Born July 4, 1998, Malia Obama’s birthday falls on America’s biggest holiday. But Malia has always been keen to explore far beyond the borders of her country. She has spent summers in the UK with her British boyfriend, interning at the US embassy in Spain and travelling to many countries with her family. One of those places includes Indonesia, where Barack Obama spent some of his childhood. In May 2019, Michelle Obama, talking about a picture of them from Venice, Italy, said that she encourages her children to travel to seek out “new perspectives”. She said that by “reaching outside of our comfort zones, we can discover more about ourselves”.

She’s an activist

In 2017, when Malia was just 18, Sundance Film Festival attendees were shocked to see her there, protesting against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which could have dire consequences on the environment and encroach on Native American land. Malia also joined her family to march for equality on Juneteenth in 2019 – a holiday to celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which ordered all slaves to be freed.

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She’s following in her parents’ academic footsteps

In 2019, Malia began her third year at Harvard, where Barack and Michelle Obama attended law school. Malia’s major is unknown but she interned for film producer Harvey Weinstein during her gap year in 2016 and her father has claimed she will not be going into politics.

Malia doesn’t have a perfect reputation

Michelle Obama admits she told her daughter not to end up in the gossip columns when she went off the university, but that’s exactly what she did. She has made headlines by being pictured kissing her boyfriend Rory Farquharson, smoking, and underage drinking. Then she was called out by comedian Pete Holmes for speaking throughout his performance at a comedy club. He later admitted he had no idea it was Malia at the time.

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She’s not afraid to show emotion

Speaking in Michelle Obama’s Becoming documentary on Netflix, Malia said she’s glad the family is no longer facing the same scrutiny as when they were in the White House and teared up as she commended her mother for continuing to spread positive messages of hope.

“You're so good, I love you too much,” she told her mother backstage at a show for her book tour.

Asked why she’s always crying, Malia admitted anything can get tears flowing; from watching her inspirational mother, to simply hearing a Stevie Wonder song.

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