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By Mail Foreign Service
Mmmm sure is warm in here ....As President Obama addresses the students one of their number drifts away in the back rowMaybe it was a little hot in there or just maybe the famed oratory of President Barack Obama just didn't work its magic for him.
For one teenager listening to the leader of the free world on a surprise visit to his school was unable to keep his eyes shut and nodded of.
It took place as the President recalled the errors of his youth and urged students graduating from a high school in Michigan to work hard and spurn the instant gratification offered by technology and reality TV.
'I partied a little too much - this is a cautionary tale, don't be cheering - and studied just enough to get by, thinking that hard work and responsibility, that's old-fashioned,' he told Kalamazoo Central High School's graduation class.
'After I realised I was living solely for my own entertainment ... I didn't seem to be making much of a ripple, I started to change my tune. I realise that by refusing to apply myself, there was nothing I could point to that I was proud of,' he said.
Kalamazoo Central beat around 1,000 other U.S. high schools in a national competition to win the honour of hosting the president at its ceremony on Monday.
Oops, did I yawn? It is getting a little warm in here ... and this speech is going on and on....
..... what was that he said? .... I'll just keep my eyes closed for a little while... I'm sure no-one will notice...
... I can feel myself drifting away .... too late, I'm goneAround half of the school's students come from low income families. The White House said it was chosen for making significant academic progress while winning community backing.
Obama wants to reward top schools, encourage under-performing institutions to do better and provide more support for teachers.
He acknowledged that graduates today face distractions his generation did not have.
'You all were raised with cell phones and iPods; texting and email; able to call up a fact, a song, a friend with the click of a button - so you're used to instant gratification. But meaningful achievement, lasting success - that doesn't happen in an instant,' he said.
Obama has asked Congress to implement a major overhaul U.S. elementary and secondary schools in an effort to boost standards and redo the 'No Child Left Behind' law of his predecessor George W. Bush.
U.S. students have slipped in international tables of accomplishment, particularly in maths and science, which could hold back U.S. businesses in the future.
'We have to educate our way to a better economy. We have to get dramatically better," Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters on a conference call before the president's visit.
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