"Back when I was a girl, even though I was bright and curious and I had plenty of opinions of my own, people were often more interested in hearing what my brother had to say. And my parents didn’t have much money; neither of them had a university degree. So when I got to school, I sometimes encountered teachers who assumed that a girl like me wouldn’t be a good student. I was even told that I would never be admitted to a prestigious university, so I shouldn’t even bother to apply.," Obama said at the Qatar National Convention Center in Doha.
"Like so many girls across the globe, I got the message that I shouldn’t take up too much space in this world. That I should speak softly and rarely. That I should have modest ambitions for my future. That I should do what I was told and not ask too many questions. But I was lucky, because I had parents who believed in me, who had big dreams for me. They told me, don’t ever listen to those who doubt you. They said, just work harder to prove them wrong.
"And that’s what I did. I went to school. I worked hard. I got good grades. I got accepted to top universities. I went on to become a lawyer, a city government employee, a hospital executive, and –- the most important job I’ve ever had –- a mother to two beautiful girls.
"And as I moved forward, so did my country. In each generation, brave women and men fought to end gender discrimination in the workplace, to pass tougher laws against rape and domestic abuse, to ensure equal access to education for women. And while we still have work to do to achieve full economic, political equality for women in the U.S., today, nearly 60 percent of American university students are women. And as for the law school at Harvard University –- which I actually got my law degree -- the Dean of the school is now a woman, as are half the students," the First Lady said at the Qatar National Convention Center in Doha.
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