“Jolted?”
In the speech, he recalls a conversation with his mother about his slipping grades, how he hadn’t started filling out college applications and how he was being “casual” about his future. He started to tell her he didn’t need to hear that, but Obama says she cut him off, gave him a hard stare and asked if he remembered what it was like to put in a little effort. Obama says hearing that from his mother jolted him.
“But eventually, her words had their intended effect,” he says. “I got serious about my studies. I made an effort. And I began to see my grades — and my prospects — improve. And I know that if hard work could make the difference for me, it can make the difference for you too.”
“I will confess to you that I was kind of a goof-off in high school, as my mom reminded me,” he said. “You know, I made some bad decisions that I’ve actually written about. You know, got into drinking. I experimented with drugs. There was a whole stretch of time that I didn’t really apply myself a lot. It wasn’t until I got out of high school and went to college that I started realizing, ‘Man, I wasted a lot of time.’ “
So is Obama going to tell the same story every year now? How boring. The only thing new this year is the ‘jolted’ part of the mythology. She probably caught him smoking pot and was pissed he didn’t offer her a toke too...lol!