Hillary Clinton conducts interview with 11-year-old

Hillary Clinton revealed in an interview with a young activist that when she ran for class president in high school, one of her male opponents told her she was “really stupid” if she thought a girl could be elected.

{mosads}”But then the boy who won asked me to be the chair of the Organizations Committee. This meant that he got to be president, but I had to do most of the work,” Clinton, now the Democratic presidential nominee, said in an interview with 11-year-old Marley Dias, published in Elle magazine.

“I said yes anyway — and it turned out to be a lot of fun, because I got to plan all the events I would have pushed for as president. (One of them was a mock presidential debate, if you can believe that!)” she said. “In the end, I’ve always found credit isn’t just something you take — it’s something people give you when they see how hard you’re working.”

Dias is the middle schooler behind #1000BlackGirlBooks, a book drive to collect books with young black girls as the main character, which are then donated to schools across the country. 

In the interview, Dias asked Clinton the first book she saw herself in, to which she said “Little Women,” her favorite “black girl book,” — “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou — and her advice to her 11-year-old self. 

“I would say that when you have a big dream or you’re trying to solve a big problem, there will always be people who tell you that you can’t. Here’s my advice: Don’t listen. Keep striving for your goals, and remember that it’s good to be ambitious,” Clinton responded. “There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you want and going after it.”