Michelle Obama wows teenage girls at event
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of teenage girls were vibrating with excitement Thursday afternoon as they waited outside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
The focus of their feelings wasn’t Justin Bieber, or even Justin Trudeau, but rather former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama.
The wife of the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, was in Vancouver for two Greater Vancouver Board of Trade WE FOR SHE-sponsored appearances.
“I’m, we’re so excited,” said Alysha Brooks, a 17-year-old student from Johnston Heights Secondary in Surrey, as she and other classmates stood waiting for the doors at the theatre to open. “She is so amazing and inspirational.”
Brooks was just one of a few hundred youths that were given tickets by Vancity for the event.
During her years in the White House (2009-17) Michelle became a role model for women and a champion for young girls and education.
“Education is the foundation that allows me to be who I am today,” Obama told the crowd inside the theatre. “Start taking your education serious, today.”
Obama touched on a few predictable topics. Education, the need for mentoring. She also honed in on social media and how she struggles with her own kids, Sasha and Malia. Funny, though, she didn’t mention the biggest social-media elephant in the room, the current president of the U.S., Donald Trump. Instead. she stuck to some of her social-media coping techniques. She tells her kids to be careful and she tells herself to never read the comments.
“People are crazy out there, and they’re brave and bolder behind a computer screen,” said Michelle. “I would never expose myself to someone’s random opinion of me.”
There was no mention of the Trump White House, or the school shooting that took 17 lives in Florida on Wednesday. The closest she got to politics was saying that it was politics that were divisive, not humanity.
The former first lady directed a lot of her points to the youth-heavy crowd. Many of the youth in attendance were what Brooks called school-influencers. They had plans for their futures and Michelle’s history, growing up on the South Side of Chicago in a working-class family, was one they could relate to.
“You could see that if you worked hard you can become something. She did that,” said Sophie Offei, 17, also from Johnston Heights Secondary.
“She was just so inspiring, everything she said just reconciled with what I stand for,” said 15-year-old Burnaby Mountain Secondary student Maya Beninteso, after the event. “She is just such an inspiration to young women and young leaders.”
One of Michelle’s talking points was how she does it all. You know that old chestnut that always seems to come up in a female-centric discussion. Lesson learned here today was it’s OK to say ‘no’ to things.
Michelle explained that she puts herself and her family in her calendar first ahead of work, which the Princeton and Harvard graduate said wasn’t always easy, especially with her husband.
“(Barack) was always running for something. That was a hassle,” said Obama, smiling as the crowd laughed.