Michelle Obama: Revolutionizing the First Lady

As a previous first lady, Michelle Obama has used her post-fame platform to continue her journey to change the lives of many young women. Even though her title of the first lady came to a close in 2017 when Barack Obama was out of office, she still continues to make a difference in the lives of many in a global way. Starting the Let Girls Learn organization, Obama has provided equal education for young girls in developing countries all around the world to help them create a successful career, and a warm home in their near future. 

Coming from a home where her father expected great things, Obama expected the same right to education as any man would have no problem achieving. Becoming a successful intelligent woman is something she thanks her years of education for as she hopes to give this to young girls in developing countries around the world. At a press conference in Japan, Obama delivers a methodical speech about how educating young around the world would help to ensure that the 61 million girls can make a home and possibly contribute to the global economy in the workforce.

There are many critics, including our current president, that do not see the value in educating women in third world countries. With the help of Obama, the light has been shed on the value of educating these women. Since the start of this nonprofit organization, Let Girls Learn has helped Ethiopia achieved a 95% enrollment in primary school over the past 15 years, has trained over 300,000 teachers worldwide, and invested $1 billion annually to education programs. 

Other benefits of educating women, in general, are that women with schooling are more likely to resist violence, infant mortality can decrease, and increase future earnings by about 20%. Not only did Obama start a revolution for education, but also a revolution for survival. With schooling, women can know what they deserve, what to look out for when having children, and make a better life for themselves when they are adults.

Michelle Obama has also contributed to our country by helping school districts revise school lunches for healthier options to reduce the obesity epidemic, promoted physical activity, helped veterans with jobs and homes, and advocated for equal opportunities for all people.

Michelle Obama at Virginia Commonwealth University AAMC-Medical Center

In my opinion, Michelle Obama was and still is the most active first lady in regards to the public, even out of office. She helped so many women across the world gain their right to an education that they never would have seen otherwise.