Before He Became the President of the USA, he Served Ice-cream

Pre discussion questions

Why is President Obama serving ice-cream?

Did you, or do you, have a part time job when at university? What did you learn from it?

President Barack Obama looks back fondly on the summer of 1978, when he worked selling ice-creams. He worked for Baskin Robbins near his grandparents' Honolulu home At that time he thought that working there would give him less time to follow his dream to be a basketball player. And so he thought it was a waste of time. He only worked for the money.

And President Obama said that serving rows and rows of very hard ice cream can be brutal on the wrists. "As a teenager working behind the counter at Baskin-Robbins in Honolulu, I was less interested in what the job could do or how it could  help my future. Instead I was more interested about the lost time for not being able to practice my basketball moves like jump shots.

"My first summer job wasn’t exactly glamorous. But it taught me some valuable lessons," Obama said. "Responsibility. Hard work. Balancing a job with friends, family, and school are what it taught me.”

It was 16-year-old Obama's first job. And even though financial aid helped Obama go to the esteemed, expensive Punahou School, he didn't begin working until the summer before his senior year of high school.

It's part of the reason why his government is launching the Summer Opportunity Project, he wrote. This is a national program to help teenagers get into their first jobs. It is to teach them the value of hard work and keep them away from trouble and crime after school hours.

Obama said that because he served so many ice-creams he doesn’t care about ice-cream now. But he did say that he will never forget that job — or the people who gave him that opportunity.  They helped him to succeed and become the President because of the things he learned from having a part time job all those years ago.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=1, B=6, C=5, D=8, E=2, F=7, G=3, H=4

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1. I have fond memories of high school and the friends I made.

2. What is ISIS is doing is brutal, the killing, the cruel actions are brutal.

3. Hollywood award nights are very glamorous events.

4. It is your responsibility to arrive to work on time.

5. Since her husband died she has had to balance work with raising her son.

6. She is highly esteemed for the good work she did with the poor.

7. Next month, we are launching our new clothing brand.

8. Because we were poor growing up, we were taught the value of hard work and money.

    

    

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1. Describe your fondest memories as a child.

2. What does Obama mean by the work being brutal on the wrists? What work would you think is brutal? Why?

3. When he says ‘the work was less than glamorous’, what does he mean? What kind of work would be glamorous?

4. What responsibilities does having a part time job teach you? What responsibilities does owning a dog when you are a child teach you?

5. How hard is it for people in your country to balance their work and home lives?

6. If you were to be esteemed for something, what you like to be esteemed for?

7. What program is Obama’s government launching and why?

8. If you had or have children, how would you teach them the value of money or responsibility?