It’s back-to-school time for kids, parents, and teachers across America. That includes first lady Dr. Jill Biden, who is returning to the classroom this week and making history in the process. Longtime educator Biden has always maintained that she would continue teaching during her husband’s presidency, but given that he was elected during the pandemic, she’s had to teach through Zoom since his inauguration (though she did make an IRL visit to a British classroom with Kate Middleton earlier this year). Today she’s back in a school building, specifically Northern Virginia Community College, where she taught writing during the Obama administration, when her husband was vice president. Biden is the first first lady to work full-time outside the White House.

“Teaching isn’t just what I do. It’s who I am,” says Biden, per Today. She recently told Good Housekeeping, “There are some things you just can’t replace, and I can’t wait to get back in the classroom.” Though recent first ladies, including Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, had careers prior to their husbands’ elections, most chose to focus on family and use their platforms to do good while in the White House (though we suppose there’s a case to be made that Melania Trump’s modeling career continued during her tenure as first lady).

A longtime proponent of community colleges, Biden told Glamour in July, “People should know that community college is a stepping stone to whatever they want to do in the future…. These schools provide such a good, strong foundations. They’re very nurturing.”

She also wrote a special Labor Day tribute in Time to America’s teachers as they prepare to head back to school amid a pandemic that is still raging, and in many ways targeting young students more than ever before, writing, “Educators, always remember that right now someone out there is a better thinker because of you. Someone is standing a little taller because you helped her find the confidence she needed. People are kinder because you showed them what that meant. Your strength and resilience, your creativity and kindness, are changing lives and changing the world.”

Imagine asking for an extension on a paper from Dr. Jill Biden! We bet her class starts right on time.

Dr. Jill Biden is just another member of Team USA!

On Saturday, July 24, the First Lady traded in the polka dot dress she wore to the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics for full-on Team USA garb. Though the 2021 Olympics are mostly closed to spectators, the world leader was once again seated near French President Emmanuel Macron as she cheered on the 3×3 basketball team. Biden also attended the day’s swimming event and hosted a watch party at the U.S. Embassy for the Team USA-Mexico softball game, per People.

But let’s get back to this fit. While attending the events, Biden was decked out in the official Team USA ensemble designed by the iconic American designer Ralph Lauren. She also brought back her “Jill Biden” mask that she wore the previous day.

Biden was also seen jumping up and celebrating when Team USA defeated France 17-0 in 3×3 basketball. Sorry, Macron. 

Shortly after, she was pictured congratulating the team. “We walked over at the end and we just said, ‘Yo, thank you so much …’ Not ‘Yo.’ We wouldn’t … ‘Thank you so much for coming,'” Team USA basketball player Kelsey Plum said, per USA Today. “Hopefully she enjoyed it and she said she was just really proud of us. So I think that we won her over a little bit.”

Not bad for Biden’s first solo trip abroad as the First Lady. She and President Joe Biden recently opened up to Vogue about how travel impacts their marriage. “I miss her,” the president said. “I’m really proud of her. But it’s not like we can just go off like we used to. When we were living in Delaware and married, once a month we’d just go up to a local bed-and-breakfast by ourselves, to make sure we had a romantic time to just get away and hang out with each other.” 

“And the other thing is, she’s been traveling all over the country,” the president continued. “And doing major events for me…and for the country. And so I’ll find that I’m working on a hell of an important speech and I’m distracted. And then I may not be working on one and I want to go and hang out with her, and she’s working on an important speech! Or grading papers. We have to figure out a way—and I mean this sincerely—to be able to steal time for one another. I think that’s the deal.”

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The Tokyo Olympic Games have officially begun, and first lady Jill Biden attended the Opening Ceremony wearing a snappy polka-dot dress—and more importantly, a mask.

As this year’s Olympic Games are closed to spectators, Biden was one of the few in the stands and was joined by French president Emmanuel Macron, with whom she chatted. JustJared reports this is Biden’s first solo trip abroad as first lady. She and President Joe Biden recently opened up to Vogue about how travel impacts their marriage. “We have to figure out a way—and I mean this sincerely—to be able to steal time for one another. I think that’s the deal,” said the commander-in-chief. 

For the Olympics Opening Ceremony, FLOTUS chose a white dress with black polka dots, a blue face mask with her name embroidered on it, and lots of pearls: a multistrand necklace, a bracelet, and matching earrings. She completed the look with dark sling-back heels and a small clutch purse.

Though perhaps not as spectacular as other Opening Ceremonies, given the circumstances surrounding COVID-19, the event was no doubt a special one. For the first time in Olympics history, almost every country had at least one female flag-bearer, thanks to a new ruling from the International Olympic Committee allowing each nation to use two flag bearers. “With 49% female participation, Tokyo 2020 will be the first gender-equal Olympic Games ever,” said the IOC. (So we’re fully calling it Tokyo 2020 even though it’s 2021? Okie dokie, then—if you say so.) 

In addition to cheering on Team USA, Jill Biden, Ed.D., has recently been promoting the COVID-19 vaccines and, in an interview with our own editor-in-chief, the value of a community college education. “People should know that community college is a stepping stone to whatever they want to do in the future,” Dr. Biden says. “These schools provide such a good, strong foundations. They’re very nurturing.” 

For the first time in its 60-year history, Glamour’s 2021 College Women of the Year are exclusively students enrolled at community colleges across America. What better way to commemorate this special series than to have Dr. Jill Biden, the first lady of the United States, talk to the undeniably powerful accessibility of community institutions, considering she is a professor at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), where her students know her as Dr. B.

“[NOVA] felt like home,” Dr. Biden tells Glamour Editor-in-Chief Samantha Barry during  an exclusive interview held at the White House in June. “I felt it was my niche.”

Dr. Biden teaches writing and says she demands a lot of her students—and herself. When she was serving as Second Lady, her writing was put to the test while applying for her professor position. As the only first lady thought to hold a paying job while in office, she sees herself reflected in her students, studying while taking care of their families and furthering their careers.

“One thing is clear: Dr. Jill Biden is the best national advocate for the power of community college that America has ever seen,” Barry says.

“People should know that community college is a stepping stone to whatever they want to do in the future,” Dr. Biden says. “They provide such a good, strong foundations. They’re very nurturing.”

Barry and Dr. Biden discussed the value of community college and the resilience of its students, running with secret service, and more in the interview, above. 

As we were sifting though the pile of applicants for Glamour’s 2021 College Women of the Year—focused entirely on community college students across the U.S.—we had an idea: Wouldn’t it be something if the first lady of the United States could somehow be involved? Like the applicants, she’s always struck a balance between work and commitments that come with family and community. And of course, Jill Biden, Ed.D., is probably the most visible advocate we have for community colleges and how they can contribute to educational equity—she taught at Delaware Technical & Community College, and since 2009 she’s been a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA).

After some emails and successful Zoom calls with her team, Dr. Biden said she’d love to help, and so in early June, Glamour editor in chief Samantha Barry went to Washington, D.C., to interview her about the unequivocal value of community college institutions (watch that here). But we also managed to pull off a surprise for two of our applicants, who thought they were hopping on a Zoom for an interview with Glamour and instead were met with the first lady, who delivered the news that they were chosen as two of our 2021 Community College Women of the year. 

The two women are incredibly accomplished. You can read their stories—along with our other five honorees here—but here’s a snapshot: Tay Mosely, 46, attends Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, and is a beloved tutor in the college’s writing lab. She’s overcome some pretty heavy mental health challenges with grace and has found that blogging is a cathartic outlet.  On Tay’s Bipolar Cooking, she fuses her life’s twin pillars: cooking and mental health awareness—both of which go hand in hand for Tay. After graduation she plans to open her own catering business. 

Katherine Haley, 29, graduated from Bristol Community College in Fall River, Massachusetts, in  2021 as valedictorian of her class and is headed to Brown University in the fall. Katherine’s story is powerful and, honestly, incredible: Having overcome obstacles that include losing both her parents, homelessness, and a decade of drug addiction, she’s not only an advocate for recovery awareness but an exceptionally brave young woman charting a course that a previous version of herself could never have imaged. At Brown in the fall, she will study psychology to complete a bachelor’s degree. 

Suffice it to say, surprised is an understatement when both women signed on and saw FLOTUS waiting for them on Zoom. The conversations were heartfelt and honest, and prove that no matter how old you are or what situations you’ve found yourself in previously, community college is for everyone and can lead to some really incredible opportunities, as it has for Tay, Katherine, and all of our 2021 honorees.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden might be the first couple, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have to work on their marriage. 

“We have to, I think, try a little harder to make time for one another,” Jill recently told Vogue during a joint interview with Joe. “Even the thing about having dinner together: Sometimes we eat on the balcony; last night we ate in the yellow oval, upstairs. It’s just part of the day that we set apart, and we still light the candles, still have the conversations, still put the phones away.”

Though they aren’t exactly in a “long-distance relationship,” their duties as POTUS and FLOTUS often keep them apart, and after decades of marriage, says President Biden, it feels weird not to see her every day. “I miss her,” he said. “I’m really proud of her. But it’s not like we can just go off like we used to. When we were living in Delaware and married, once a month we’d just go up to a local bed-and-breakfast by ourselves, to make sure we had a romantic time to just get away and hang out with each other.” 

“And the other thing is, she’s been traveling all over the country,” the president continued. “And doing major events for me…and for the country. And so I’ll find that I’m working on a hell of an important speech and I’m distracted. And then I may not be working on one and I want to go and hang out with her, and she’s working on an important speech! Or grading papers. We have to figure out a way—and I mean this sincerely—to be able to steal time for one another. I think that’s the deal.”

Dr. Jill Biden says splitting their time between D.C. and Delaware gives the couple “the best of both worlds”: “We have our home in Delaware; we have grandkids in Delaware. Finnegan and Maisy are at Penn. They say, ‘Nana, we hear you’re coming home; can we come down and have lunch?’ Then they clean out the refrigerator; they take bags full of food home. And then, in D.C., we have grandkids here—Naomi’s here. She just got her first job as a lawyer. So she comes over, and she’ll do movie night with us, or she’ll play tennis with her boyfriend. We have friends in both places. I guess our home base has sort of stretched from Delaware to Washington. It’s just bigger now.”

In happy news to everyone but the founding fathers who dumped tea into Boston Harbor to kick off the revolution, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden recently joined Queen Elizabeth for the beverage.

The meeting took place on Friday, June 11, at the Eden Project in England. The Biden family, of course, is in town for the G-7 summit. Earlier that day, Dr. Biden and Kate Middleton met at a school in Cornwall to talk about early childhood education…and to feed rabbits. Though Biden wore a white dress and pink jacket to that event, tea is a time for pastels, so she made a quick change into a light blue ensemble before meeting up with Her Majesty Liz plus Charles, Will, Camilla, and her bestie, Kate.

One reporter asked the first lady if she and Middleton had talked at all about how to act in front of the Queen, to which she replied, “No, I didn’t! We’ve been busy. Were you not in that room? We were talking education,” per CNN. Earlier in the week, she told reporters, “Joe and I are both looking forward to meeting the queen. That’s an exciting part of the visit for us…. We’ve looked forward to this for weeks and now it’s finally here. It’s a beautiful beginning.”

Though this was the first royal-presidential meeting of the Biden administration, it’s not the first time the president has met the monarch; the two were introduced in 1982, when President Biden was a senator, per CNN.

“She was very generous,” Biden said of this year’s private meeting, adding that the long-reigning monarch, “reminded me of my mother in terms of the look of her and the generosity.” He is the 12th American president to have an audience with Queen Elizabeth II. But the first to wear aviators.

The pair met up on the morning of Friday, June 11, for a visit to the Connor Downs Academy preschool in Cornwall. Early childhood is a particular passion of of Middleton’s; Jill Biden, of course, is a former teacher, a community college educator, and the holder of a doctorate in education. People reports that the two women participated in a lesson with the young students and a roundtable discussion about early education. 

“Welcome to the UK, @FLOTUS,” the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wrote via their official Twitter account. “It was great to host Dr. Jill Biden and experts from the UK and the United States for a discussion on the importance of early childhood on lifelong outcomes, on the first day of the #G7 Summit.”

While speaking to NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell, Middleton also briefly addressed the news that her niece, Lilibet Diana, had been born last week, calling the arrival “the very best—I can’t wait to meet her!”

Her comments echo those of Prince Charles, who spoke at a Mini factory last week about sustainability and mentioned that the birth of his fifth grandchild was “such happy news.”

Middleton’s bright outfit is by Alexander McQueen, which we can only assume means Dr. Biden wore something by Alexander McPresident. Get it? No? Listen, I’m trying.

The two women also fed the school’s pet rabbits together. Lucky bunnies!

This is just the first of a few events the Biden and Windsor families will take part in together. People reports that Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Duchess Camilla, Prince William, and Duchess Catherine will all be present at a reception where they will welcome President Biden and other world leaders. This marks the first time President Biden will meet the long-reigning monarch, who has met 12 presidents before him. So…big day for Joe, normal afternoon for Liz.

On June 10, in the picturesque fishing town of St. Ives in Cornwall, U.K., a host of world leaders from around the globe have descended in anticipation of the 47th G7 summit. After last year’s summit was canceled due to the pandemic, it is the first time the member states have convened since two years ago in Biarritz. The event also marks the first international visit conducted by President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden after he was sworn in back in January. 

While this year’s packed schedule has a particular emphasis on climate change and vaccination programs, the rendezvous which has attracted the most scrutiny and anticipation is that between Biden and the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. The pair began their talks with a bilateral meeting today, reportedly discussing the opening up of travel between the U.S. and the U.K., establishing shared objectives to tackle the climate crisis, and a potential new trade agreement being dubbed the “Atlantic Charter” for a post-Brexit Britain. 

Yet given this is also Dr. Jill Biden’s first trip abroad since becoming First Lady—and, of course, the fact that Johnson and his wife, Carrie Johnson (née Symonds), were married just under two weeks ago—the attention of the global media has been trained just as firmly on their partners. And before their first meeting today, the Johnsons and the Bidens took a walk along the Cornish coast, with Dr. Biden used her moment in the spotlight to send an unexpected statement through her choice of outfit. 

Her polka-dot Brandon Maxwell dress might have struck an upbeat tone all of its own, but it was Biden’s blazer that did most of the talking. The First Lady may have worn her jacket from French label Zadig & Voltaire before back in 2019, but this time she added the word “love” across the back with metal studs. The look felt like a subtle riposte to Melania Trump’s infamous “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” jacket that she controversially wore in 2018 to visit a migrant child detention centre, with Biden’s version clearly marking a new and more inclusive era for America on the world stage.

Following her coastal walk with the Johnsons, Dr. Biden took a moment to speak with gathered reporters, offering her own insights on why she chose to wear the jacket. “We’re bringing love from America,” she said. “This is a global conference, [and] we’re trying to bring unity across the globe. I think it’s needed right now, that people feel a sense of unity from all the countries and feel a sense of hope after this year of the pandemic.” Now that’s a message we can all get behind.

This post originally appeared on Vogue.

Peak “dog mom” vibes. First lady Jill Biden recently carried a Valentino purse with custom artwork on the front: a J, presumably for Jill, and hand-painted portraits of her two dogs, Champ and Major. 

The detail was spotted by Page Six, which reports the accessory is a Valentino Garavani Rockstud, and that the designer is offering the item plus pet portraits for the low, low price of $2,000 a pop. Click here to see all the ways you can customize the bag with an animal image courtesy of illustrator Riccardo Cusimano.

The first lady has been spotted carrying the bag a few times this month. Maybe it’s a way to keep the animals close to her heart when she has to travel for work.

Jill Biden recently offered the Obama family words of consolation following the passing of their canine, Bo, who lived at the White House during Barack Obama’s years in office. “Bo brought smiles to us all,” she wrote on May 8 after the Obamas confirmed the dog had passed following a battle with cancer.

“Today our family lost a true friend and loyal companion,” Obama wrote on Twitter. “For more than a decade, Bo was a constant, gentle presence in our lives—happy to see us on our good days, our bad days, and everyday in between. He tolerated all the fuss that came with being in the White House, had a big bark but no bite, loved to jump in the pool in the summer, was unflappable with children, lived for scraps around the dinner table, and had great hair.”

Hold your pets close, friends. And if you have the extra cash, go ahead and get them painted on your stuff. It’s actually super cute, now that I think about it. Anyone have $2,000 I can borrow?