BEST ADVICE FOR TEEN GIRLS BY MICHELLE OBAMA

In a past “Get Her There,” event, which took place in New York in 2022, Michelle Obama, Amal Clooney, Melinda French Gates, and Wanjiru Wahome of Samburu Girls Foundation curved out time, to speak to teen girls. The teen girls were from ‘Girl Up.' A mentoring and empowerment program for teen girls supported by?Girls Opportunity Alliance, a program founded and run by Former First Lady, Michelle Obama. Girls Opportunity Alliance supports girls’ education.?The event took place in October, 2022 and a led up to a joint op-ed in Time, which was co-authored by Michelle Obama, Amal Clooney, and Melinda French Gates to mark International Women’s Day in March 8, 2023. The power women ensemble talked about child marriage, and how to end it in three ways.?

The advice given during this event was quite profound. The message was something teens, and young adult need to hear all the time. Girls these age, need some level of anchoring, and the truth. And it was such an honor, that this truth came from the most powerful, educated, empowered, and admired women in the world. The joint advice from Amal, Melinda, Michelle, and Wanjiru was,?“Don’t rush through life. Instead, be present for the moments, people, and causes that make you happy.”???

I love this advice too. It is reassuring, empowering, and liberating. We need to be present for things, and moments that matter now. You are alive now be grateful. You are healthy, and peaceful, live for these moments now. You are in school now, focus on your education. There is no rush.??Girls do not need to grow up under pressure. There is absolutely nothing they need to rush for in life. Where they are right now in their respective stages of life, is the right place to be in the moment. Teen girls are not brides. Teen girls are not rescue dials to their families during turbulent times. Teen girls are children who still depend on the guidance of their parents or guardians to make meaningful progress in life. To that end, no one should rush them into responsibilities they cannot handle, including themselves. Don’t rush yourself into something you cannot handle. The mere fact that all your peers are doing it, does not mean that you should also do it. Teen girls need wisdom now.

People need to let teen girls flourish. Let them discover their hidden treasures at their own pace. They are surely, their own persons. People with their own minds, and voices. Society should let them bloom to experience all these aspects of life, without any form of pressure. As such, people who are motivated by ignorance, outdated, harsh cultural, and religious practices should stay away from teen girls. The biggest responsibility of any parent in the world is to provide security to the child. The safe security that comes from love. Teen girls should remain in school, and get an education. In fact, all girls in the world, need to hear this advice one more time. “Don’t rush through life.”

This is a leadership advice. An advice that comes from a deep place of experience, and knowledge. The four empowered women on the joint advice understand life. And they are fully aware of what peer pressure can do to an innocent, or sometimes, an ignorant, and na?ve young girl. Predators relish exploiting the innocence, and ignorance of young girls. They make them believe that they are missing a lot of things, by coloring in the lines. That is not true. Young girls need knowledge, and wisdom to understand that life is a journey. They cannot live it all in one day. As such, there is need for patience. And this is precisely what Michelle Obama, Amal Clooney, Wanjiru Wahome, and Melinda French Gates told girls in attendance, and what a teen girl, and any young adult should hear today.?“Don’t rush through life. Instead, be present for the moments, people, and causes that make you happy.”??

It is important to understand that, life is rough. It bruises people. It destroys, and sometimes, kills people. Therefore, people need to be prepared to face it. People need skills for survival. People need to know themselves, and their purpose. People need a vision to face life. And how empowering it is that, it had to be women, who had to convey this powerful message to teen girls? The girls in the meeting appreciated the advice. They talked about it, and how it made them feel. We all need people like Michelle, Amal, Melinda, and Wanjiru in our lives. People who care about us. People who want the best for us. People who tell us the truth. And above all, people who want to see the best in humanity. There is so much good that remains unexplored among people. However, when teen girls access opportunities that empower them for the future. Then, there is hope of finding that unexplored good, sometimes in the future.

The four women embodies what any teen girl can become. But they will not materialize into useful professionals without education. The world can do better by reducing the number of child marriages. The current 12 million girls under the age of 18 years in child marriage is way too many. We need to eliminate threats towards girls’ education, and progress. And child marriage is the worst threat to girls’ education today. It is a shame that we have over 100 million girls out of school in our modern society as a result of teen pregnancy, and child marriage. The world needs to do, and think better. Girls deserve a future characterized with education, knowledge, and progress. Societies should remove obstacles that challenge girls’ education. Don’t rush them into anything. Instead, let teen girls remain in school, and earn their futures.

Michelle Obama did not just end that joint advice in that late October, 2022 New York event. Instead, she extended the same advice to her two daughters. In her latest book, ‘The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times,’?Michelle opened up chapter six of the book with the latest updates on her daughters. She revealed that they had rented their own house, and working towards making it a home for themselves. She said, “The truth is that I’m hoping our daughters won’t rush out of the flea market too quickly. I hope they will instead linger a while, allowing their relationships to remain fluid, and youthful. What I want more than anything is for them to prioritize learning the skills of independence-how to make a living, how to keep themselves healthy, fed, and happy” (Obama, 150).? Here,?She is speaking to the same patience she told the teens. She wants her girls to know that life is a journey with many twists, and turns. That, it takes time before people figure out what they really want. And there is nothing wrong with making mistakes as long as people learn from them.

We all need patience to understand life, ourselves, and what makes the most sense in our lives. I love the fact that, it is Michelle Obama speaking. She is not just speaking from the wisdom of an experienced mom, and adult. But instead, Michelle is speaking from a position of authority. She has been in many circles of privilege. For example, Barack Obama, and her are the first black president, and First Lady in the history of the United States of America. And such positions come with responsibility. And how amazing is it that Michelle Obama, has not only honored her position in society but also harnessed her power by thinking about young people, and girls?

She has deliberately invested in educational programs to advance girls’ education around the world. Girl empowerment, and education are things that this society badly needs. Girls still face threats in our highly informed, and educated world. There are bad people out there, who hurt girls. And in the process, prevent them from making progress and becoming people that they were meant to become. They want to keep young girls lagging behind through child marriages, and teen pregnancy. But hearing the juggernaut advice from Michelle, and Co. come across as fresh revival of hope.

Getting to your destination as an adult sometimes happens through trial, and error. No one really knows for sure how life will pan out with change of times. ?And Michelle wants her girls to take time, and learn all these things before they make any life changing decisions. I admit that, this is the sweetest advice I have ever heard from a mom. There is need for patience, especially in our somewhat, very visual culture. There are a lot of lies paraded on social media, which cause unnecessary peer pressure, and anxiety among people. But we need to learn from the best. “Don’t rush through life. Instead, be present for the moments, people, and causes that make you happy.”? ? ? ? ?

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