So what was Obama doing in 1984?
He was working a couple entry-level jobs in New York.
From Wikipedia...
Following high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles, where he studied at Occidental College for two years.[10] He then transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations.[11] Obama graduated with a B.A. from Columbia in 1983, then worked for a year at the Business International Corporation[12] and then at the New York Public Interest Research Group.[13][14]
After four years in New York City, Obama moved to Chicago to work as a community organizer for three years from June 1985 to May 1988 as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland (Roseland, West Pullman, and Riverdale) on Chicago's far South Side.[13][15]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama#Early_life_and_career
He worked for a international publish and research firm, Business International Corporation and then for NYPIRG before going off to Chicago.