As previously reported, Yara Shahidi revealed that she got accepted to each college she applied to, telling Seventeen, “I did get all of my college acceptances and I’m keeping them close to the belt as of right now, but I got into every college I applied to.” Well now, it appears a new class of Black Excellence will be taking over Harvard once again with future classmate, Malia Obama.
While Shahidi didn’t disclose which institutions exactly she applied to, she did reveal that she plans on following in Malia Obama’s footsteps with deferring college for at least one year.
Shahidi told People, “I know when Malia Obama announced [she was deferring], she got a lot of slack, but I feel like what’s interesting is I know so many people that are deferring. It’s more than to just roam around or just sit down and stare at a wall, but it will also give me an opportunity to work. I’ve been working more than half of my life and that’s always been balanced with school and all of the other responsibilities, so to have a year to focus on work and to focus on specified interests will be nice before I pick a career and choose what I want to study and my life path.”
Malia Obama is planning to attend Harvard this year, after deferring her acceptance for the 2016-2017 school year. And although Obama took the time off before attending college, she wasn’t just sitting around. Obama earned a production/developmental internship at the Weinstein Company, helping to pitch movies and more. The Weinstein Company gets scripts from top screenwriters and unknown talents alike. They have produced some of Hollywood’s most decorated films over in the last decade, like “The King’s Speech,” “The Artist,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Django Unchained,” and “Good Will Hunting.”
Although Obama revealed that she would be attending Harvard this fall, Shahidi kept things secret, until she revealed through an Instagram post seen below. Stating, “The paradox of education is precisely this – that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.” ~ James Baldwin
#CrimsonPride“
This opportunity was well earned by both Shahidi and Obama, and they will be joining the ranks of former First Lady Michelle Obama, who also wrote letters of recommendation for Shahidi. Congratulations to these beautifully, intelligent women.