A book about a young girl living in the ever-changing world of business and law. A real story of love and sorrow as well as life as a young woman finding her becoming story. Her life had good moments but she also endured racism in her school years and later in her working life. She still worked hard and proved to herself as well as to everyone that she was a force to reckon with. She is true to herself and found inspiration in other strong women around her. She has been an inspiration for me from my teen years until this day. She represents the role model I aspire to be one day. She is true to her values and family is her priority as well as setting her goals in life. Michele has the never-give-up personality that I admire and find it to motivate myself to work on myself and trust my gut. I loved how real and down to earth, her book was.
She has gone from a girl living in the suburbs to the first African American first lady in history in the United States of America. From me, this is a big deal since minority and African culture has been suppressed for so long in the states. For a long time, I tried to hide my multicultural background and I was afraid to show my culture to strangers. I was taught in school that the way I talked due to not having Finnish parents was wrong and it seemed that I had to work double as much as my classmates.
The book brought up a lot of small things I found similar but also found how much the world has evolved and how in some aspects Finland is lacking behind. I have encountered a lot of racism in my young life from my peers as well as random people on the street. I have gotten spit at, called names on the street as well as physically assaulted in the broad daytime. Racism is not anything new but people many times understand it wrong. As a child, I did not notice the small gestures people around me did that were offensive. As I grew up, I started to notice the down-looking glares and people automatically thinking that I can’t achieve the academic goals I had set for myself. Michelle was a smart kid and worked hard to get in to a school she wanted.
I have struggled a lot with my identity as I had double citizenship and I am an adopted child who lives with parents from the States and Germany. It felt like I did not belong in any group and it was hard for me to make friends. In high school, I started to hang out with a girl who had also double citizenship and noticed how much we had in common and how much she had also experienced racism. Michelle’s book just reminded me that words have been spoken but little has changed in reality. Still, people have miss guided information on different cultures and prejudices of people who look different or have a different background.
For Michelle one of her biggest dilemmas was that how to balance her work, her duties as a wife and mother to hers and Barack’s children as well as the stigma of her going to a college that was considered a white people college. For her, she felt like she was an outsider and could not find her place in society. Her mannerisms and the way she spoke were also criticized and it got her to think where she would stand and what she could do to help her fellow African Americans to fight for equality. Equality has been and is still a topic that comes out and sparks conversation all around the world. For me, Michele’s battle just shows how much we still need to work on loving people and how hard work and staying true to your values pay off eventually. In my opinion, this fight for equality is never-ending even though we have taken big steps towards a more accepting society.
Michele has always been a smart girl who loved to learn and her family encouraged her to study and pronounce words to the end. Many slangs and speaking language shorten or bunch together words like ya’ll = you all, and still, I have been asked that am I planning to have children soon or the surprised face when I speak Finnish like a Finn. I recognize that many foreigners have an accent and do not speak good Finnish, but as a girl who has studied Finnish all her life and gotten scolded for pronouncing some letters differently, due to the fact I spoke German and English fluently before first grade I find it a bit offensive. I feel that we as a society like to talk about what all is wrong but do not do anything to change it. To make a change in my opinion we need to change your perspective. Racism is a battle we will be fighting for a long time but if something I have learned from Michele Obama is that never to give up even when it is hard. There is a solution to everything if you are willing to search for it. She comes from a humble background and is still focused on the future not letting anyone predict her future and how far she could go.
Later in the book, she talked about her husband’s political campaigns, which eventually lead to her being the first African American first lady. Politics has been and is still considered a white rich men’s game and Michelle figured that out as soon as Barracks political escapades started. Politics are changing slowly but still have a long way to go in my opinion. As an American citizen I have the right to vote but had not thought about it being important since I live in a different country until after Barrack started his second round of presidency, I started to get into American politics more and followed the news more. But still, it seems like a big mess to me since there are so many people and their opinions. For me, it was interesting to hear her side of the time when her husband’s campaign was going on and how it affected her and the family.
The end of the book talked about the presidency and how It felt to be the first lady as well as about how they settled down in the new life as one of the most guarded families in the world. Obama’s children grew up in the white house and were surrounded by security and publicity. Michelle still stayed true in the middle of all the fame and complications to her values and her family and friends. She kept her girls safe and supported her husband all the way. In her 8 years as FLOTUS, she dedicated herself to help children and the education system. She wanted to offer low-income families to get health care and that they had a healthy diet. Obesity rates growing by the minute she focused on health. In short, he achieved a lot in her life.
For me, the book touched subjects that are personal to me and gave a new side to the coin of politics in a country dear to my heart. It is personal because of how close to home this part hits and there forth I am not confutable enough to write about it too much. For me as an American, my identity has strengthened after I got, the right to vote. My family is important to me and covid has made it hard to visit them but still, I hear about life and how insecure society is now. For me, the most important thing is my family and the truth. I am not going to touch the subject of politics too much since it has been always a sensitive subject and the meaning of this text is not to provoke a political discussion of right or wrong. I am writing as a young American woman starting her own becoming story. I admire Michelle for her values and how she fought for her values. In my opinion, this teaches us to stay true and educate our self to succeed. We all have individual strengths and I feel this book got me thinking about my future more and what I want to achieve in my lifetime. As well as the things I have already achieved in my young life. But the number one thing I learned from this book was that it does not matter where you come from you can achieve anything.