Laura Bush speaks at SMU graduation

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DALLAS, May 17 (UPI) -- Former first lady Laura Bush told graduates of Southern Methodist University in Dallas that "service to others" is a valuable way to use their education.

Serving as the university's keynote commencement speaker, the wife of former President George W. Bush detailed the value of her own SMU experiences to nearly 2,000 graduating students, The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday.

"You won't waste your talent and education if you use them in service to others," said Bush, who earned an elementary education degree from the Dallas college more then 40 years ago.

The Morning News said the former White House resident also earned some laughs from attending graduates when she mentioned how her father-in-law, former President George H.W. Bush, who at the time was a banking industry executive, served as the keynote speaker at her master degree's ceremony.

"You can imagine my surprise when I discovered it was George Bush," she told graduates of her 1977 University of Texas ceremony.