Now I think it』s one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child—What do you want to be when you grow up? As if growing up is finite. As if at some point you become something and that』s the end.
在後記（Epilogue），也有這樣一段：
For me becoming isnt about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self.
I can』t say exactly when or why this began, but Craig—the boy who could high-five and what-up his way around the neighborhood, who blithely catnapped anytime he had ten free minutes, regardless of his surroundings—grew more fretful and vigilant at home, convinced that catastrophe was creeping our way.
It was hitting us both, I assumed, that there were perhaps important things we hadn』t discussed, that we had perhaps divergent views on whether this was a temporary farewell or an outright, geographically induced breakup. Were we going to visit? Write love letters? How hard were we going to work at this?
Eventually, our waiter came around holding a dessert plate, covered by a silver lid. He slid it in front of me and lifted the cover. I was almost too miffed to even look down, but when I did, I saw a dark velvet box where the chocolate cake was supposed to be. Inside it was a diamond ring.
It had all been a ruse. 奧巴馬這小子玩兒了招欲擒故縱。
最後送上兩份米歇爾牌雞湯。濃湯版：
What Ive learned is this: All of them have had doubters. Some continue to have roaring, stadium-sized collections of critics and naysayers who will shout I told you so at every little misstep or mistake. The noise doesnt go away, but the most successful people I know figured out how to live with it, to lean on the people who believe in them, and to push onward with their goals.
清湯版：
If you don』t get out there and define yourself, you』ll be quickly and inaccurately defined by others.
In the first chapter of 「Becoming」, the author, Michelle Obama, described her childhood and college life with events and thoughts that showed her growth and some of her vital streaks that connects with her follow-up developments as an adult and Obama』s wife. In another word, the first chapter 「Becoming me」 writes about everything about her and herself before she met Barack Obama. She wrote about her talent in piano and how she have both argument and achievement with her stubborn aunt Robby, about how she adamant on her point of view about leaning piano, about what she saw and what she felt at her puberty period, about her life and study in high school for elite kids and one of the best Universities in the world, Princeton University. From what I read and interpretation from the book, I would say her illustration and narration are quite authentic and appealing.
Firstly, it is easily and natural for me, as a student at the same age, to connect my similar experience with her stories in the book. For example, there is a paragraph talking about what her friend in high school, Santita Jackson, whose father is a national prominence that advocated for the rights of underserved African Americans, and she do together, especially her depiction about Santita』s reaction towards a large group of people and her best friend. In the book it wrote: 「It』s what I loved most about Santita. Like me, she could be frivolous and goofy when we were with a larger group, but on our own we』d get ponderous and intense, two girl-philosophers together trying to sort out life』s issues, big and small. We passed hours sprawled on floor of Santita』s room on the second floor of her family』s white Tudor house in Jackson Park Highlands, a more affluent section of South Shore, talking about things that irked us and where our lives were headed and what we did and didn』t understand about the world」. Well, to be honest I think this paragraph is a typical and realistic description of myself when I was a high school student who are interested in Philosophical theories as I first read about this paragraph. That is exactly when I behaved when I was in high school. I would become a friend with Michelle if I were in the same scenario. Other descriptions in the book such us her perspective about her family and her balanced relationship between her parents are also quite appealing, it does not give me any sense of alienation at all although we lived in different countries and different periods.
Secondly, I find out two main topics in 「Becoming me」, which are the life of African Americans from 1950 to 1970 and the growth of a little girl and how she found her identities. There are stories about her relatives, about how her grandfather is both amiable and irritable to her, about her neighbors, classmates and teachers, about what everyone around her speak and do. Another topic is about how she managed to get on well and pursue her own interests within a community, from elementary school to the traitorous teenager, from high school to Princeton. Her tone in telling these stories is calm and provoking, seeming like she was telling simple stories but containing deep confidence and power inside.
