Michelle Obama is a Princeton and Harvard graduate. She is an intellectual property lawyer and devoted mother. She’s an inspiration to young girls everywhere.
She worked as a solicitor for a Chicago law firm, Assistant Commissioner of planning and development at Chicago City Hall, Director of the Chicago Chapter of Public Allies, and later worked extensively at the University of Chicago. This exemplifies her passion for public service and her dedication to education and expanding opportunities for all American citizens.
When she was only five-years-old, Michelle Robinson got one wrong answer in a kindergarten colour quiz, she obsessed about it, and in her book “Becoming” she said, “The embarrassment felt like a weight,” she remembers, ‘like something I’d never shake off’. The next morning she asked her teacher could she reanswer the question and aced it in one go. “I like to imagine Mrs Burroughs was impressed with this little black girl who’d found the courage to advocate for herself,” she said.
She has lead major initiatives during her time as First Lady such as Let’s Move Joining Forces, Reach Higher, and Let Girls Learn.
The Princeton graduate once gave advice to an all-girls school by saying,
“Don’t just be book-smart, be smart about the world — know your community, know your politics. You have to be informed and engaged all the time — not just when you think it is interesting or cool. As young women, we have to be interested in politics. You have to think about your whole education.”
Mrs Obama is well known for the extensive White House Gardens. The most iconic lawn was torn and a wide selection of fruit and vegetables were planted. Children from the D.C area are shown how sustainable living and healthy eating habits are attainable and she launched the Campaign to Change Direction, which worked on raising public awareness of mental health especially in connection to service members.
Women like Michelle Obama are no longer sitting silently beside their husbands but they are working beside them and even working harder than them. Her work and passions have solidified women’s role in politics. Women have had a growing voice in politics for years, and Michelle Obama has encouraged women to speak in order to be heard.
She once said, “Women are now the majority of graduates of colleges and universities. We make up nearly half of America’s workforce. We got to get paid more for it. But we do. Women are thriving in every sector of our society. We are leading businesses. We’re serving at the highest levels of government and the armed forces. We’re breaking barriers and succeeding in careers that our mothers and grandmothers never could have imagined.”
She is an ambassador for meaningful causes. She is influential and has contributed to outlining the civilisation we live in today.