Throwback Pics Show What Michelle Obama Looked Like As A Teenager

There's no question that Michelle Obama has had an incredible journey in life, from her humble childhood in southside Chicago all the way to the White House and beyond. But Obama's stunning transformation didn't just happen overnight and her adolescence demonstrably played a huge role in shaping who she would become as a person. Plus, if you're wondering what exactly she looked like during this formative period, there are a number of throwback photos that have you covered. In a February 2020 Instagram post, the bestselling "Becoming" author shared a picture from her Prom night back in 1982, when she would have been around 18 years old. In the snapshot, Obama wears what she described in the accompanying caption as a "pink satin, polka-dotted dress." 

The future first lady posted the photo as part of a joint campaign between MTV and her own When We All Vote initiative. Notably, Obama attended Whitney Young High School in her native Chicago. And, in 2018, well over three decades after graduating, she returned to the school both to promote her upcoming memoir and to encourage a group of young women to follow in her footsteps by defying gender and race-based expectations. "It was just amazing seeing her in real life," one student enthused to ABC 7 Chicago of Obama's visit. "I mean, someone that you look up to all your life, since her and [Former U.S. President] Barack Obama have been in the public eye. I think it was just so surreal."

It's worth mentioning that Whitney Young isn't just any high school — it was Chicago's very first magnet school. Speaking to Vogue in 2007, Michelle Obama recalled spending three hours a day commuting to and from the campus. It was worth it in the end, though, as the education she received at Whitney Young helped punch Obama's ticket to Princeton University in New Jersey. In 2018, the former first lady shared a Princeton throwback photo on Instagram, offering a glimpse at what Obama was like as a fresh-faced college student back in the early 1980s.

The "Light We Carry" author confessed to feeling out of place when she first arrived at the prestigious university. "I know that being a first-generation college student can be scary, because it was scary for me," Obama wrote. "I was black and from a working-class neighborhood in Chicago, while Princeton's student body was generally white and well-to-do. I'd never stood out in a crowd or a classroom because of the color of my skin before. But I found close friends and a mentor who gave me the confidence to be myself." 

The beloved former first lady also offered some advice to anyone who was in a similar position: "Be brave and stay with it." While speaking to a group of students in 2018, Obama elaborated, "Find a community for yourself [...] whether that's through sports or it's a cultural organization or a minority student group," adding, "Finding a cohort for yourself and starting to build your community is going to be important," (via CBS News). She graduated from Princeton in 1985, and subsequently attended Harvard Law School in Massachusetts, ultimately graduating in 1988.