Twelve high school girls in Washington, DC got the surprise of a lifetime on International Women's Day when Michelle Obama showed up unannounced.
The beloved former FLOTUS walked through the doors of Cardozo Education Campus on Wednesday to a classroom filled with 12 female students in a visit that came as a total surprise to everyone — even the school itself.
Principal Tanya Roane told the Washington Post Friday that the school district asked her to pick a group of 12 girls who would be representative of the school as a whole. But she was expecting DC Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson to be the one sitting down and chatting with students. Instead, Mrs. Obama walked in.
“We just happened to look up and in walked this tall, incredibly beautiful woman who certainly looked like Michelle Obama but couldn’t have been Michelle Obama because Michelle Obama wouldn’t be in our school,” Roane told the Post. “We were simply elated and overwhelmed.”
Many of the girls started crying when they realized it was the former first lady walking in. Before long, Obama started giving out hugs and having one-on-one chats.
Ayanna Morgan, a 16-year-old student there, said Obama asked for a hug. And when Morgan said she wanted to go to community college and cosmetology school, and later transfer to Duke University, Obama gave her words of encouragement.
“It meant a lot for the most important person in my life to come here and say that,” Ayanna said. “I have always looked up to her. It was crazy.”
The school also has an academy for immigrant students, and later on Instagram, Obama applauded its diverse student body, saying it "tells the American story in so many ways."
"Celebrating the beauty and diversity of our country on this #InternationalWomensDay with some of the many fierce and promising girls here at DC's Cardozo Education Campus," she wrote.
"By embracing young immigrants and their diverse cultures and contributions, Cardozo is a model for our entire country," she added. "The girls I met with today are ready to take on the world. We’ve just got to make sure that the world is ready for them."
She'll always be in our hearts.
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