Barack Obama (Part 2)

Fun Fact: Barack Obama had a life with exposure to varying cultures because of the places he lived at such as Indonesia and Hawaii

So for this blog post I decided to write about my readings of Barack Obama's book “A Promise Land”. I am in the process of finishing chapter 4 and it's really the beginning of Obama entering the candidacy as president. During this point he was already in congress as a part of the Senate. But his campaigning and constant rallies to support himself and other democratic candidates really put him on the map. There was constant speculation of his possible candidacy, and he didn't necessarily negate the idea of it which further lit the fire. It now seemed like a reality that he could first even be nominated to run and then actually run for president. But there was a big draw back which was the burden this would place on his family. He constantly talked about how Michelle and him would have a tension and at some point a real discussion over him running for president. This amazing opportunity really became a nightmare at some point because how could you not run for president especially with such great chances. But also your family could be collateral damage of a selfish want. That's where I left off and I am excited to read how this unfolded and how he dealt with this really tough decision. 

My reflection of this part of the chapter is how hard it can be to be ambitious and want to reach for the impossible. I think I see myself in some ways similar to him, I'm at a point in my life where things are getting real and tough with college coming up. And currently I am stacking tons of classes, extracurriculars, and whatever else I can to my schedule but also trying to keep my sanity and happiness. And it's not that things are bad. I had my best semester last semester. But at what cost is this coming at, and I'm trying to deal with this by figuring out what is going to make the biggest impact and fulfill me the most and keep that while cutting other unnecessary things. I know it's not at the same scale at all, but it can be really hard especially when you have friendships, family, college, and keeping up with your regular tasks all at the same time.