This teen’s essay not only got her into Harvard but also is shedding light on what life looks like after losing her mom.
After reciting her essay on TikTok, teen Abigail Mack spoke on grief as well as addressed society’s interpretation of what it means to be a family in a now-viral series.
“I hate the letter ‘S,'” the teen begins to read off.
“Of the 164,777 words with ‘S,’ I only grapple with one. To condemn an entire letter because of its use .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.”
Mack 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.”
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“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.”
Many users were not only touched but motivated to share their own experiences.
One user commented: “I, too, have an ‘S’ I avoided and am just learning to embrace what makes me feel good from all that running.”
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While another said: “I cannot wait to see all the amazing things you achieve. It’s clear you are going to you are going to have the most amazing journey!”
And in later videos, Mack reveals she decided to stick to extracurriculars to fill the giant hole her mom left after passing.
Be sure to watch the full video below.
@a_vmack ♬ original sound – Abigail Mack