You can already hear the disparaging remarks from the Right. There go those Obamas again, the arugula-eating, fitness-oriented, education-minded First Family, showing everybody how superior they are to the Palin Family. Some might just use the word uppity and some contemptuous racial slur that we'd rather not repeat. Either way, those in conservative circles will find some reason to denigrate Malia Obama, the elder daughter of the First Family, for being admitted to and choosing Harvard University.
She will, however, take a year off to coincide her enrollment with her family's departure from the White House.
In deferring her start date until 2017, Malia, 17, is availing herself of the opportunity to take a “gap year,” a popular option for high school seniors who are seeking experiences outside the classroom — some in far-flung parts of the world — before they begin pursuing a degree. Harvard actively encourages admitted students to do so.
It may also yield a less scrutinized freshman-year experience for Malia, whose parents have worked vigilantly to keep her out of the public eye during her years in the White House and hope to shield her from such attention as a college student.
When she arrives at Harvard, Malia will join a long list of presidential children who have attended, including John Quincy Adams and his son, John Adams II; Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert; the sons of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt; Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John F. Kennedy; and George W. Bush, who went to business school there.
Malia, a senior at Sidwell Friends School in D.C., is 17 and will graduate this June. She will celebrate her 18th birthday on July 4th, the same day we celebrate the birth of our nation and this likely infuriates those with Obama Derangement Syndrome. How can that be when her dad is the Kenyan usurper?
Those who seethe over our first Black President are probably irritated by the fact that the Obamas are exceptionally accomplished, well-adjusted and capable people who make some of these 'God-fearing' Republicans look even more shameful and hypocritical by comparison. Thankfully, many of us appreciate having the Obama Family represent our country with grace and dignity for the last 7 1/2 years and we wish them continued success, happiness and health!
