00:00And we will do this together. So before I tell you where we're going, let me tell you where I came from.
00:05My dad was a retired Army General. My mom was here this morning with her shades on looking good, Mama.
00:15And she's a retired school teacher. She actually taught at the school that I dropped out.
00:19Yeah, I dropped out of. And I made one of the worst decisions of my life to drop by the school at the age of 17.
00:25My parents didn't call me. They said it to me straight. They said, if you're going to stop going to school, you have to start going to work.
00:34So I took a job at the fine dining establishment known as the Waffle House.
00:40There we go. My Waffle House people. Denny's was a little too highbrow. Right, Mom?
00:45Exit 203 in Ladson. My first job, I learned how to work hard.
00:50And while Waffle House was an important part of my journey, it would not be my destination.
00:57So I went from making waffles to making history right here where we are standing on hallowed ground this morning.
01:05The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina.
01:09And because 26 years ago, this summer, this high school dropout, became the first woman ever to graduate from the Citadel Board of Cadets right here in Sacramento.
01:25In college, we don't burn American flags. We salute them.
01:29And right here on this hallowed ground, I guess almost 30 years ago, 29 years ago, I came storming into the gate, the main gate of the Citadel, probably shaking, nervous.
01:42I asked my father to help me drop my goods off in my dorm, in the barracks, number two barracks, Patrick Thomas Barracks.
01:48And he said, no.
01:50I had to do it on my own.
01:51I remember my parents, my mom, my dad, dropped me off in the barracks here at the Citadel.
01:55I asked for a hug. My dad shook my hand.
01:59And he said, don't call home if you want to quit.
02:01Just put on your shoes and start walking.
02:05And I didn't quit because I had something to prove to myself.
02:08Because when everyone said, no, Nancy, you can't do that.
02:12No, Nancy, you will never make it.
02:14No, Nancy, you don't have the ability to be successful.
02:18No, Nancy, you will win.
02:20And I said, watch me.
02:23And I learned about having courage.
02:26I learned about having discipline.
02:29I learned what it takes to lead, no matter the odds.
02:33Because working, because leading a district, a state, a country, means you have to do hard work.
02:40When you're doing it right, it's hard.
02:41It's not easy.
02:42And I learned right here at the Citadel how to hold the line, no matter the odds.
02:50And now I'm ready to hold the line for something bigger.
02:53And that means putting South Carolinians first.
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