ST. CROIX - Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who served in the Bush Administration until his resignation in September 2007, gave the commencement address at Free Will Baptist School's graduation ceremony Friday night, delivering a personal story of how his persistent pursuit of education brought him the American dream.

Gonzales, who entered through a door near the podium just after being introduced as the ceremony's keynote speaker, spoke of the hurdles he faced after he graduated from high school and how he maneuvered his way to success.

"We were dirt poor," Gonzales said of his family. He was raised in a two-bedroom home with seven brothers and seven sisters by Mexican parents who held low-paying jobs.

With no way of paying for college, Gonzales said he decided to join the military and was shipped out to an Air Force base in Alaska. During some of those long winter nights at Fort Yukon, the temperature dropped to 60 degrees below zero and the nearest hint of civilization was a small town of Alaskan natives about a mile away.

"It was then that college really started looking good to me," he said.

He stood out among the airmen for his hard work and was hand-picked to attend the prestigious Air Force Academy, the first step toward earning a college education. He endured physical and medical tests and sat for the SAT and the ACT for the first time to be considered for the academy. He avoided the SAT and ACT in high school because he never expected to attend college, Gonzales said.

"I realized soon after I enlisted that education often represents freedom in America," he said.

Gonzales encouraged the graduates to aggressively pursue higher education, to become lifelong students and to chose career paths that they love. Loving the work that they will help them stay motivated to even when the task at hand seems insurmountable.

"Though your spirit may be weak, it cannot be broken," Gonzales told the graduates.

He implored the graduates to remember to roots and to let their conscience and their faith in God be their guides.

"Do not let public opinion and political whim blow you off the path of righteousness," Gonzales said.

Gonzales wove some of his experiences during his tenure at the White House into his speech, speaking of the staff's collective efforts in the aftermath of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He spoke of the "awesome responsibility" he often felt as he walked into the White House and into the Oval Office to meet with President Bush.

"I have lived the American dream," he said. "We have an obligation, you and I to join in a noble cause and that is the American dream. Take the life that God has given you and make a difference."

Free Will Baptist School principal Stephen Beck said Gonzales is "a friend of a friend" and was invited to speak at the school's graduation. Before delivering his speech, Gonzales met privately with the students, Beck said.

Gonzales, a Harvard graduate, is the first U.S. Attorney General of Hispanic heritage. Bush picked Gonzales, then a justice on the Supreme Court of Texas, as his choice for White House general counsel in 2000. He was later named to serve as U.S. Attorney General to lead the Justice Department.

In August 2007, Gonzales, whose tenure as Attorney General had been marred by controversy over issues including his role in the dismissal of nine U.S. Attorneys and accusations of perjury before Congress on national security matters, announced his resignation.