From his early childhood years, Barack Obama had an international life. Although he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, he moved to Jakarta, Indonesia with his mother at the age of six. According to his Grade three teacher, he wrote an essay in her class about how he wanted to become the president because he wanted to make people happy.

At 10, he moved back to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. After graduating high school, Barack moved to Los Angeles to study at the Occidental College for two years and then transferred to Columbia College, where he studied political science.

In 1983, Barack graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, specializing in international relations.

In 1985, Obama moved to Chicago and became a community organizer. This job significantly shaped him in his political career as he bonded with and learned from the impoverished community he worked with, improving his personal, organizational and leadership skills.

In 1988, Obama attended Harvard Law School and graduated in 1991.

Barack Obama then moved back to Chicago where he married Michelle Robinson a year later and proceeded to work on his memoir, “Dreams from My Father.” Obama also began working as a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, teaching for a period of 12 years.

In 1995, he finished his memoir. This same year, he also directed the Project Vote campaign. This was a voting registration initiative in Illinois which achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state. This same year, Obama started his political career by declaring his candidacy for a seat in the Illinois State Senate. This was the jumping point for Obama’s political career and his eventual ascent to the presidency.