President Obama left the White House this afternoon to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by grabbing a pint of Guinness at the Dubliner, an Irish pub near the Capitol. Check out some photos from his visit to the bar below.

President Barack Obama visits the Dubliner, an Irish pub in Washington, D.C., with his Irish cousin, Henry Healy, center, and Ollie Hayes, a pub owner in Moneygall, Ireland, on St. Patrick's Day, Saturday, March 17, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama is reflected in a mirror at the Dubliner, an Irish pub in Washington, D.C., with his Irish cousin, Henry Healy, and Ollie Hayes, a pub owner in Moneygall, Ireland, on St. Patrick's Day, Saturday, March 17, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

This past week, a group of twelve students ages 13-15 from the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson College (EGA) in Islington, London visited Washington during the UK Official visit.  EGA is an all-girls school with students ranging in ages from 11-17 where nearly 90% of the girls come from minority ethnic backgrounds and 2/3 speak English as a second language.  First Lady Michelle Obama visited EGA during her trip to London in 2009 and invited a group of EGA students to join her at Oxford University in 2011, as well as to visit the United States.  Their trip this week, which was focused on diplomacy, leadership and community, included a visit to the White House where they were joined by White House Mentees in attending a Women’s Leadership Panel in the State Dining Room. The panel was moderated by Sarah Hurwitz, Special Assistant to the President, Senior Advisor to the Council on Women and Girls and Senior Presidential Speechwriter, and featured four White House staffers – Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady Jocelyn Frye, Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Danielle Gray, Secret Service Agent Leslie Pichon, and myself.

While we initially spoke a bit about our professional backgrounds and what our jobs entail at the White House, the afternoon took a more personal turn as we took questions from the students.  The girls wanted to know what kinds of obstacles we had overcome in our lives, if we ever felt insecure about our abilities or hesitant to share our opinions, and when we knew what we wanted to do in our careers.  We shared our personal experiences and admitted to doubts, confusion and hurdles along the way.  We all came from different backgrounds and experiences, parts of the country and perspectives, yet the common theme that came across from all the women on the panel was the importance of discovering your passion and having the courage to allow it to guide your path.    

I imagine that I speak for the other panelists as well when I say that meeting these girls was a highlight of my experience at the White House.  My background likely has similarities to theirs, despite being an ocean apart, which was something I talked about.  I was raised in a Mexican immigrant household by a single mother and my family dealt with issues such as limited access to health care, unemployment, and immigration status, as well as struggling in general just to make ends meet.  Spanish was the primary language in my home during my childhood and dreams such as working in the White House didn’t seem anywhere near the realm of possibility.  I know how much it would have meant for me when I was their age to hear from women who came from similar experiences, faced comparable obstacles and overcame the statistics.  

EGA’s motto is “learning without limits, achieve without limits and futures without limits.”  I believe that truly is the most important lesson to internalize as one dares to find the courage to dream big.  I hope in a small way, the girls were able to see themselves in us just as I was able to recognize myself in them.  And just as President Obama encourages young people everywhere to “dream big dreams,”  he is the example of the extraordinary places our dreams and our education can take us.

By White House Deputy Director of Hispanic Media Alejandra Campoverdi

A quick look at what happened this week at WhiteHouse.gov:

No Quick Fix: Speaking from Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland on Thursday, the President explained his all-of-the-above strategy to develop every available source of American-made energy. “We need an energy strategy for the future,” the President explained. “Yes, develop as much oil and gas as we can, but also develop wind power and solar power and biofuels.”

Rock-Solid Alliance: On Wednesday morning, President Obama – together with the First Lady, the Vice President and Dr. Biden – welcomed British Prime Minister David Cameron and Samantha Cameron to the White House during the Official Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn. Later that evening, the Prime Minister and his wife were honored with a State Dinner, where they were joined by dignitaries from both countries. “In war and I peace, in times of plenty and times of hardship,” President Obama remarked, “we stand tall and proud and strong, together.”

Announcing a New Trade Case: After forming the Trade Enforcement Unit two weeks ago, President Obama announced on Wednesday that, “we’re bringing a new trade case against China – and we’re being joined by Japan and some of our European allies.” The effort is focused on expanding American manufacturers’ access to rare earth materials, which China currently supplies and, due to their policies, prevents the United States from obtaining.

Bracketology: Before the madness began, the President took time to fill out his brackets for the 2012 NCAA men and women’s basketball tournaments. While Kentucky, Ohio State and Mizzou made his Final Four, it’s the North Carolina Tar Heels who he selected as his national champion. On Monday night, the President headed to Dayton, Ohio with Prime Minister Cameron to catch some early round action in person.

Two years ago, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act – legislation to improve our health care system – into law. As the President said in March, 2010: “The bill I’m signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for and marched for and hungered to see.”

As we look back on two years of progress, senior administration officials are turning to Twitter to answer your questions about the Affordable Care Act in a series of White House Office Hours. 

On Monday, March 19th at 10:30 a.m. EST, Nancy-Ann DeParle, Deputy Chief of Staff and former Director of the White House Office of Health Reform, will be on Twitter for "Office Hours." Then on Friday, March 23rd at 2:00 p.m. EST, Cecilia Muñoz, Director of the Domestic Policy Council, will answer your questions.

This week, the President pressed for support of advanced manufacturing, held a series of "Live from the White House" Interviews, made a major announcement on trade rights, hosted Prime Minster Cameron for an Official State Visit and a trip to an NCAA game, and spoke on energy and job creation in Maryland.

Any American who has filled up recently knows that prices at the pump, driven by increased world oil prices, are too high. The President understands the impact this has on families and businesses.  He also knows there’s no silver bullet to bring down the price at the pump.  That is why he continues to invest in a sustained, all-of-the-above approach to American energy, increasing the efficiency of the vehicles we drive, investing in advanced technologies and alternative fuels, and expanding responsible domestic oil and gas production.

When it comes to domestic production, the President has made clear he wants us to continue to produce more oil and natural gas.  This alone isn’t a solution to high gas prices, but it will help reduce our reliance on foreign oil and our vulnerability to the ups and downs of the international market. On that front, the numbers speak for themselves; every year the President has been in office, domestic oil and gas production is up, foreign imports of oil are down, and currently we are producing more oil than any time in eight years.  In fact, imports of foreign oil decreased by a million barrels a day in the last year alone. 

Despite these encouraging trends, there are some who seem to want to paint a bleak picture of the state of American energy. So let’s take a look at the facts.

Ed. note: The Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation is commemorating AmeriCorps Week to celebrate the remarkable individuals who have served and their contributions to our country. This blog post introduces readers to Ely Flores, a former prison inmate who has transformed his own life through service, and in turn, has transformed the lives of others. When asked about his AmeriCorps experience, Ely writes:

My story is common for a child raised in a single-parent household in an underresourced and disenfranchised community. My father abandoned my family when I was young and, in my neighborhood, young offenders were more often sent to prison than to rehabilitation programs. I grew up in south Hollywood and South Central Los Angeles. Lacking a steady home life, I took to the streets and found violence as the only way to face my daily problems. My gang lifestyle eventually led to incarceration. I was in and out of prison for four years, until I realized that staying out of the penal system for good meant making profound changes in my life.

It is deeply important for youth who are in the challenging situation I once faced – being out of school and out of work – to know that there are organizations and individuals in every community that care about providing support needed to lead a life of success and integrity.  For me, this support came through two AmeriCorps programs: LA CAUSA YouthBuild and Public Allies.

LA CAUSA YouthBuild came into my life at age 17 when I was still in prison and about to become a father. The people at YouthBuild introduced me to self-accountability as I struggled to experience a positive transformation. They didn’t define me according to past crimes, but rather, embraced me with acceptance and trust.  

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on energy at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland, March 15, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Today, the President spoke at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland about his all-of-the-above strategy to develop every available source of American-made energy.

The President's strategy-- the same one the he's been pursuing since he took office-- will help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil by expanding oil and gas production here at home, using more clean energy like wind power and solar power, and developing new technologies that help us use less energy altogether.

When gas prices are high, like they are now and like they’ve been in the past, Americans feel the pinch at the pump and calls for more drilling as a quick fix to bring prices down are loudest. But as the President explained (again) today, more drilling is no quick fix or silver bullet. More drilling here in the United States isn’t enough to bring prices down or meet our energy needs, and here’s how we know:

First of all, we are drilling. Under President Obama’s Administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years.We’re operating a record number of oil rigs, and the President has opened millions of acres for oil and gas exploration both on and offshore that will help bring even more of them online. But prices are still high.

Last week, right before we launched Ethics.gov -- which brings data from across the federal government to one place where it can all be searched -- Chris Vein, the Deputy United States Chief Technology Officer, sat down to talk about how the site works and walk through its features. Check it out: