Leah Giralico One Education Plaza Nazareth, PA 18064 January 5", 2009 President Barack Obama 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, | would like to start off by congratulating you on your historic victory in the 2008 Presidential Election. | was extremely excited when enough votes were counted for CNN to project you the winner. | never seemed to be interested in politics before, but this election was an exception. | found myself glued to the television screen during the primary debates, and | was constantly distracted by AOL News reports. Your political race inspired me to actually look at the issues. Since | am not eighteen yet, and therefore cannot vote, the issues didn't appear important to me, but listening to you and the other candidates speak made me want to look at the problems facing our country and the things we can do to fix them. With so many problems surfacing throughout 2008, | feel our country desperately needs change, and | am confident that you are the leader we need to help us achieve that change. | hope that you will be able to find solutions for education and create new scholarship funds. Issues dealing with education are very important to me. I have always worked very hard and I would like to benefit as much as possible from my education. | think that the 2008 Presidential election was a very important one. Many people are facing hard times and | think that the American people need to be inspired. They should feel hopeful that the problems will get better. | truly believe that you will have a tremendously positive impact on our country, and | am hopeful you will be the strong and smart leader we need. Sincerely, Seo Auabeo Leah Giralico