such models as appear in books or on the news, however unspiring or revered -- inspiring or revered, are ultimately too remote to be true. let alone influential. but a role model in a flesh provides more than an i inspiration. his or her very existence is confirmation of possibilities one might have every reason to doubt. saying, yes, someone like me can do this. and so it was my hope that every child and, frankly, every adult who read this book at the end would say what i said during my con fur mission -- not my confirmation, my nomination speech. yes, she's an ordinary person just like me. and if that ordinary person can do it, so can i. and that's what i tried -- [applause] to do in the stories of of this book. to tell you my experiences and my feelings as i perceived them at the time. and you'll find me talking in the child of this little sonia and then give you the reflections of the adult sonia. wasn't so easy to do, to put myself back in time and to tell you what i was feeling. but i did it for a purpose, and that purpose was to tell you what i've learned from those experience

and many people believe that it was reading that headline that unspired him -- inspired him to give the vast majority of his fortune to start the foundation that now gives out the nobel prizes, among them the nobel peace prize. i've thought a lot about mission and what is mine and how do i make the most of my time here, and i think that, um, so that you can hold me accountable, it's worth sharing what i have thought about. i'm a christian, so i think my mission here is to reflect great credit on my faith, on my family and on my family name through my life and power, through my life and action, the nobility and power of my belief system. that is what does it for me. i encourage each one of you about what is it that you want to be known for, what mission are you on, what are you pursuing with your time and with your treasure, and when all is said and done, what is it you want written on your tombstone when you are laid into the ground? >> the final thing that the marines taught us was that there's a leadership model that works in all contexts. it works when life is on the line, it works w

last but not least, we have to instill confidence and unspire people. inspire people. we face some serious, daunting problems in our country. the pundits of doom and gloom will tell you that everything is lost, the economy is broken beyond repair, people are powerless to improve their communities. this nation, this great nation is a nation in decline, and our best days are behind us, not ahead of us. that's what they'll tell you, that everything's over. and if you listen to the constant drum beats of the negative, you would all believe that, you know, maybe they're right. even the most positive among us sometimes will have a hard time waking up in the morning. how many of you felt really depressed november 7th? yeah, right? so what do we do? i am here to tell you that there is cause for confidence. confidence many some of our leader -- in some of our leaders that are out there in the battle trying. confidence that we can improve our communities, improve the places that we live in, fix the economy, improve this nation. for crying out loud, this is the united states of a