AKRON, Ohio -- They share similar backgrounds, growing up with little money and scant hope.

One is from Chicago’s south side, the daughter of a city pump operator. The other was raised by a single mother, who bounced around Akron looking for a better life for her talented son.

But as they stood side-by-side Wednesday, Michelle Obama and LeBron James were proof to kids that dreams do come true.

“If we can be here,” the first lady said as she addressed a crowd of school kids and their parents, “we know you can be here, too.”

The NBA’s biggest star, James appeared with Obama at an event to celebrate the importance of education and to challenge thousands of children in the LeBron James Family Foundation programs to finish college.

After the crowd of approximately 2,500 watched videos explaining the importance of a earning a college degree, James and Obama took the stage together inside the University of Akron’s Rhodes Arena, a venue where the four-time league MVP played many times while in high school.