Political views aside, I think most Collegiettes would agree that Michelle Obama has provided America’s youth and women with an amazing role model to aspire to. Not only is Michelle a respectable and successful first lady, but she is also a loving and dedicated mother and wife. In celebration of her 50th birthday which was on January 17th, I’ve compiled just a few reasons why the first lady should be given just as much attention as the president himself.
Education
Michelle Obama attended Princeton during her undergraduate schooling, where she studied Sociology and African American Studies. During her time as an undergraduate, she created an after-school reading program for the children of university’s manual workers. She graduated from Princeton cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in 1985. The current first lady the proceeded to attend Harvard to complete her Juris Doctor degree from the School of Law. During her time at Harvard, she advocated for the hiring of minority professors and worked for Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. Her graduation from Harvard makes her the third first lady in the history of America to receive a postgraduate degree.
Career
Shortly after her graduation, Michelle began working for Sidley Austin. While working here, she focused primarily on marketing and intellectual property and represented clients such as AT&T and Union Carbide. Following the death of her father, she decided to focus her career more closely on community service. She began working as an assistant for Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. In this position, she worked to boost economic development. She accomplished all of the above before her marriage to Barack Obama in 1992. Her career continued to flourish after her marriage and during Barack’s political involvement.
Style
The first lady has established clothing and hair trends over her past few years in the public eye. Could anyone forget the reintroduction of the straight-across bangs trend following her August of 2013 haircut? The first lady consistently created trends during her husband’s first term as president (Think: pearls and conservative yet fashionable dresses) and has continued to do so during his second term (Does anyone have better coats than Michelle? I would argue probably not). Look to Michelle’s past ensembles for inspirations for your next internship interview or to inspire an outfit for your next classy night out.
Health
Michelle’s Let’s Move initiative has been monumental in the effort to reduce the childhood obesity epidemic. This program has set the goal to end childhood obesity in a generation. You read that correctly: one generation. The first lady has addressed the epidemic as what it truly is: an issue that needs to be faced head-on in the best interest of the children of America. Her initiative has even gained support of popular food chains such as Subway.