BECOMING BY MICHELLE OBAMA Reviewed by Jason Hedden

I have always enjoyed reading, but I don’t always make time to read for pleasure. However, over the past two months, I’ve had the opportunity to read more books than I have in the past two years. I enjoy most genres but am most often drawn to biographies. I enjoy learning about the thoughts and feelings of people we typically only know through historical accounts or their portrayal in the media.

One of my recent favorites was the 2018 memoir, “Becoming,” by Michelle Obama. In this book, the former first lady takes us on a compelling journey through her childhood on the South Side of Chicago, her Ivy League education, her work as a corporate attorney, and finally her time in the White House. As expected, this book is full of interesting stories from her life, but most captivating is the candor and vulnerability in her telling. She emphasizes the importance of education and mentors in her life and how she now strives to be a mentor to others. I was surprised to learn that she was not a fan of Barack Obama entering politics and worried about what it would do to their family, especially their young children. Ultimately, believing that her husband was what this country needed, she put her own promising career on hold to raise her children and campaign for her husband in his historic run for president.
My biggest takeaway from this book is the power of sharing our personal stories. We are all so much more than the labels society places on us. It is through sharing the nuance, subtlety, and even the contradictions of our lives that we can paint the most accurate portrait of who we really are. This kind of truth-telling is where real connections can be made, and common ground can be found. In this regard, Obama leads by example by being open and vulnerable while sharing her unique story. The willingness and ability to care about and understand each other’s stories is as important now as it ever was. This book has encouraged me to be more willing to share the story of my own life, but more importantly, to seek out and learn from the stories of those around me.