In Pics: Obama Attends Daughter Malia’s High School Graduation

Going forward, Malia is taking a year off before enrolling at Harvard in the fall of 2017.

In this 7 April 2016 file photo, US President Barack Obama and his daughter Malia walk across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington (Photo: AP)

US President Barack Obama marked a big milestone on Friday – his daughter Malia graduated from high school.

Away from the media glare, the soon-to-be 18-year-old collected her diploma from the private Sidwell Friends School in Northwest Washington during an outdoor ceremony. Her father, mother and other relatives were on hand for the big moment. The White House had barred media coverage of the event.

Malia was 10 and longing for a puppy her father had promised when her family moved to the White House. She’s grown up in the public eye ever since, getting and shedding braces, being taught how to drive by Secret Service agents and spending short stints away from her parents and sister.

Obama has said it hasn’t been easy watching “one of my best friends” grow up so fast, in front of the world.

I do a lot of commencements around this time of year, which I love doing, although my older daughter is graduating this week and I will not be able to handle that well.

Barack Obama (at an event last week)

Obama has blamed his emotions for declining an invitation to deliver Sidwell’s commencement address as then-President Bill Clinton did in 1997 when his daughter, Chelsea, graduated from the same school. “I’m going to be sitting there with dark glasses, sobbing,” he said in February.

Malia’s younger sister, Sasha, who turned 15 on Friday, attends Sidwell, too. After Friday’s graduation ceremony, the Obama family celebrated over lunch at Cafe Milano in Georgetown.

What’s Next for Malia?

In this Nov. 21, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama walks with daughters Sasha, right, and Malia. (Photo: AP) 

Malia is taking a year off before enrolling at Harvard in the fall of 2017.

The Obamas haven’t disclosed Malia’s plans for her “gap year,” but delaying college could keep her close to her tight-knit family as it prepares for the end of Obama’s presidency in January. The Obamas plan to stay in Washington for several years after he leaves office so Sasha can finish school at Sidwell.

Both parents often praise Malia and her sister for being normal, happy kids despite living lives that are anything but normal.

The Obama girls were the youngest kids to grow up at the White House since President John F Kennedy’s children, Caroline and John Jr, more than a half century ago.

Three months into White House life, Malia got the long-awaited puppy Bo, a Portuguese water dog. Obama had promised his kids a dog after the November 2008 election.

(With inputs from AP)