No more than eight months ago, Barack Obama was inaugurated as our forty-fourth and our first African -American president. No more than a few weeks ago, he was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. In his acceptance speech, President Obama said that he was surprised and deeply humbled to receive such a revered prize among many influential leaders nominated for the prize. “To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be accompanied by so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize,” he said humbly. Nevertheless, he accepted this prize as a call of action to all nations to solve the problems that the world faces in the 21st century. Obama is clearly a symbol of hope and change through the many problems he has fought against and so valiantly solved. His message of hope gives not only the American people but students, like us, the opportunity to dream big and to have hope in our bright future. His presidency symbolizes the endless possibilities that we students all have. He gives us hope that we can grow up to become something  greater than what we thought we could ever be, maybe a great scientist who finds a cure for AIDS, a politician who fixes the next economic recession, or a doctor who helps people in third world countries.
On September 8, the President addressed Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. He spoke on the importance of education and goal setting which will lead to a bright future. He also addressed that the careers that we set for ourselves require some level of education. “No matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you will need an education to do it. You want to be a nurse, an architect, a lawyer, or a member of our military; you’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job,” President Obama said. He acknowledged a few American students. One of them was Adonis Shoats, who had brain cancer since the age of three. He had to persevere harder than average students, but he now is on his way to college. President Obama spoke about how people should all contribute in some form and how he expects us to put our best efforts into whatever we do. He also spoke about how failures should not defeat us but rather teach us valuable lessons on what to do and what not do in the future.
On October 10, President Obama addressed a crowd of 3,000 at a Human Rights Campaign National Dinner in Washington regarding gay rights. He spoke about the equality of all humans in this country. He promulgated that regardless of sexual orientation, everyone is entitled to his or her human rights of marrying and loving anyone he or she chooses to. “We as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women are just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman, and no one has to be afraid to be gay in America,” President Obama memorably asserted. He advocated an Inclusive Hate Crimes Bill, which will give the Department of Justice the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence. Another bill, the Emplyment Non-Discrimination Bill, will give equality amongst all Americans in the work force, stating that no one should be fired because of his or her sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, or disability, a law that President Obama confidently asserted he will pass. He has said that he would push to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act which allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages. His powerful speech provides the gay and lesbian students, in our school, comfort to express themselves.
One of his most important messages to us is “change.” He gives us inspiration that we can strive to get straight A’s, that we can join a cause to help those in need, and that we can increase our knowledge to educate those around us while improving ourselves as people. President Barack Obama helps us to see ourselves as well as those around us that no matter how different we may look, we are all united. He preaches unity among all races of people, something that we, as diverse Fairfax students, are proud of. He inspires us in so many ways to become leaders in our school, in our community, and in our country. So let us go out there and make a difference to  positive change.