“We know our challenges are eminently solvable. The question is whether we can muster the will in our lives, in our institutions, in our politics to bring about the changes we need,” he said in an afternoon commencement speech held on the campus of Columbia University. “And I’m convinced that your generation has the will and that the women of this generation will lead the way.”

He added quickly to laughter, “I recognize that’s a cheap applause line at Barnard, but it’s true.”

Obama’s speech is one of three he’s giving to graduates this spring. The others are next week at Joplin High School in a tornado-ravaged Missouri town and at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He used his address Monday to rehash some of his personal story and to road-test lines on what have already become central themes of his campaign: equality, opportunity, looking to the future and building back the country.

He even dropped in an oblique reference to his campaign slogan, “Forward.”

“We are dynamic, not static. We look forward, not back,” Obama told the graduates.

And he sketched out their place within that vision.

“As young women, you’re also going to grapple with some unique challenges, like whether you’ll be able to earn equal pay for equal work, whether you’ll be able to balance the demands of your job and your family, whether you’ll be able to fully control decisions about your own health,” he said. “And while opportunities for women have grown exponentially over the last 30 years, as young people, in many ways, you have it even tougher than we did.”

Obama offered the graduates some advice. “Don’t just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for your seat at the head of the table,” he said, citing the example of women in Congress, including Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Lilly Ledbetter, who fought for equal pay for women.

The president also advised the graduates to “never underestimate the power of your example.”

He cited Hilda Solis, the daughter of immigrants who was advised by her high school guidance counselor to skip college and become a secretary — and is now his labor secretary.

“Think of what it looks like to a young Latina girl who looks like her” or a girl in Iowa seeing a woman running for president or a girl in Harlem who sees a U.N. ambassador who looks like her.

His third piece of advice was “simple but perhaps most important: persevere. Nothing worthwhile is easy.” Obama said he learned it from women in his life — his mother, his grandmother and his wife. “I’m only here because of them,” he said.

“Whether it’s starting a business, or running for office or raising an amazing family, remember that making a mark on the world is hard,” he said. “Whenever you hear those voices saying, ‘You can’t make a difference,’ … the trajectory of this country should give you hope; previous generations should give you hope.”

Before he spoke, Obama was awarded a Barnard Medal of Distinction alongside Freedom to Marry President Evan Wolfson, whom former New York Chief Judge Judith Kaye heralded as a “hero of the charge for marriage equality.”

Obama bumped New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson — the first woman to lead the paper — from the top speaking spot at the ceremony.

He didn’t mention Abramson, but he did take a jab at the media for promoting a “steady stream of sensationalism and scandal.”

He also offered some advice from the first lady: “You can be stylish and powerful, too – that’s Michelle’s advice,” he said.