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On Monday 3rd December 2018, three members of the Lambeth Youth Council, Rianna,Raven and Ricardo attended this exciting event. They listened to Michelle Obama talk about a number of issues, her experience in the White House as First Lady to her husband, President Barack Obama, and about her book, ‘Becoming’. Here’s what they had to say about this great opportunity.
Q. What did the event mean to you?
Rianna
I was one of twelve that were chosen by my school, Dunraven, to attend the Becoming: Evening with Michelle Obama. We were each given a copy of her new book and watched the interview between Michelle and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It was a great opportunity to listen to them talk and I am so grateful . It has allowed me, and 1600 school children plus the 300 from the Lambeth area,to listen and watch Mrs Obama, a woman that I look up to.
Raven
The event to me was inspiring and I am very grateful for the opportunity. I was one out of twelve students from Dunraven School and Sixth Form that had the chance to attend the Becoming : Evening with Michelle Obama. The school had a choice of over 1600 pupils to choose between and I was lucky enough to be chosen.
Ricardo
The event was a once in a lifetime experience I will be forever grateful for. Being one of a select few chosen to go by UTC Southbank, The energy in the arena was undeniably powerful from start to end.You just had to be there.
Q. What impact did the event have on you?
Rianna
This event has inspired me to be the best that I can be as well as being true to myself.I believe that it has taught me the reasons for loving myself and to speak out about the things that I believe in. It has made me want to work so much harder for everything in my life and not to be as hard on myself as I once was.She spoke about the book and her life in the White House. Her words made me realise that other people’s opinions should not affect my opinion of myself.Her book has proved to me that with the right mindset you can be whatever you want to be.She showed us that our voices are important and I believe that to be the best message to share with young people.
Raven
The evening had impacted me on a positive level as it made me reevaluate everything that is and was happening around me. Michelle encouraged girls and boys to love themselves before they even attempt to think about loving someone else and advised us to never give up. She changed my mindset from trying to be the best but to being better than my past self and set goals for myself based on my own aspirations, rather than based on other people’s achievements. She spoke about her book and the challenges that came with not only writing the book, but the challenges that had come during Barack Obama’s campaign for presidency and during the duration of his two terms. Her speaking on this topic showed me that you could do well and still have others judge you. As a result of this it made me more confident and to teach myself that if anything bad or negative was to be said of me, to ignore it and keep becoming a better me.
This was a fantastic, and interesting opportunity for our young Councillors and we are very grateful to Dunraven school for choosing Rianna and Raven to attend, and UTC Southbank for choosing Ricardo, and hopefully more of our exceptional young Councillors can attend events like this in the future.
- Written by Dylan Brewerton- Harper (19)