Barack Obama - College Years

Barack Obama:

Undergrad: Political Science (Occidental & Columbia University)
Post-grad: Law (Harvard)

Obama started his academic career at Occidental College. In his memoir Obama wrote that he chose Occidental because of a girl he met who influenced his decision, but at the time he was very indifferent towards college. Obama claimed to have been inspired by many of the professors there, especially by Roger Boesche, the Arthur G. Coons. In these professor's classes Obama received his first exposure to political theory classes and those two classes sparked his general interest in politics . In a later to Boesche Obama wrote, "Your classroom is where my interest in politics began. Posing question that have challenged societies through the ages, your teaching and research remind us of the importance of constant inquiry and debate, lessons that are at the core of our democracy, and that I've drawn on throughout my life, particularly in this office. You helped instill passion for ideas, no to only in me but, in the generations of students who found in your courses inspiration that would guide them forward

Obama also made his real strides into persuasive public speaking during his time at Occidental. He spoke at a rally which was attempting to persuade the Occidental Board of Trustees to divest the college of its investment from apartheid South Africa. When Obama looked back on his time at Occidental he said, "I became more socially conscious at Occidental even though I was partying -anti-Apartheid movement, starting to be interested in social policy and poverty and starting to study civil rights even if through the haze of a hangover".

Obama later transferred out of Occidental College to Columbia where he finished off his undergrad majoring in political science with a specialization in international relations. At Columbia Obama published an article in the school magazine called Sundial. After graduating from Columbia Obama went to work for Business International Corporation.

Several years later Obama returned to school to complete his post-grad. Obama studied law at Harvard University. Obama enrolled at Harvard age 27, he was older than many of his peers. At Harvard, Obama became president of the Harvard Law Review, he was the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Obama's accomplishment of being the law reviews' first black president was one of the first times Obama made headlines. During his time as President of the law review Obama learned to manage different people's political views and bring them together to put out the best content. While he was at Harvard Obama was also working at Sidley & Auston law firm as an associate, where he met his future wife Michelle. Obama graduated from Harvard as a magna cum laude.