When he addressed the graduating class of Joplin High School, President Barack Obama says they are a “source of inspiration” to him and the nation.
Obama says the story of Joplin, Mo., is one of a community coming together in response to tragedy.
“You are from Joplin. And you are from America,” Obama said. “You will not be defined by the difficulties you face, but how you respond — with strength, and grace, and a commitment to others.”
The president was speaking on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the tornado that killed 161 people. Joplin High School was destroyed and the students spent their senior year taking classes in a converted department store.
Obama says the graduating class can use it as a lesson that, in his words, “we can define our own lives not by what happens to us, but by how we respond.”
He said that in the town of 50,000 people, nearly 50,000 more came to help after the tornado.
“There are so many good people in the world,” he said. “There is such a decency, a bigness of spirit, in this country of ours. So class of 2012, you’ve got to remember that.”
Declaring that they had “already defied the odds,” he urged the graduating seniors of Joplin High School to hold close the lessons they learned in overcoming adversity as they enter the next phase of their lives.
“You’ve learned at a younger age than most that you can’t always predict what life has in store,” Obama said. “No matter how we might try to avoid it, life surely can bring some heartache. And life involves struggle. And at some point, life will bring loss. America only succeeds if we all pitch in and pull together – and I’m counting on you to be leaders in that effort”
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
