because of the silliness of the entertainment world and how people react to it. It gave me an enormous opportunity to do anything I really want to.
We started a movement... to build character, citizenship and confidence in young people.
With my new venture, Club Mom, we want to empower moms to feel their value and also build their collective power to make their lives better and easier. We want to bring them together as a community to share experiences and information.
The money was good while it lasted. The best part was clearly that it changed my view of what's possible, as far as thinking how you can have an impact on a national level.
When we're young we have a very clear vision of how life is supposed to be, and it all seems very neatly packaged.
It's easy to say young people should believe in themselves, but the number one thing is recognizing that it's a journey, that you have to build confidence in yourself.
If I want to continue to build the kind of effort we have with Do Something, being in a public office would help. I wouldn't rule it out, but it's not something I feel determined to do.
Teenagers too often have to deal with loss and death. You had to cope with the untimely death of your brother; how can young people deal with such tragedies?
When you start suppressing feelings at an early age, it hurts you down the road. Full expression of anger and pain is very important.
Try to have as diverse group of friends as possible and don't get into the the clique scenario.
The most important role models should and could be parents and teachers. But that said, once you're a teenager you've probably gotten as much of an example from your parents as you're going to.
People who dream of something bigger and better are good role models.
I was on Oprah's show recently talking about the people who impacted me the most. One was a teacher and one was my soccer coach. I didn't even go into my family, who had the most influence.
You need to make relationships to help you.
