Angelina Jolie’s oldest daughter Zahara is going to college, the actress revealed on Instagram, and a prestigious one at that. Jolie announced that her 17-year-old daughter will be starting classes at Spelman College, the nation’s top-ranked historically black university or college, in Atlanta this fall.
“Zahara with her Spelman sisters!” Jolie wrote, sharing a photo of her. “Congratulations to all new students starting this year. A very special place and an honor to have a family member as a new Spelman girl.”
Zahara isn’t the only Jolie-Pitt kid in college now. Her older brother, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, now 20, has been studying at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, since August 2019. Footage came out of Jolie then, getting emotional while dropping Maddox off.
Jolie has been open about how her six children have shaped who she is. In an Harper’s Bazaar UK interview publishedon June 14, Jolie candidly discussedthe impact Zahara, Maddox, 18-year-old Pax, 16-year-old Shiloh, and 14-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox, have had on her.
“My children have an impact on every aspect of who I am,” she said. “The moment you become a parent, your life isn’t yours. You don’t know what ‘you’ is; it’s not really about your life anymore, and so you want to represent them, you want to be that model for them; your best self.”
She added that when she doubts herself, she goes to them for reassurance. “When I have doubts and I don’t know who I am, I’ll sit with them and feel they know me more than anyone knows me,” she said. “And then I see myself, and I see them as good people, interesting people, all very strong individuals, and I think I can’t be all bad, I can’t have made a mess.”
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.