Although his grades were not excellent, Obama was still admitted
to Occidental College in Los Angeles. Obama made several black
friends at school, but he still did not fully understand what it
meant to be a black American, which left him feeling like he did
not belong, according to the video. After his sophomore year,
Obama transferred to Columbia University in New York, where he
eventually graduated in 1983 with a degree in political science.
While at Columbia, Obama walked through many ethnic
neighborhoods and tried to understand the "societal forces
around the issue of race," according to the A&E video. Obama
eventually knew that he wanted to be a community organizer, a
job he hoped would allow him to confront the kind of racism and
poverty that had troubled him for most of his life. After
graduation, Obama moved to Chicago's South Side to help with the
Developing Communities Project and the Altgeld Gardens public
housing development. After successfully completing projects in
school reform and hazardous wa