After Barack Obama became the President of the United States, Malia Obama’s life was set to be in the public eye. 

She was born on July 4, 1998, at the University of Chicago Medical Center, which was fitting for the future daughter of the President. 

Before Obama’s presidency, her parents, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, experienced infertility issues. Michelle Obama and her sister Sasha were conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF). 

Before moving into the White House, the Obamas resided in Chicago. Obama served as an Illinois state senator and senior lecturer at the University of Chicago. Michelle Obama worked as an associate dean of student services at the same university before being appointed vice president for community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals. Malia and Sasha Obama attended the University of Chicago Laboratory School before moving into the White House in

2008, when their father became POTUS.

Malia spent most of her formative years living in the

White House and graduated from the prestigious Sidwell Friends School in 2016.

Moving from Chicago to the White House meant significant changes for the family. Michelle and Barack Obama chose Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., for their children, Malia and Sasha Obama, after considering several options. The school provides excellent education and has a history of educating presidential children. 

In 2017, she and her family left the White House.

Malia Obama had called the White House home for eight years during Barack Obama’s presidency. 

After graduating from Sidwell Friends in 2016, Malia Obama decided to take a gap year before attending Harvard University. “She took advantage of an interesting opportunity during a unique time in her life,” said Anita McBride, chief of staff for former First Lady Laura Bush, in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. By taking a gap year, Obama arrived on campus with less visibility and pressure than if she had started in 2016 during her father’s final months in the Oval Office. Harvard also encourages students to take a gap year, as long as they do not apply to another degree-granting program.” Taking a year off was a wise decision for the former first daughter, who would attend Harvard in the fall of 2017.

She and her sister, Sasha Obama, are activists.

In the summer of 2020, the Obama daughters participated in the nationwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations, which were prompted by numerous acts of racism and police brutality that resulted in the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black lives.

However, Malia’s campus life ended abruptly in 2020 due to COVID-19. She had to leave her college dorm and transition to remote learning from her parents’ home. 

In 2023, Malia made her directorial debut.

Her creative collaboration with Donald Glover is going well. After working together on ‘Swarm,’ Glover’s creative studio and multimedia company, Gilga, announced they were collaborating on a short film by Obama. The author of the GQ article warned Malia Obama that she only had one chance to make a good film, given the pressure that comes with being the daughter of a former president.   Malia chose to drop her last name in the credits of her film ‘Swarm,’ going by ‘Malia Ann’ instead.