Former President Barack Obama posted a video Wednesday of his visit with some Chicago high schoolers, gushing about their coding for “some pretty cool apps.”
In the video of his visit earlier this week, Obama is applauded as he shakes hands with the youngsters — and takes a seat among the students as one gives a presentation about a local coding program.
“Yesterday I met with high school students on Chicago’s Southwest side who spent the summer learning to code some pretty cool apps,” Obama said in a tweet alongside the video. “Michelle and I are proud to support programs that invest in local youth and we’re proud of these young people.”
The youngsters enjoyed the visit too.
“This program specifically helped me because I’m not that afraid of going up [to speak publicly] anymore,” one said. “I might stutter but I have a little bit more confidence now.”
“You were smooth up there,” Obama replied.
“I think it’s a useful lesson for all of you is just don’t be afraid to try stuff, because we hold ourselves back a lot by thinking ‘I don’t know if I can pull this off,’” Obama told the students. “‘I don’t want to be embarrassed, I don’t want to seem foolish, you know I don’t want somebody laughing at me, or saying I don’t belong.’”
"You can pull it off," Obama added.
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