Michelle Obama shares rare picture from her school days with empowering message: 'Every girl deserves an education'
Former First Lady Michelle Obama took to Instagram on Thursday to mark the International Day of Charity by posting a rare picture of her from her schooldays. The 55-year-old accompanied the picture with a reflection on the value of her own education, and highlighted that millions of girls across the world are still not getting one.
Obama's yesteryear picture showed her with bangs and a toothy grin as she encouraged her followers to do the same in an attempt to raise awareness about the importance of girls' education. She captioned the picture with: "It’s so easy for us to take our education for granted, especially here in the United States. Right now, more than 98 million adolescent girls around the world are not in school.”
Obama, in her post, also gave a shoutout for a foundation called the Girls Opportunity Alliance, which has been set up by her and former President Barack Obama.
"I learned a lot in school—how to do my multiplication tables and structure a paragraph, yes, but also how to push myself, be a good friend, and dust myself off after a failure,” Obama, who grew up in Chicago, wrote.
"I believe every girl on the planet deserves the same kind of opportunities that I’ve had a chance to fulfill her potential and pursue her dreams. We know that when we give girls a chance to learn, they’ll seize it. And when they do, our whole world benefits. Girls who go to school have healthier children, higher salaries, lower poverty rates, and they can even help boost their entire nation’s economy. The future of our world is only as bright as our girls," she added.
Shortly after Obama's post, multiple celebrities, including Jessica Biel, Natalie Portman, Victoria Beckham, and Kerry Washington took to social media to share their pictures from their school years.
The former first lady, ever since leaving the White House in 2017, has continued to focus on issues she worked on while she was in office with her husband, with her primary goal being education access to all. She also published her memoir 'Becoming' last fall, which quickly became an all-time bestseller, and launched an international book tour last year to promote the book.