WASHINGTON, D.C. – First lady Michelle Obama hosted about 140 college bound students at the White House recently for the “2015 Beating the Odds Summit” to offer her opinions about higher education.

Michelle Obama flew dozens of students and their chaperones, many of which were illegal immigrants, to the White House to hear from a panel of speakers including E! News reporter Terrence Jenkins, Brown University student Manuel Contreras, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and rapper Wale, a three-time college dropout, according to media reports.

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Wale, who posted images of his visit to social media, including an Instagram shot posing with President Obama, told students his experience of repeatedly dropping out of college allowed him to “take the training wheels off” and “have more time to figure out what I wanted to do,” HotNewHipHop.com reports.

The Hill reports Wale “attended college at Virginia State, Bowie State and Robert Morris, but dropped out before earning a degree.”

The goal of the Beating the Odds Summit was to “focus on sharing tools and strategies students can use to successfully transition to college and the resources they will need to complete the next level of their education,” according to BET.

Michelle Obama told students “education should be cool again,” and encouraged them not to “be afraid of hard work,” USA Today reports.

“Hard work is the core of everything, and if it’s too easy, then you’re probably not working hard enough,” she said.

Gaining a degree is worth it, though, she said.

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“That’s why I’m sitting on this panel with all these handsome men. Right, ladies?!” she joked, according to E! News. “If this is what education is about …”

The first lady’s guiding message, however, seemed to be that students can’t make it through college on their own. Students must always rely on other people for help, like she does, Michelle Obama said.

“You cannot live in isolation when you go to college,” Obama said. “The kids who didn’t make it from my school or graduated later usually were the ones that I didn’t see. They just disappeared and they tried to fix the stuff themselves without having conversations.”

“You cannot do this alone and you’re not supposed to do it alone. You have to get into the habit forever and ever and ever of asking for help,” she continued, adding that she relies on her mother to help out.

“I have a team of people,” Michelle Obama said. “I have my mother living here. Some days I’m just like, ‘Mom, help me! Help me!”

Students also heard from President Obama, himself.

The president reminded students of the obstacles they face – racism, sexism, and other oppression – but said America a country where they can overcome them, USA Today reports.

“Even though those are real problems,” he said, “this is still a nation of opportunity.”

That message wasn’t lost on Henry Santana, a 19-year-old illegal immigrant who was mesmerized by the president.

Santana, who got to shake Obama’s hand, will attend Lasell College in Massachusetts this fall.

“I’m kind of speechless right now,” Santana told USA Today. “I remember when I was in seventh grade looking up to him. This is unreal.”