First lady Michelle Obama’s 21-minute commencement speech left a clear message: Lead a rich life — and not just in the financial sense.

The first lady talked a lot about her childhood to approximately 33,000 individuals, the largest crowd ever for a graduation ceremony at Oregon State U., in Reser Stadium. She spoke of her upbringing and having to share a bedroom with her brother Craig Robinson, who is the Oregon State’s head basketball coach.

Through recalling some of her childhood memories, Obama painted a vivid picture of what she meant by “leading a rich life, no matter how much money you have.”

She recalled a moment when Robinson asked their father if they were rich. He responded to the question by cashing his paycheck and dumping all of the bills on the table, which Robinson thought was a demonstration that the answer to his question was “yes.”

But then their father began eliminating dollar after dollar for all of the necessary expenditures for the family until eventually, there was nothing left.

The first lady’s lesson to students was that success should be defined on their own terms, not someone else’s. Both siblings experienced a time in their lives when they had the economic status and careers they felt they needed, but didn’t truly feel rewarded.

Obama said they both ended up quitting their jobs. She started working for the mayor’s office, while Robinson started coaching basketball, and both took salary cuts that “made [their] mother cringe.”

Obama had three lessons for students. First, focus on what you have, not what you’re missing. Second, define success on your own terms. And third, do not leave behind unfinished business with the people you love, to which Obama said, “‘Liking’ them on Facebook doesn’t count.”

Robinson, who was involved in many of the stories told in Sunday’s speech, also talked about what it meant to have his sister here speaking to the university where he coaches.

“It’s exciting, as her brother, to be able to hear it, and hear her do such a wonderful job for our country publicly,” Robinson said.

He also talked about how she is able to give these kinds of inspirational speeches on a fairly regular basis.

“Good scrabble player,” he joked. “No – my sister has been very comfortable in front of large groups for a very long time. She picks and says the things she says for a reason, and there’s always a message.”

Robinson said his sister would be sticking around in town to visit their family for a little while, before moving on to an engagement in Nevada on Tuesday.

The first lady did note the Obama family has become fans of Oregon State since her brother started coaching, proclaiming “Go Beavs!” to the crowd during her speech.