Dear Mr. President,
On January 20, 2009, I sat in my fifth grade classroom and watched you take the Presidential Oath in a black suit with a red tie. Michelle stood proudly to your left, your beautiful daughters, Malia and Sasha, much smaller than they are now, stood beside her with smiles of their own. The crowd cheered, you waved, and it was in that moment I knew change was coming.
The significance of the day did not dwell on me until much later. I think about it often as you're nearing the end of your time as President. I think about how foolish I had been not to relish in the moment, appreciate the history being made right before my eyes and take time to truly realize how far we'd come as a nation. I didn't understand then but I understand now.
Have Your Voice Heard: Become an Odyssey Creator
A lot has changed in the eight years since that day. I grew another five inches (though I wish I would grow five more). I got a sister who is kind and loving. I got braces and got them off. I learned the dangers of hair straighteners. I found friends and I lost friends. I got another sister who is brave and outgoing. I broke a few bones, got a couple bruises. I got my driver's license. I discovered how life changing makeup can be. I went to my high school prom (for exactly one hour). I fell in love and fell out of it. I started high school and finished it. I laughed, a lot, and I cried, a lot. I got into the school of my dreams. I moved two hours away from home. I grew up.
What I have witnessed from your leadership and your administration during that time is something I will carry with me forever. You are a man who fought hard for those that walked with you and those who walked against you. You never let your faith in this country, in the American people, falter despite how easy that would have been. You believed in this nation when this nation didn't always believe in you. You set a precedent for what it means to be a leader by the people, for the people.
There are still bridges to build, ceilings to break, mountains to climb. That is a given, and this past year has brought to light the kind of darkness that still looms over America. Yet I am optimistic that my generation saw the brilliance you brought to the White House. I am grateful my younger sisters and cousins grew up watching a black man run the United States of America and I am grateful they got to see you do it so well. The sky is the limit. You made that truer than ever before.
It seems impossible to ignore Michelle Obama's role in the past eight years. It has been the honor of my life to watch you run this country with Michelle by your side. I grew up for the better part of my life with a single mother. It was always engrained in my being to be strong, to be independent, to be brave. I know every little girl does not get that lesson.To watch Michelle stand with you as your partner, and not always just your wife, is something I will carry with me forever. To watch a woman be so powerful, educated, and respected was the example many girls around this country needed. It was the example I needed. I sit in class today, nineteen years old with a whole life ahead of me, ready to rule the world. And it is Michelle Robinson I have to think. President Obama, you put woman on the forefront. Michelle and your daughters were forces all on their own. You celebrated that and I celebrate that.
I cannot imagine the burden of having to run a country. I thank you for bearing the weight so we didn't have too. I look forward to what is to come.
I thank you for being my President. I do not think words could describe how lucky I have been to be able to grow under your leadership.
Sincerely, from the bottom of my heart: Thanks, Obama.
