Los Angeles (Obama.net) – Over the weekend President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama spent their time speaking to college graduates at several Universities around the country. During their speeches the Obama’s criticized the media and popular culture specifically new forms of media such as blogs, cable shows and talk radio programs. The president and first lady warned these graduates to not believe everything they hear via these new forms of media. The first couple also went on to critique a world where we would rather reward reality tv stars with fame and fortune instead of those who work hard and accomplish their goals.
In addition to these critiques of our current society the Obama’s also offered a message of hope and inspiration. Obama referenced a story about civil rights leader Dorothy Height who passed away on April 20th and how she was admitted to Barnard University but not allowed to attend the college once school officials realized she was black. So instead of giving up on her dream of attending college Height went to school at New York University and was able to realize all of the various dreams and goals she had set for herself.
For the most part I would have to agree with Obama’s comments at these various commencement speeches. I do think that our society has become a bit less personable with all of the mobile phones, texts and various personal electronic devices. Through these devices we are constantly linked to the massive amounts of content that is created by the various new media outlets. Whether that news information is correct or just someone’s opinion we are now much more likely to believe everything that we hear or read instead of digesting the facts for ourselves and coming up with our own conclusions.
I do think that we need to put less of an emphasis on these reality tv stars and news bloggers and more on obtaining a quality education so that we can make our own informed decisions. Instead of having some radio talk show host tells us what we should think about a particular event we should have the knowledge to understand what is going on in our world and form our own opinions. Receiving a college education is the best way to gain this knowledge. With all of the various government grants that Obama has made available it is now easier than ever for people to get some financial aid to help pay for a college education. Hopefully more and more students will take advantage of these various government grants and get a college education to help them achieve their goals.
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