Nick Cannon Talks Going Back to School With Michelle Obama and Seth Meyers at Howard University

— -- Nick Cannon opened up about the real reason why he decided to enroll at Howard University this year at a back-to-school event with First Lady Michelle Obama and host Seth Meyers.

"Honestly I’m not here for a degree," Cannon admitted. "I’m here because I have a real thirst for knowledge. I feel like that’s why we’re all here in this room."

The event at Howard University this afternoon was to support the First Lady’s Reach Higher initiative and "Better Make Room" campaign.

Mrs. Obama echoed Cannon’s sentiment about the importance of education, explaining, "College was probably the most impactful thing that I’ve done in my life, other than being First Lady and having kids and marrying Barack Obama. But college did everything for me."

"This is one of the reasons why we promote Reach Higher in getting kids to own their future and go to college if possible," she said. "Because it changes your life. It opens up a world of opportunity."

Cannon, now a freshman, also took time to call out his brother for not spending time with him on campus. "I got my brother here, he’s a junior. But he doesn’t wanna hang out with me because I’m a freshman!"

"He’s embarrassed by you," Mrs. Obama replied. "You’re just a young freshman."

The First Lady later shared what she was like as a freshman in college, saying, "My friends would say I was funny, kinda silly. You may have noticed that over the last eight years, that I can be a little silly. But I took my education pretty seriously. I knew how much it was costing my parents to send me. I knew my father had taken out a loan, he was a blue collar worker. I knew I had to get it together and make sure I was doing my best."

But she also had some time for fun. "I was still somebody who liked to have fun and go to the occasional party or two or three," she said.

"Turn up!" Cannon chimed in.

When Mrs. Obama took questions from the audience, she urged students to ignore people who doubt them and their academic pursuits, "Just brush it off and just do the work. It’s the doing of the work that just gets you through. It’s not what other people think of you."

"I still carry that with me today as First Lady of the United States," she added, "because there are people who don’t think I should be doing that either. And it’s been eight years."

Mrs. Obama also stressed the importance of a strong work ethic during internships, saying that her key assistants started out as interns. "The people who are my key personal assistants as First Lady now, who are paid to do that work, they were interns first. They were interns in the White House. Because they were good, they got noticed and they came up. And now they spend 24-7 with me, they tell me what to do –- when to drink, when I can stand, when I can leave."

"And they’re young, too, so my life is controlled by 20-something year olds," she joked. "It’s really annoying."

Mrs. Obama also touched on her daughter, Malia’s, gap year and empathized with parents of college students. "I have a young person heading off to a gap year because she’s not going to college. So I’m feeling your parents’ pain."

In October 2015, the First Lady launched the "Better Make Room" campaign, as part of her "Reach Higher" initiative, as a way to connect students with resources they need to continue their education past high school.

By leveraging social media tools, like text message updates and viral videos, "Better Make Room" aims to raise awareness about higher education opportunities, while also celebrating student stories "in the same way that we often celebrate celebrities and athletes," according to a White House press release.