Back when she was our beloved FLOTUS, Michelle Obama made a point of visiting with UK pupils from Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in Islington and Mulberry School for Girls in Tower Hamlets.

Since then, she has stayed in touch with the young women, escorting them on a visit to Oxford University in 201, and even welcoming several of them to the White House in 2012.

And, earlier this week, she reconnected with those same pupils via Zoom – almost a decade after their first meeting.

During the hour-long conversation, Obama advised that the schoolgirls try to view the Covid-19 pandemic as a “great blessing,” because it has provided them with the opportunity to learn about how to navigate through life and “things that you’re not necessarily prepared for.”

“I would view this as a great blessing to all of you, right,” she said. “Because right now you’re learning how to get through something hard and uncomfortable and unpredictable.

“And as I’ve told my girls, that’s what life is. No matter how high you get or how smart you are, or how successful, life will throw you things that you’re not necessarily prepared for. And if you know how to get yourself through it you will succeed.”

As per the BBC, Obama continued: “”Conversations like these keep me optimistic. Meeting all of you, watching your growth.

“You all give me hope.”

Jo Dibb, executive headteacher at EGA, told The Times that she was glad that Obama had offered her pupils a “really positive way of looking at things.”

“If we just spend our time just blaming everything and making excuses and thinking, ‘Well, I don’t have to do well at school because there’s a pandemic’, then we’ve lost anyway, so I think that’s such great advice,” she said.

However, while Obama has urged us to try and reframe the pandemic in a positive light, it’s important to note that our forever First Lady is still urging her social media followers to go for their vaccine.

“When you can get the Covid-19 vaccine, I hope you do,” she said in an Instagram post. “Barack and I are certainly glad we did. 

“It’s our best shot at beating this virus, looking out for one another, and getting back to some of the things we miss. Getting vaccinated will save lives… and that life could be yours.”

Images: Getty