Michelle Obama: My Brother and I Left White Collar Jobs to Give Back

First Lady, Michelle Obama was the commencement speaker at Oregon State University. She is reported to have been invited to speak by her brother who is the head men’s basketball coach at Oregon State.

In her speech, Mrs Obama shared how, both her and her brother had had careers that they thought were successful but were instead not fulfilling. Mrs Obama was once a marketing and intellectual property lawyer and her brother worked a “white collar” job in finance.

The First Lady encouraged the graduates to pursue jobs that afforded them opportunities to work with their communities and do meaningful work.

Obama’s critics have been quick to point out that her community work paid her with “fat checks”. In 2006 alone, she earned a reported $273,618. Critics have also pointed out that Obama has been speaking at colleges in swing states and Oregon is no exception.