I was eager to read this memoir mainly because I wanted a different perspective on the Obamas: what it was like to be a family living history, the first black family in the White House. Obama did a good job of depicting the probably common concerns of a mother trying to raise two children into young women, for their safety, privacy, and to keep their lives as close to normal and wholesome as possible. Safety was primary, given the gun violence we experienced as a nation during the Obama administration, and given the target opportunity of any crazy person wanting to make history. The Obamas showed great resilience and optimism through their time in the White House, and I think they carried themselves with grace.

Especially noteworthy throughout her memoir, Michelle Obama expresses gratitude for all the advantages she received, from childhood on. She experienced humble beginnings as a child, but she and her brother received the absolute support of her parents to reach for the most ambitious heights they wished to aspire to. My background and Michelle's are very similar: parents without college educations, working class, living near extended family. I lived in New Jersey, and dreamed of Princeton, which may have been within reach, as I was number nine in a class of students at a competitive parochial school. However, I paid to attend that school myself,and had no savings for college. Also, since I was female, my family did not allow me to apply for financial assistance of any kind, my parents feeling shame in their humble circumstances, and never accepting any help; I would only get married and have kids, right? If they could not help me pay for it, they would not allow it, so Rutgers was the only affordable alternative. They felt one college was just like another, not seeing the potential difference an Ivy League school could mean for my future prospects. Color isn't the only barrier in life; socioeconomic circumstances can be just as limiting to one's prospects without the help of key adults. I guess Obama had some sense of that in her later efforts to promote education with girls.

Of course, education opens doors of opportunity, but one must bring vision to the effort as well. That came in the person of Barack Obama. As much as his political ambition changed her life completely, I believe the most important way he changed her was by presenting a different perspective. Michelle Obama admits that the profession of the law was a poor choice for her, and it didn't speak to her inner passion and drive for making a difference in the world. Barack helped to challenge her in this way, asking her what difference did she want to make in the world? He also modeled the confidence and daring needed to take chances and try to reach for more, as well as supporting her efforts to step away from the corporate office and try new paths. I was surprised that, coming from humble circumstances on the South Side of Chicago, then seeing the privilege and opportunities at Princeton and Harvard, Michelle could not have arrived at this question herself, but instead remained lockstep in the career path of material ambition over making change or being of service in the world. I am fortunate that my parents provided me with a strong Catholic faith; while I didn't have an adult to mentor me (and I didn't know enough to seek one out), my faith embedded me with the understanding that I was given talents, and had a responsibility to figure out how I was to use them to contribute to a better world. Maybe I was given the better gift in the end--the example of my parents' selfless sacrifices for their children, and the deep faith which demanded, "For of those to whom much is given much is required ."

To acquire a deeper appreciation of Michelle and Barack Obama, particularly what Michelle Obama sought to achieve with her unique opportunity as First Lady, while supporting her daughters, take the time to read her memoir. I found myself on the pages as well as her, to my surprise.