Untitled Document
 Michelle
Obama is a lawyer, Chicago city administrator, community volunteer worker and wife
of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama.
Currently, she is playing
an important role for her husband in many ways. She is a wise adviser and practical mentor for him. Mr. Obama
always asks her when he is not sure about something. Michelle’s determination, wit and strong will always help him
figure out what to do. This
wise woman, Michelle Obama, will be the 44th First Lady of the United
States in January, 2009.
Michelle Robinson Obama was born on January 17, 1964 in Chicago. She
grew up in Chicago’s South Side. She was a brilliant child and learned
to read at home by the age of 4, and skipped second grade. By
6th grade, Michelle was attending classes for gifted children. A few years
later, she went on to attend the city’s first high school for gifted
children. “She was always smart and she wanted to go to the best schools she could,”
said her brother Craig.
After high school, she went on to attend Princeton University and
Harvard Law School. She met Barack Obama at a law firm where the two were
the only African-Americans. While working together, Michelle was assigned
to mentor Barack while he was a summer associate. The couple married
in 1992.
In 1993, Michelle became Executive Director for a non-profit organization in
Chicago that encourages young people to
work on social issues in non-profit
groups and government agencies. In 1996, she served as the Associate
Dean of Student Services
at the University of Chicago, where she developed the University’s
Community Service Center. She also worked for the University of Chicago
Hospitals, supporting community affairs.
 When her
husband Barack Obama said he wanted to run for president, she wasn’t
sure if it would be possible. She had questions and wanted them answered.
She wanted to know how the campaign would raise money and what the
campaign strategy would be. Once those
plans were more real and clear, she began to see the
possibilities. Then, she started using her talents to help her husband’s
campaign.
An excellent speaker, she tirelessly campaigned for
her husband with passion and courage. “People in this
country are ready for a change and hungry for a different kind
of politics. And let me tell
you something. For the first time in my
adult life, I am really proud
of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback,”
she said in a statement on February 18,
2008.
Michelle’s determination, wit and strong will have also made her a
part of pop culture. In May, 2006,
Essence magazine named her among “25 of the World’s Most Inspiring
Women,” and in July 2007, Vanity Fair magazine listed her among “10 of the
World’s Best Dressed People.” In September 2007, 02138 magazine listed
her 58th of “The Harvard 100,” a list of the prior year’s most influential Harvard alumni. |
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