Becoming (a book review)

Book: Becoming

Genre/Subject: Auto-Biography

Format: Audiobook

Author and Audio : Michelle Obama

Brief Summary: An inspiring and amusing auto-biography by Michelle Obama. In her narration, her life experiences and the journey of overcoming her challenges were brought to life.

The book shows many instances of wise self-reflection and a beautifully articulate journey. In her narration of her story, she has done justice to the emotions and the gravity of the situations.

The story of the Obamas signifies the endless beilef and faith in themselves and on each other as partners. It is inspiring and emotional, filled with perseverance, sacrifice, joy, pain, achievement, and a constantly evolving personal and professional life.

Expanded Review:

Early Life: Michelle Robinson was born in a modest family in Chicago at a time when racial discrimination was still prevalent. She was curious and determined since her childhood, and against all odds and the ridicule of the naysayers she went on to graduate from two IVY league colleges.

Family: She had a close knit family, with a supportive and encouraging brother, and parents who often took pride in being the strong supportive core of the family.

Early Career: She took a corporate job in a firm as a lawyer and had an assistant working under her at the age of 25. Although she was where she always thought she wanted to be, there was something off.

Obama: Around the same time she met a charming young man with a wide smile and a hard to pronounce name, Barack Obama, who was interning under her in the same law firm. Barack was driven by something, it could be seen in the way he worked and the determination he often showed.

He was dedicated in everything he did, he often worked at community centers interacting with the locals, he was doing great in college, and was writing well recieved papers and content for the Harvard Law Review.

Marriage: During their interactions as collegues and friends, Michelle and Barack eventually fell in love and got married. Their story around their marriage is quite fascinating and has a romantic element to it.

Serving the Community: Around that time, Michelle Obama understood that the corporate law made her feel unfulfilled and she decided to leave to get involved in community work and started working with the NGOs and community centers.

Barack Obama was also involved in serving the people and understanding their wants and needs. He was playing a role in encouraging the African-American community, who were often discriminated against, to rise and claim their influence by utilizing their voting power by participating in voting and the election campaigns.

This unknowingly laid the seed towards a long and often difficult journey towards becoming the first African-American president of the United States of America.

White House: The white house offered its own set of challenges, which Barack and Michelle Obama tackled gracefully, not because they are born leaders, but because they were always learning and growing, and were eager to be of service for a cause greater than themselves.

During the entire journey they were in office, they managed their professional and personal lives with a lot of new challenges. Their lives were a lot less private, even though they ate food together at the whitehouse, they could not go out in public with peace, owing to the large platoon of agents that followed them for their security. They were almost always on the move, either on a campaign or some social/official meeting.

By the end of their term, they cherished every moment in their positions and got everything ready for a smooth transition to the next residents of the white house. They campaigned for the causes they believed in till the end and also beyond their period of service.

Personal Impressions of the book: I loved the book, and was inspired by the work that the Obamas have done in their lives, I learned a lot from their story, and I hope you will find it to be of a great value. I would highly recommend the audiobook version for this one.

Takeaways

The art of becoming: giving our best efforts into being something far greater than ourselves, going against all odds inspite of the critics or ridicule. Having a will to learn and constantly grow, a will to test our limits, and a will to serve a larger purpose in life. Being relentless and having faith in ourselves and in the people who are there for us.

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Ujjawal Sureka
A Student of life.

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