Son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell spoke of his childhood in the South Bronx and how his parents, aunts and other family members instilled the value of education with that "simple immigrant ethic that was put into my heart that causes one to be sort of hungry and to move forward and do the best I could."
He said that when he graduated with a bachelor of science degree in geology, "I could not have held a candle to the candidates here this evening."
To peals of laughter, he added: "My grade point average brought me up to slightly over 2.0 and this gave me my bachelor of science degree. This gave me my commission in the infantry, and the last words to me were, 'Get out of here, go to the army, and we don't want to see you again!' Now, I am considered one of the greatest sons of City College [of New York]. Buildings are named after me, programs are named after me!"
"The point of all this, my young friends," he said, "is that you don't know where you are going to end up. I have been through all of your bios -- I have read every single one of them -- and it's some scary stuff. I am just amazed at what you've accomplished."
He runs a program called America's Promise, dedicated to the belief that every child should get quality education. And he reminded the young stars of the greater goal they should keep in mind.
Image: Narendra Pundarik Tallapragada (center) of Burke, Virgenia being awarded fourth place in the Intel Science Talent Search 2009 by Craig R Barrett and Elezabeth Marincola.
Also see: Indian-American kids conquer US spelling bee
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