I have been called an over-achiever for as long as I can remember, and that first memory would probably be sometime around second or third grade. Apparently, nothing has changed since then. I still secretly get excited when I get to pick classes for the next semester, take as many credits as I can possibly survive at the same time, hold a reputable GPA, and still sweat a little bit if I receive less than a B+ on an exam or an assignment. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama gave light to the fact that there are 62 million girls in the world who are not able to receive an education. That number is astonishing. I thought about the fact that I not only am able to receive an education in the country I live in but actually have the freedom of choosing whether or not I want to further my education after high school. I cannot imagine living in a place that I am constricted of that.

Obama was speaking about this statistic as part of the Let Girls Learn campaign. This campaign's goal is to provide an opportunity to give all girls an education. Obama says that educating girls is going to be part of the way to end global poverty.

The First Lady then went on to say something that made me laugh but also make me react like Meryl Streep and J-Lo at the Oscars in 2014.

“There is no boy at this age that is cute enough or interesting enough to stop you from getting your education,” says Obama. “If I had worried about who liked me and who thought I was cute when I was your age, I wouldn’t be married to the president of the United States.”

I remember a time in sixth grade when a boy I thought was cute called me an over-achiever for getting a 100% on my Spanish test. When you're in sixth grade, your self-confidence is not at your all time high so I actually got really embarrassed by this and the next few Spanish tests I purposely wrote the wrong answers on a few questions so he wouldn't make fun of me. Michelle, where was your advice nine years ago?

Anyway, this just proves that my education was always something that was important to me and when I hear people complaining about school often times it makes me very frustrated. I understand that school is not everyone's favorite thing or strong suit but we need to recognize the fact that we are lucky to have the option of educating ourselves.

I feel that there are many lazy students nowadays. Lots of students stop coming to class about five weeks into the semester and after that I only see them on exam days. They complain about having homework. And how dare a teacher assign a project! What could that possibly do to benefit us?

Then there is the argument that one learns more from outside experience than from inside a classroom. I definitely do not disagree with that statement, but I do believe in-class experiences and reading books will teach you a great deal as well. Before I had to take my Humanities gen-ed class last fall, I questioned why I had to take it. And thankfully, I had one of the best teachers I've ever had in my college career for that class who made it so interesting and relatable to the college age group. The first day of class she answered that very question.

She said the reason why were required to take Humanities was because the stories we read in that class such as "The Iliad," "Dante's Inferno," "Antigone," and excerpts from the Bible, all were stories that were bases for the future of literature, or are made reference to countless times in history. Not only this, but these old stories give us a framework for understanding the world's history.

For example, there is a strong theme of the social roles of men versus women in Antigone. Is this not a strong theme in the world right at this very moment? Just saying.

Simply, even in-class experiences matter just as much as what happens outside the classroom. Never be afraid or ever turn down the opportunity because it simply just makes you a more worldly person. It helps you understand the context of what's around you.

So girls especially, next time you're sitting in class scrolling through Twitter rather than paying attention to the instructor you are paying to teach you, please consider how grateful you should be that you are getting an education. Think of those 62 million girls who would do anything to be sitting at your desk.

My education has and always will be important to me. Especially as a female, I am even more grateful to have the one that I do and I am going to use it to the best of my ability. So for this reason, I'm going to keep achieving all that I can. The only person who can stop me is me.