Dear Mr. President

Dear Mr. President,

Have you ever felt in your life that nothing was going your way and the world seemed totally hopeless? I am Amisha, and I felt this way during Fall 2010. Let me rewind. Way back in 2nd grade, my Dad used to talk about your campaign ideas of “Hope”, “Change”, and “Yes, We Can”. These words meant nothing to me at that time and felt like a jumble of letters. In 3rd grade, I took the Neglieri test for GATE and did not get selected. The exam was generally about spatial ability, my Achilles heel. I felt really down. Then, from the back of my mind, your words jumped out and inspired me.

Your message, “You can’t let your failures define you-you have to let them teach you,” rekindled flame to succeed and prove myself. Changing my tactics to work on weak areas of geometry, I continued to draw strength from my strong concepts of algebra and word analyzation. With full determination, knowledge, and confidence, I appeared for John Hopkins and Stanford Talent Search programs and aced them both. I felt very proud of myself for putting Baker Elementary at the same level of Harker and Challenger. One thing I learned from your speech and my personal experience is to never lose hope. I wish that other Moreland kids and children world-wide will keep on following your inspiration. They should not get disheartened when one door closes, but try to open new ones.

Mr. Obama, I can relate to how you must be feeling right now. Despite of all your accomplishments such as ending 2 wars, killing major terrorists, and mending relations with our Trans – Atlantic partners, your approval rating continues to decline. This is the time for you to Walk the Talk. You should not lose hope. You can take concrete actions to change the way Washington works. You should find common ground between Democratic ideas with Republican features to create programs that will boost US economy. You can work with W.H.O. to make “Let’s Move” a global program. You can continue to encourage Arab Spring revolutions. You can follow the footsteps of your ideals, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr. to end apartheid. Yes, You can.

An Inspired Soul,

Amisha Wadhwa