First lady Michelle Obama has some advice for teenage girls: Don’t shy from being the smartest kid in the class. And never mind what the boys think.

“Compete with the boys. Beat the boys,” she told about 1,000 schoolgirls and young women Tuesday at an event aimed at publicizing her “Let Girls Learn” campaign to expand girls’ access to education in developing countries and encourage American girls to take advantage of their opportunities. But the first lady also gave some impromptu, personal pep talks on handling the pressures of adolescence.

On dealing with the frustrations, embarrassments and slights of high school: “I know being a teenager is hard,” but it’s temporary and not a template for the rest of life: “Half these people, you’re not going to know when you’re 60.”

And on whether being brainy comes at a social cost: “There is no boy, at this age, that is cute enough or interesting enough to stop you from getting your education,” the water pump operator’s daughter-turned-Harvard-trained lawyer said. “If I had worried about who liked me and who thought I was cute when I was your age, I wouldn’t be married to the president of the United States.”

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The first lady appeared in front of a thousand screaming school girls in Harlem for a star-studded panel on girls’ education worldwide—and straight talk about dating.

On Tuesday morning, more than 1,000 girls (and a multitude of Secret Service members, NYPD officers, and police dogs) gathered at Harlem’s Apollo Theater to see Michelle Obama IRL. Technically, the event was a star-studded panel on girls’ education worldwide, organized by Glamour magazine. But “Power of an Educated Girl” panel was all about Michelle—from the hundreds of tween and high school-aged girls in the audience who shrieked every time her name was uttered, to the battalion of journalists in the audience who couldn’t help hollering every time the first lady said something totally badass (spoiler alert: this was a fairly common occurrence).

As befits any event at the intersection of world leaders, celebrities, serious issues,Glamour magazine, and sponsor Maybelline New York, the decorating scheme at the Apollo was Elle Woods chic: pink lighting, plush chairs, and a classy bouquet placed by every panelist. As the majority female audience settled in, a PowerPoint presentation featuring young girls around the world flashed by on the screen, accompanied by the pounding beats of The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face.” Mistress of ceremonies and huge social media stan Sophia Bush took the stage to encourage the audience to live-tweet, Instagram and hashtag the show. The One Tree Hill actress alleged that “in high school I was a pretty big nerd” and linked her love of storytelling to her passion for English in grade school. Then, because education rocks and so does breakout Oslo duo Nico & Vinz, the two pop heartthrobs performed their hit single “Am I Wrong,” which they dedicated to all the “beautiful, strong, independent women” in the packed venue. Every girl in the audience quickly proceeded to lose her shit.

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These two power players are speaking up for young women!

Michelle Obama and Charlize Theron were amongst a group of heavy-hitting women at Glamour’s “The Power of an Educated Girl” event in New York on Tuesday. Both Obama and Theron had similar views regarding what advice they would give for girls who may be afraid to be smart because they might be a turnoff to guys.

“There is nothing sexier than a smart woman,” Theron, 40, told the crowd. “We have been told to live by a certain mold, especially women, and it’s time to break it and it’s up to us to do that. Stop waiting for men to do that, look in the mirror and see yourself and say I am sexy, I am attractive, I am smart, I am intelligent, I am powerful, I have a voice, I look cute in these jeans. Yes, I don’t have long hair, I have short hair but I am still a girl and I’m still hot.”

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She may be a beautiful and talented Hollywood star but this week in New York Charlize Theron has been focused on using her celebrity to help and empower others.

The actress, 40, joined First Lady Michelle Obama on stage at the city’s Apollo Theatre on Tuesday to that sought to raise awareness and promote education for girls around the world.

The two leading ladies even enjoyed what Charlize later tweeted was ‘the coolest high five ever’ during their session sharing personal experiences and words of advice to the more than 1,000 schoolgirls in the audience.

The Power Of An Educated Girl panel was hosted by Glamour magazine.

Michelle Obama leads the White House’s Let Girls Learn Initiative that seeks to to help the more than 62 million girls around the world who are not in school find a way to attend a school and get an education.

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More than 1,000 girls will gather at the historic Apollo Theater in New York City tomorrow to attendGlamour‘s “The Power of an Educated Girl” panel—presented by Maybelline New York and The Harnisch Foundation—which will feature special guests including First Lady Michelle Obama, former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Plan International girl advocate Nurfahada, actress and activists Charlize Theron and Sophia Bush.

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CAUSE CELEBRE: Glamour editor in chief Cindi Leive has had a full plate over the last few months. In addition to her daily diet of numerous fashion week appearances in New York and abroad, prepping for her magazine’s marquee event “Glamour Women of the Year” in November — and editing the magazine — Leive has been working on a buzzy new project. On Tuesday morning, the editor in chief will host a high-profile panel at The Apollo Theater in Harlem that will include First Lady Michelle Obama, Charlize Theron and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

The trio will speak with Leive about the issue of global education for adolescent girls, which is a punctuation mark, of sorts, for Glamour’s The Girl Project, which it launched in 2014, a year after it honored humanitarian Malala Yousafzai with a Women of The Year prize.

According to Leive, the event, which is sponsored by Maybelline New York, may become a mainstay for the Condé Nast-owned magazine going forward, and it could expand to Glamour’s international editions.

“We are in discussions right now,” she said regarding an international rollout. “It’s a bit too soon to say more about that.”

Leive said the talk would not be policy-driven, but instead be more conversational about the impact that education has had on lives of the panelists.

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As part of the Let Girls Learn initiative, the First Lady will participate in a Global Conversation on the Power of Educating Adolescent Girls, hosted by Glamour magazine. The discussion will be moderated by Glamour’s editor-in-chief Cindi Leive. Joining the First Lady in the discussion will be former prime minister of Australia and current chair of Global Partnership for Education Julia Gillard, and actress and advocate Charlize Theron.

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U.S. Open Tennis Championship and Vegas Uncork’d, two long-standing Overland Entertainment-produced events have made the Biz Bash Top 100 Events in the U.S 2015 list.

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