Student Earns Place At Harvard University With Touching Essay About Losing A Parent

A student in the US earned herself a place at Harvard University after touching a penning essay about losing a parent. Watch her read it here:

Abigail Mack has recently been accepted into the prestigious university's class of 2025, and the admission essay that got her there has since gone viral on TikTok.

In the essay, she discusses her hatred of the letter 's', which came about after losing her mum.

The first part - which has been watched more than 16.1 million times - sees the 18-year-old saying: "I hate the letter 's'.

"Of the 164,777 words with 's' I only grapple with one. To condemn an entire letter because of its use 0.0006 percent of the time sounds statistically absurd, but that one case changed 100 percent of my life.

"I used to have two parents, but now I have one, and the 's' in 'parents' isn't going anywhere."

She continues: "'S' follows me. I can't get through a day without being reminded that while my friends went out to dinner with their parents, I ate with my parent.

"As I write this essay, there is a blue line under the word 'parent' telling me to check my grammar; even Grammarly assumes that I should have parents, but cancer doesn't listen to edit suggestions.

"I won't claim that my situation is as unique as one in 164,777, but it is still an exception to the rule - an outlier. The world isn't meant for this special case."

Instagram/abigail_vmack

After spending a period of time trying to distract herself from the letter, and the absence of her mum that it represents, she ultimately learned to stop running away from 's' and opted to start pursuing a 'double s' - passion.

"'S' got me moving, but it hasn't kept me going," Abigail concludes.

"I don't seek out sadness, so 's' must stay on the sidelines, and until I am completely ready, motivation is more than enough for me."

The essay moved people across the world, who applauded her talent and wished her a bright future at Harvard.

One person commented: "So this is what a great writer looks like."

Another said: "And you wrote this in high school? You are so amazing. I'm so sorry for your loss, they would have been so proud."

A third added: "You are an amazing writer. Harvard is lucky to have you! Hope you have the time of your life!"

Naturally, Abigail advises budding students to make sure their applications are laced with passion.

She told BuzzFeed: "Pour your passion, whatever it is, into every fibre of your application.

"Your college application is a culmination of everything you've done in high school. You've already put in the work, so the hardest part is done. Now, you just have to put pen to paper, share what you've accomplished, and, most importantly, illustrate how you plan to make a difference going forward in your own, unique way."

Topics: Viral, Awesome, Inspirational, Community, TikTok

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey