Yara Shahidi Graduates From Harvard University

Grown-ish star Yara Shahidi has officially graduated from Harvard University, People reports.

Shahidi, 22, attended Harvard’s in-person commencement on Thursday (May 26). Her father, Afshin, took to Instagram to celebrate the momentous occasion.

“Beautifully surreal moment seeing our delicate petal in full bloom,” Afshin captioned his Instagram photo featuring Shahidi in her cap and gown.

The actress has been “celebrating all week” and counting down the days until graduation through a series of social media posts.

Leading up to commencement, Shahidi said she’s “sharing this special moment with my most special day ones,” as she posted a picture alongside her brothers.

According to Vogue, the 22-year-old studied in Harvard’s Social Studies & African American departments with a focus on “Black political thought under a neocolonial landscape.” Shahidi completed a 136-page thesis paper before walking across the commencement stage.

“It’s surreal to have finally hit this major milestone,” Shahidi told Vogue. “I’ve known I wanted to go to college since I was four. By 17, I knew exactly what I wanted to study, so to see that come to fruition is a goal fulfilled.”

Shahidi was accepted to Harvard University at 17 but took a gap year to focus on her career, People reports.

“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,” Shahidi said at the time of her deferment.

The Grown-ish star told Seventeen Magazine that she got into every school she applied to, but the Massachusetts Ivy League college was her dream school.

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