the four senior students in colleges. it was actually difficult for me to even enter that competition for i felt that, you know, i don't have my writing skill isn't that much to compete with american students and write a proposal, but i ended up one of the two students who got the award. and then with the assistance of the global partnership, i was able to get some kind of exposure to organizations that really care about women's education in afghanistan and then an award that helped me basically find a building for the school. and then later on i started writing grant proposals, national endowment for democracy. so it all actually made a difference. and it happened while i was in

senior year. yes, i worked hard trying to meet the deadlines and that was the important thing, but in the end, i graduated not only with a degree from this prestigious college that i love and miss so much, but also enough fundings to start the women's college. and i realize that don't intimidate. just do. and there's always time to work and make a change. >> that's great. >> education allows younger people to learn, earn, and return. what ideas do you have about how every college and university in america -- first of all, we all know they have vigorous

community service programs now. a lot of schools do this. but not every school has integrated this as part of the core mission of the university the way you have. is there some way we could accelerate that and increase the number of young people around the country who do this. in other words, instead of doing what i do bringing people here and getting them to go home and infect others in a positive way, is there some way to work from the base of the colleges out and get more people who run universities and colleges to institutionalize this sort of thing? >> first of all, i think it's important to recognize a lot of the imto us to is coming from our students. it's our students that are pushing universities in this direction. it it goes back to that sense that i was talking about earlier when this generation of students

really wants to make a difference and really wanted to make a connection between what they are doing in the classroom and what they are doing in the real world. what was impressive about what we just heard, an extraordinary story, in the way she was thinking about how her leadership skills that she was developing in her college conspiracy were going to be translated to real action. so it's that thought process early on. it's like we're getting students thinking about their careers early on. trying to think about the experience. the service learning in many are resistant to that. they are trying to reduce the seriousness of the classroom or replace it with something not as academic. but we're finding as more students make these connections, it's becoming somewhat contagious. they are starting ing ting t i

skills. we're starting to do that more systemically. we have a long way to go, but i have seen a tremendous change in the attitudes of my colleagues just in the last few years in being responsive to that kind of initiative from our students. >> thank you. very briefly, when i set up my presidential library in arkansas, the university of arkansas agreed to establish a graduate school for me that is a school of public service. and there are about 46 such institutions around the world, but ours is the only one that gives you a degree in public service. we have half the time spent in the field doing projects. there are people there from -- we had an older student nontraditional student about 45

years old from thailand come back because he wanted to know dpsh he was happy to do the academic work, but he wanted to know how to get the show on the road. so i think time is on your side. madelyn. a couple questions that i particularly like. as students, and this is partly what she was talking about with her father, how do we get older generations involved in our work so that we can motivate more young people? in other words, not that you and i do what we're doing, but how do we help them more? >> i really do think that cross generational partnerships are very important. i do think young people motivate people our age. i've just been listening to this

and i'm blown away. one of the things you were comparing classes from before i taught at georgetown in the '80s. i was asked by the president when there was a reunion class. how did the students of the '80s compare with the students today? i said the students in the '80s were interested in their retirement programs. and there was booing. i thought i'm addressing the students of the '80s. but what i find is the motivation that the young people have for what we're doing. and i think that what is useful, for instance there are many programs where older people are going abroad and working with young people so that some of the experiences of being older are then match ed. and then i do think that there's a great opportunity for cross mentorship. it isn't always that the older people mentor the younger ones. but in terms of the enthusiasm that the younger students have. i also think, if i might speak

for wellsly, which also trains young women, i think that what is very important is to look at how to do interdisciplinary training. we have a tendency to think one discipline may be the best for operating in public service. it's across the board. you need people that understand health and understand music and understand biology and religion and work people together. and i do think that older people can have a great partnership with younger people. and i've been to your school. it's fantastic in terms of people being motivated. i also do think to have the possibility of understanding that you learn best by doing. that it is a great way to get credit for more than just sitting in the library. or really understanding the

practical aspect and what i believe so fully is i believe in democracy, but democracy has to deliver. people want to be able to work and to understand what they are doing and give back. and i think the most exciting thing about everything that you're doing and all these it young people are doing is understanding that giving back is the way to make the world work better. >> go ahead. >> i just want to add something. most of the times, students when we're in student mode so we have this plan that i'm done with my college. now the next thing is grad school. i will do my ph.d. as well. then i have great plans to change the world. i think that would be too late if we're thinking of getting education ourselves up to ph.d. and then going out to the world and saying i'm here and i want to make a change.

when i graduated, i was offered a scholarship by georgetown university. and i dared to ignore and i dared to say no. i really wanted to go back to home because i had done fundraising. i knew my plan. and i wanted to implement. i wanted to deliver before i take more. and i did it in two years of time it worked. and then what happened? so i went home. i established the school. then i wanted to be not the sole implementer, but to make sure everything is okay and functioning the way it should. but then our government of higher education said i'm not qualified enough to do so. why? i'm not 35 years old and i don't have masters. so in a way, i had to leave the country back because they still

do not offer masters degrees. now it's the open society institute based in new york and also the university of onawa that is investigating to me to make sure i'm qualified enough to go back and work for the university. >> that's good. most of the people i work with, not all, but most, the vast majority are 30 years younger than i am or more. and you know, i like it. a lot. but one of the things that happens to people is just naturally most people spend time with people that are more or less than their age group. and i think to give a serious answer to the question that was asked, my view is that all of you know you would like some

older people because they can help you raise money or they have experience or they have time. you might try asking. i mean it may be as simple as that. there are a lot of older people who want to feel like their life has meaning all the way to the very end. all the way to the very end. their idea of retirement may mean they don't do the job they used to do anymore, but they want to be useful. and if you are really serious about this, you would be shocked at the number of older people who would tell you yes if you asked for help or guidance or support or involvement. because a lot of times once your hair gets gray, you think nobody wants you around anymore. it's a big deal. and i think, you know, the baby boom generation in the united states and many other countries cannot afford to be mentally or physically as rapidly declining as previous generation of

seniors. otherwise because we're so large we'll really cramp your style financially and that of our grandchildren. so i think you would be doing good thing as a society as a whole by getting more older people involved in whatever your endeavor is. now we're out of time, but i cannot resist this. first, i'll ask one more serious question and then i'll ask this unbelievable question we got. first a serious question. was asked of madelyn, but anybody can answer it, how can women like me who want to help women in haiti and other places across the world actually do that? in other words, i'm one person out here following this. i want to help women in haiti and other places. where should i start if you have never done it. what's your advice?

>> well, i do think you have been doing an amazing amount of work in haiti and are able to get money and support into a variety of areas. so it's important to get with somebody that's doing something. various people that have a project. or for instance, the national democratic institute. we have been in haiti trying to figure out how to help people be able to identify their needs and work with them. i think that there are organizations that are the best way to do this. i also do think one can go there and be helpful, but the best thing i would say is to get involved with an organization that can direct because the individual can help the organization and the organization can help them. and then talking about it. you know what i think the problem is, americans are the most generous people in the world with the shortest attention span. so what we have to do, a lot of people have forgotten about

haiti. it was very much in the news all the time and now people have forgotten and things are still not good there. and they need to operate through your kind of an organization. >> haiti has second only to india, the largest number of ngos operating there per capita of any country in the world. next only to india. it's much smaller, but there are a couple thousand that operate there. and a few hundred seriously and deeply. so my recommendation is that you first of all figure out exactly what you want to do. if there's an organization you know about, go to that organization's skbbs see if they work a place you want. and then give them time or money. or you can go to my foundation's website and track it to haiti and see what kind of things are going on in haiti. right across the board, you can

find an ngo to work with that fits what you care about. we have lists of a lot of them. you can follow it through. but it's the simplest way to start. i'm going to ask this question. it's from twitter. usher, what inspires you to do service? singing the answer is encouraged. >> you guys just won't be happy until i do a concert huh?

i didn't say no. truly the evidence that by applying these pillars that i created that we have spoken about on the panel the entire night to engage youth at a very young age to support those who are in need for you to be engaged and ask or accept the help, all of those things leads me to do the work that i have been able to do. it is simply the evidence that it's a reality. the very students that i was able to meet when i first started and now in college, they have now tracked a career. they have identified a talent and are continuing to give back to the community. i have been able to take youth

as far as kenya. she went actually. and actually be able to go all over the world and make a difference by identifying the similarities between the issues that are in our communities. not isolated by the differences. so that is the thing that motivates me. now you want me to sing it. here we go. you guys can probably help me with this one. ♪ ♪ i believe the children are our future ♪ ♪ teach them well and let them lead the way ♪ ♪ show them all the beauty they possess inside ♪ ♪ give them a sense of pride ♪ to make it easier ♪ let the children's laughter

♪ remind us how we used to be ♪ everybody's searching for a hero ♪ ♪ people need someone to look up to ♪ ♪ i never found anyone to fulfill my needs ♪ ♪ a lonely place to be ♪ so i learn to depend on me ♪ i decide d -- ♪ ♪ because the greatest love of all ♪ ♪ is happening to me

♪ i found the greatest ♪ love of all inside of me plz [ applause ] >> thank you very much. thank you.

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