A 15 year old sophomore, Amyia Green spent two days writing a winning essay to see former First Lady Michelle Obama Thursday night in Dallas.
“I’m going to be shocked because it didn’t really hit me ‘til today that I was actually meeting Michelle Obama,” said Green, one of nine students from the Young Women’s Leadership Academy in Fort Worth who will be attending.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to me,” said Green.
While Green and the other students may not personally meet the former first lady, they will be in the audience at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas to hear Obama speak on International Women’s Day.
Everyday, the school’s 400 students pass by a quote from the former first lady, “You Don’t Take Shortcuts,” which is painted on one of the walls in the main hallway.
“The fact that we have her quote here on the wall, I mean she is a role model,” said YWLA principal Tamara Albury.
The all-girl school held an essay contest to select nine students who would be given free tickets to the event.
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“Michelle Obama is as tall and beautiful as an oak tree, and yet in all the pictures I have seen her in, she does not seem to tower over people,” wrote 8th grader Asheley Jones in her winning essay. “She knows that helping people is the smartest thing you could ever do.”
“I wrote it because I felt like maybe, maybe she could change my life or maybe she could give me some advice that could help me through my day or maybe we can just connect as two people,” said Jones.
13-year-old Yirae Kim is also among those from the school whose essay got her selected to attend.
“It’s just amazing to meet someone who has worked her way through the hardships that society hurled at her,” said Kim.
The Young Women’s Preparatory Network donated about 100 tickets to the Young Women’s Leadership Academy and 7 other all-girl schools in Texas.
Schools in Dallas and Grand Prairie were also among those to receive the free tickets.
