Thank you so much for inviting me to be with you tonight.

I'd like to congratulate the class of 2007 on your accomplishments. I want to thank Laura Drain for the invitation to speak tonight; I am honored to have the opportunity to address our country's future Latina leaders.

As you continue throughout your educational endeavors, many things will be asked of you: your time, your commitment, and your perseverance. But along the way, there are things you should be asking yourself:

What kind of job opportunities do I want for myself?

How can I best achieve my potential?

There can be no doubt that the more education you have under your belt, the more options you'll have when it comes to a career. "Stay in school" isn't something we say because people in the education community need a job. We say it because YOU need a job.

Whether you want to be an engineer, FBI agent, architect, doctor, lawyer, pastor, professor, state superintendent of education...Odds are that your dream job requires AT LEAST a bachelor's degree.

But your quest to earn a college degree will not come without compensation for your hard work. What would you do with a million dollars? What would you do with two or three million? Buy an enormous house? Travel around the world? Donate to a charity? Maybe start a scholarship fund to help other young Latinas attend college.

We have all day dreamed about what we would do if we won the jackpot in the DC lottery. Getting an education can LITERALLY make those dreams come true.

Did you know that, in their lifetime, the average person with a bachelor's degree earns $1 million dollars more than someone with only a high school diploma? A person with a master's degree will earn $2.5 million in their lifetime. A PhD will earn you $3.4 million. And those of you who want to be doctors, lawyers, judges, veterinarians? You are looking at $4.4 million!

Of course, earning money is not the only reason to get a degree. A college education will increase your ability to understand developments in society, to express your thoughts clearly, and to make wise decisions for yourself, your family, and your community.

You are in position to make history. Although Hispanic women have been nominated, they have never won an Academy Award for Best Actress. We have six Hispanic Congresswomen, but no Hispanic women in the Senate. Maria Echaveste became the highest ranking Latina in the White House in history when she became President Clinton's deputy chief of staff, no woman, Latina or otherwise, has sat behind the desk in the oval office. Yet.