Michelle Obama was born Michelle Robinson in 1964. She attended Whitney Young High School in Chicago, where she was an outstanding student. In 1982 she went to Princeton University where her brother Craig was finishing his own degree. She studied several subjects including French; she majored in sociology and minored in African American studies. She wrote a thesis on the experience of African Americans in Princeton as part of the requirements for her degree; she graduated with honours in 1985.
She then went to Harvard Law School, where she earned the title of Juris Doctor (doctor of law) in 1988. While still a student she worked for the legal aid bureau in Harvard as a volunteer, helping low paid people to get housing and legal advice.
Later Michelle Robinson went to work for the law firm Sidney Austin. She met Barack Obama there, and they married in 1992. In later years she worked in different public sector roles in Chicago.