Obama to teen: Don’t be afraid of mistakes

President Obama offered some life advice to an 18-year-old participant in his My Brother’s Keeper initiative in an interview airing Friday, the one-year anniversary of the program’s launch.

“Well, look, listen. At the age of 18, I didn’t know what I was going to be doing with my life,” Obama said in an interview with Noah McQueen being broadcast on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” on Friday. “And you shouldn’t feel like you can’t make mistakes at this point. You’re 18 years old, I promise you you’re gonna make some more as you go along.

{mosads}”But one of the things you’ve discovered is that you have this strength inside yourself,” the president added. “And if you stay true to that voice that clearly knows what’s right and what’s wrong, sometimes you’re going to mess up, but you can steer back and keep going.”

McQueen had a rocky childhood, he said, including being briefly incarcerated and moving around to several different middle schools.

Obama also briefly reflected on what it was like for him to grow up without a present father.

“Well, that’s one of the things we have in common,” Obama says. “As I get older, I start reflecting on how that affected me.”

The interview was recorded by StoryCorps, a nonprofit that has people sit down with friends and others to share their stories.

The My Brother’s Keeper program is aimed at closing the achievement gap for young men of color. Launched on Feb. 27, 2014, the program connects young men with mentors and tries to marshal the resources of private companies to help boost education achievement.