"America has no better ambassadors to offer than our young people." President Barack Obama said these words two years ago to address a group of people at a town hall meeting in Shanghai, China.

The first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, took that message home to the hearts of young people from around the world at Howard University on Jan. 19, 2011.

Ryan Hamilton/The Hilltop

Michelle Obama at Howard

The first lady addressed a packed Cramton auditorium to announce President Obama' s 100,000 Strong Initiative to increase the number and diversity of American students studying abroad, specifically in China. This announcement comes a day after the arrival of President Hu Jintao of China in Washington, D.C. for his nation' s state visit.

Anne Stock, the assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, spoke on the importance of the message and the event. "

[An arrival ceremony had just been held] for the China state visit in the White House and then Michelle Obama wanted to send that message to a wider audience," said Stock. " We are a very interconnected society and wewant to stress the importance of being global to our young people."

Stock said there are all kinds of resources and scholarships that can be found through The Department of State, colleges and the private sector that may be used to pursue these opportunities. "And we do not want our young people to be afraid to apply," she said.

The event featured a panel of college and high school students from around the country, including Howard University senior communications major Nicole Baden. Baden has had experiences studying in China and said it was life changing.

"You learn how challenging and interesting the Chinese language can be to learn, but you also gain a sense of the similarities that you have with people abroad," Baden said.

She spoke on how even though the Chinese government was strict, youth in the country enjoyed various freedoms we do in America.

"They are students and young people just like we are," Baden said. "After school we went to the movies and experienced nightlife just like anywhere else."

Other students including Lyric Carter of Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School, Valery Lavigne of The College of New Jersey and David Marzban of Pepperdine University, spoke about their experiences as well.

"After graduation - in the short term - I would like to return to China to teach English, but I do plan on attending law school and I believe that my experiences will lead to great opportunities in the future," said Marzban.

Each of the panelists spoke of the importance of being immersed in the culture and that their experiences made them want to go back to China in the future to teach and even live.

Various members of the audience also took advantage of the opportunities to study in China. Two Fulbright Scholars, Yilin Zhang from Michigan and Willa Dong of Gaithersburg, MD, both spent 10 months in China studying in Shanghai and Beijing.

Sarah Davis, a 7th grade student at Tyee Middle School in Bellevue, WA, was the only student selected from her school to come to the event and was accompanied by her teacher, Rongfen Sun Burford.

"Out of all the languages Chinese is the most difficult and interesting," Davis said.

John Flower, director of the Chinese studies program and global initiatives for Sidwell Friends School, brought a group of students to the event as well.

"I hope to learn about the program and how it can help students, as well as the future of the partnership between the two countries," Flower said. " We' re honored to be here."

Howard University also cited some of its plans to send students abroad going forward. "We are working to expand our University and expose our students to more opportunities," said President Sidney A. Ribeau. "Last year, we had 17 MBA students spend two months studying in China."

Dean of the School of Communications Dr. Jannette L. Dates, also spoke on how the Annenberg Honors Program plans to develop an international study component.

"After speaking to President Ribeau backstage on how Howard plans to send more students abroad, it's really a win-win situation for everyone that gets involved with the initiative," Stock said.

Michael Tomlin-Crutchfield writes for The Hilltop, the Howard University student newspaper, which originally published this article.