Here’s some #BlackJoy and #BlackGirlMagic to help carry you through your Monday.
To set the scene, we take you back to TM Landry College Preparatory in Louisiana. The high school has been capturing hearts (and collecting all the tears of joy) since last year, when it started posting viral videos of its young scholars’ reactions to being accepted into their colleges of choice.
This month, Jada Wiltz’s reaction joined the ranks of the amazing videos, according to the Boston Globe ... and the joy was palpable. It was too perfect.
The video starts out with someone praying just before Wiltz goes to anxiously check her status on her computer. As the results became clear, the room erupts into celebration. One individual, whom the Globe identifies as Wiltz’s brother, hugs her so tightly that he lifts her up from her seat.
Of course, because we all love this level of joy, Wiltz’s video has been viewed more than 900,000 times.
“I didn’t expect that much from the video,” the 18-year-old told the Globe. “I was just more so happy that I got in at the time.”
According to the Globe, Wiltz only attended TM Landry for her senior year, but her experience there has proved to be “life-changing,” she said.
“I started going there, and it really changed my perspective on education,” she said. “It made it more of an opportunity than an obligation.”
Now Wiltz is hoping that her viral video will help inspire younger students the way her school inspired her.
“I don’t want what I did to be the focal point,” she said. “I want it to be encouragement and just more than me. I want it to reach other people that don’t have the confidence or courage to apply to colleges like Wellesley.”
Wiltz is planning to study math with a concentration in biology, with hopes of becoming an anesthesiologist.