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Barack Obama rose to prominence at an acutely unpleasant time. I remember a constant sense of worry in 2008. We were experiencing the worst economic recession that most of us could remember. I was 13. My step-dad had recently lost his job.Every conversation you had and every newspaper you read was saturated with bad news.

Living in Seattle, you could look at the gray winter skies and feel like you were looking right at our countrys collective psychebleak, dark, dreary. Then, out of nowhere, Barack Obama shot onto the scene and lit those skies up like a lightning bolt.

One could reasonably argue that the economic recovery started almost entirely because of this one mans personal charisma. Looking at Obama today it is easy to forget the youthful energy that spurred his 2008 campaign; it was an energy that you couldnt help but be excited by, no matter what your politics were. His commandingly deep voice, and the electric eloquence with which he deployed it rekindled our countrys drive.

During the next eight years I grew through the latter half of my adolescence and into early adulthood. This period of personal uncertainty was always propped up by an underlying confidence that my country was being run by a pair of strong, competent and ethical hands. As a somewhat gawky teenager, there was a lot that I needed to learnmy president could not have been a better teacher.

Barack Obama taught me what it means to be an American, and he made me proud to be one. He would never hesitate to highlight the things which made this country great. He celebrated the fact that the United States was the only country in history where a half-Kenyan, half-White child born into a middle class background could rise to be the leader of the free world. He espoused the great American values of freedom and equality for all.

However, he never shied away from the skeletons in this countrys closet. He would talk as openly as possible about police bias, the wage-gap, and our outsized foreign military presence. He taught me that being an American means clinging tightly to our shared values of freedom and equality, while also taking responsibility for the instances in our history when we ignored said values.

Barack Obama showed me what it means to be a man. He was dignified and strong. He exercised this strength with measure, always aware of the implications of doing so. He also was not afraid to be compassionate or kind. We saw this when he let a child rub his head in response to the question does your hair feel like mine?. We saw this when he openly shed tears on national television after the Sandy Hook Massacre.

He was eager to publicly show the admiration and respect he had for the women in his life. When asked about Michelle there was no limit to the amount of praise he was willing to give, or the amount of love he was willing to show. Today, the extramarital affairs of both Bill Clinton and Donald Trump have been dragged over and over again into the spotlight; Barack Obama continues to serve as a silent rebuke to their gluttonous behavior.

I consider myself tremendously lucky to have grown up during Barack Obamas presidency. Im talking less about his politics (although I do agree with them) and more about the example he set with his personal conduct. No one, Democrat or Republican, can deny that he was exceptional in this department. It worries me that someone turning 13 today will spend their formative years without such an example in the White House.

Politics in 2017 have become bizarre and depressing. However there is always reason to be hopeful. We can remind ourselves that not long ago this country overwhelmingly elected and reelected a true example of American exceptionalism: our first black president. That still means something.

Daniel Metz

English/Biology Major

Class of 2018

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Coming of Age During The Obama Presidency - Dailyuw