We are all so proud!
Actress Yara Shahidi has graduated from Harvard University!
Shahidi has been acting since she was a little girl, literally growing up before all of our eyes. Her star power was heightened on the hit sitcom black-ish, Shahidi landing her own spinoff show grown-ish, during her senior year of high school. Already accomplished, everyone waited with bated breath to see what the teen would do next. Then she announced she was going to Harvard, having been accepted to every single college she applied to and receiving a recommendation letter from Forever First Lady Michelle Obama. Talk about impressive! Shahidi revealed that despite her success, an acting career was a surprise blessing whereas college was always in her plans.
“Acting has been amazing and I love every moment of it, but it wasn’t something I planned for. College is something I’ve been planning for, for such a long time. I’ve wanted to go to college before I was in middle school and so I think because of that, that’s what made this such an insanely cool moment and also nerve-wracking because I was like ‘I’ve been leading up to this. This is 12 academic years in the making!,'” she previously told reporters.
Now the rising entertainment mogul has graduated, taking to social media this week to countdown to the big day alongside throwback pictures and photos alongside her family and friends.
“Celebrating ALL week! T MINUS [ONE] DAY AWAY FROM GRADUATION,” Shahidi captioned a photo of herself in her college gown while her mom, Keri Shahidi, looks on ecstatically.
After taking a gap year in 2017, Shahidi started her studies in Harvard’s Social Studies and African American departments, with a focus on “Black political thought under a neocolonial landscape,” Vogue reported.
The university’s commencement ceremony took place on May 26, Shahidi officially becoming a Harvard graduate, her family expressing their congratulations on their social media accounts.
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During a 2018 interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Shahidi shared: “I’ve wanted to be a history professor for longer than I’ve wanted to be an actress.”
If we know anything about Shahidi, she can be both. So watch out world, Yara Shahidi is a Harvard graduate now!
Photo Courtesy: Yara Shahidi/Instagram