DENVER — Maya Soetoro-Ng helped kick off the Democratic National Convention on Monday by sharing her story of growing up in Hawai'i with big brother Barack Obama.

Soetoro-Ng, a U.S. history teacher at La Pietra Hawaii School for Girls in Honolulu, told convention delegates that her family didn't have much in the way of wealth, but they had something more important.

"We had people who made us believe that with a little imagination, we could dream the improbable; that through hard work, we could accomplish the extraordinary; that through the power of education, we could propel ourselves to a future far more promising than our circumstances led us to expect," she said.

Soetoro-Ng singled out their late mother, saying she was "an eternal optimist who understood that parents are our first and best teachers.

"She encouraged us to explore and ask questions and delight in unexpected discoveries and surprising answers," Soetoro-Ng said in prepared remarks. "She brought us to telescopes and microscopes to remind us that there was a world beyond our limited reach and that we should sometimes have faith in what we could not see."

Soetoro-Ng said above all, their mother was a storyteller, who told historical tales about heroism in the face of injustice.

"These stories suggested that our deepest humanity and happiness would be found by reaching out to, empathizing with and working to serve others," she said.

"Like our mother, Barack opened my mind and spirit to a broader world," said Soetoro-Ng, who has campaigned for Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in the islands and on the mainland.

"I've seen it everywhere I travel in people of every age, faith, background and walk of life, reaching out to one another, staking their own dreams on what we do together in this election," she said.

"And I know that if we elect Barack as president, he'll be there for you just as he's always been there for me," she said. "I know he'll help you realize your dreams just as he's helped me realize mine."