His never ending slogans of hope and unity, his comparable recognition to Dr. Martin Luther King'that change occurs not from the top down, but from the bottom up--his notable strong civil rights record, and his unique ability to unite communities of a rainbow of ethic groups from multitudes of social backgrounds and cultural heritages. It was no more than five years ago when this former Chicago senator was a relatively unknown political figure; but while travelling on his improbable quest from senator to President, genuine characteristics, such as his youthfulness, compassion, and utter authenticity is what swiftly propelled him to the forefront of the political scene. Today he firmly stands on the shoulders of the heroes and heroines who paved the way for him to become the first African-American President in the history of the United States of America. Election night of Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 was not only the night Barack Obama broke down long upstanding racial barriers of America's dark past, but more personally a night when I finally believed in the audacity of hope.

A little over twenty-five years a young, timid but relentless Ghanaian man and a young assertive Cameroonian woman--determined to no longer to be stricken by the woes of poverty in their developing nations, immigrated to the land of opportunity'America, in expectation for a better life; not only for themselves but for their children. With hard work and diligence, my parents worked multiple jobs to pay their way through school and make ends meet. Today I am proud to say that my parents are two of the most flourishing people I know. Through various hardships, obstacles, and difficulties they have worked hard to achieve the accomplishments they have attained today.

There were many cynics who believed my parents would not succeed abroad. They wished failure upon them and gave negative criticism. Still, my parents pushed through the hatred ignoring what people had to say and conquering the trials and tribulations that faced them. When times were tough, hope forever served as the eternal flame that shone in their darkest of nights and hardest of times signifying that a better day would come. They knew that with the good education they received, nothing would ever stand in their way. They chose to believe in hope over fear and in only America are their stories'and so many others possible.

In the words of many, knowledge is power. In the words of my parents, education is the key to survival. As a young girl, my parents promised me that with a good education, I would posses the universal key to unlock every door to my dreams in the land of opportunity ' America. As a first generation American of West African and European descent I see President Obama, a first generation American of Kenyan and European descent as a role model who exemplifies the meaning of receiving a good education and dreaming big. Aside from the motivating story of struggle from my parents, Barack Obama is my personal inspiration and is who out of six billion people on planet earth I would choose to spend the day with.

Barack Obama has altered my beliefs in hope and has challenged me to dream larger than life. He defied the odds and achieved what many cynics thought was unattainable. His landslide election victory into the White House signifies that even a first generation American who grew up impecunious, a skinny kid with the funny name, a former Harvard graduate and community organizer from Chicago who served less than one comprehensive term in the Senate, a down-to-earth, honest, man with soaring oratory who wanted to bring hope to the people in this contemporary world of unrelenting conservatism could become President of the most powerful nation in the world--America. He is a global inspiration demonstrating that whatever our race or creed many be, we can achieve the odds as we now have the blueprint. I can see on the not-so-distant horizon, that there is something out there for me and this great nation. I feel safe knowing that President Obama stands for the people. He is an individual with an unmistakable vision, idealism, and promise. He is consistently cool, calm and in synch with the times, in tune with the issues, and on the same page with the collective 'rest of us.' He is simply, presidential.

Election night of November 4th, 2008 at approximately eleven P.M. was the night that reaffirmed my optimism for brighter days that lay ahead for the future of my country and when the dream of the fallen civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s was realized when a man was elected 'not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.' As I looked into the crowd on my television in my boarding school in Quebec Canada, I knew that only I could be the one to unlock the doors to my dreams. I knew that my time was now and only I have the power to control the next great chapter in my American story. Yes, I can work for the United Nations. Yes, I can change the world. Yes, I can give my children the opportunities that my immigrant parents struggled to give me. And on that blistering cold day of Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009, as I was surrounded by a sea of two million hopeful people of every race and creed on the National Mall in Washington, DC, I listened to my President Barack Obama deliver his inaugural address; and with tears of joy streaming down my cheeks, I was once again reminded of why my parents ' and so many millions of others ' emigrated to the United States' 'because in the unlikely story in America, there has never been anything false about hope.' ' Barack Obama