The advice offered from any other 82-year-olds might have made young people yawn and roll their eyes. But when former South African president Nelson Mandela advised two dozen local youth leaders in Los Angeles to take education seriously, his audience was listening.

    The famed old man said to the young people that if they expected to improve the lives of others in the future, they must work at improving their own lives now. "Education is one of the most important weapons you have,” Mandela advised. “It will place you in a far better position to serve yourself and your community.”

     “The point is, he was young once and rebellious(叛逆的)once and he kept his dream alive, just as you each have dreams,” explained South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, Sheila Sisulu, as she introduced Mandela to the young crowd.

    Asked for specific advice about changing society by 21-year-old Ahmed Younis, Mandela suggested that somehow helping arouse more American interest in foreign affairs might be a start.

    There is an impression that Americans, in general, have not followed international developments properly, Mandela said. “I’m not making that statement myself, but there are serious political analysts who say Americans are not well informed as to what has happened in the world.”

    22-year-old Omari Trice said Mandela left him full of enthusiasm. “ He’s a person who set the tone for an entire nation, said Trice. “You come away feeling you need to be a superman in order to get things done.”