US4 min(s) read
Published 18:12 15 May 2021 GMT
An 18-year-old has gone viral on social media after sharing her admissions essay to Harvard college.
Abigail Mack, who was recently accepted into the prestigious college's class of 2025 on an undecided major, took to her TikTok account last week to share footage of herself reading a deeply personal letter about her mother's death and coping with grief.
As you can see in the two videos Mack posted, the letter in question read: "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 .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 continued: "'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."
The teen then concluded that, despite all her feelings of loss, she's been able to get over her hangups over plurals, writing:
"'S' got me moving, but it hasn't kept me going. 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."
Suffice it to say that Abigail's letter quickly picked up a lot of attention on the platform, accruing over 16.2 million views, 1.5 million reactions, and a further 45,000 comments from other TikTok users as of the time of writing.
For example, complimenting Mack on her prose style, one person wrote: "so this is what a great writer looks like."
Another person then wrote: "Wowowowowo0wowooww. I'm just so captivated when people can organize words this well and beautifully. [sic]"
A third person then stated: "Pfft you can go ahead and skip college and go straight to getting the job. [sic]"
This commenter then wrote: "Oh my god sometimes people use words as naturally as someone would making music."
Another person then stated: "It's rare to hear one's voice so present in their writing. I could hear yours clearly here. Amazing job."
Then another TikTok user, humbled by the experience of the reading, stated: "Well at least now [I know] how high the bar is."
Finally, another person stated: "This sounds like it should be narrated over a movie. So good."
Three weeks after sending her letter to the admissions department of the Ivy League university, Abigail received an email from them, which she shared in a follow-up video on TikTok.
I have a feeling that, whatever Abigail chooses as her major, with writing skills like her's, she'll excel at whatever she puts her mind to.
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lifestyle2 min(s) read
Published 16:04 22 May 2021 GMT
A student in the UK has paid tribute to her late brother by researching the condition that killed him for her master's dissertation.
Molly Schiller, 22, a University of Birmingham biochemistry student, shared a tweet of herself and her poignant dissertation on Tuesday, May 18.
Alongside the image, she wrote: "In 2015, my baby brother passed away at age 10 from a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Six years later, I've just submitted my Master's dissertation researching the genetic causes of the same condition.
"I hope you'd be proud of me, Max," she added.
The post did not go unnoticed on social media, and at the time of writing, it has been liked almost 600,000 times and received thousands of comments.
Reacting to the post, one Twitter user wrote: "Congratulations on your accomplishment! I'm also very sorry for your loss. Your path reminds me of the quote by Kenji Miyazawa, 'We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey'. Good luck with what’s ahead for you."
A second added: "In 2010, my husband had a cardiac arrest in the street, and only survived because of his ICD which he had implanted when he was 21 years old and diagnosed with HOCM. Well done, I’m sure your brother would be so proud of you."
A third wrote: "My son was diagnosed with this condition when he was three days old. He is now 15, and we feel blessed every day that he is well and with us. I’m so sorry for your loss, but what you've achieved would definitely make your brother proud x"
Molly's brother Max first became unwell in 2014 when began to lose weight and feel tired, and despite being tested at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, nothing untoward was found, Indy100 reports.
Then, in January 2015, he died of undiagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - a condition which can often go undiagnosed in children because their heart muscles are not yet fully developed.
It can cause the chambers of the heart to shrink, preventing them from holding blood, and they can stiffen as a result, obstructing blood flow through the heart.
Molly explained that this event is what inspired her to go into science, in the hope that she could prevent other children from having the same fate as her brother.
Since Molly's tweet went viral, she has posted a link to the charity she and her parents set up in Max's name.
Find out more about Max's foundation here.
uncategorised3 min(s) read
Published 12:30 29 Sep 2017 GMT
us3 min(s) read
Published 10:14 23 Dec 2022 GMT
A mom was left heartbroken after she read her eight-year-old daughter's Christmas list request.
Posting to TikTok, Suzy Boliver shared her daughter's festive list in the hopes that it would raise awareness about the difficulties some children face at school.
"When you get your eight-year-old daughter’s Christmas list," Boilver wrote in a textbox over her video. "When I say my heart sank."
At first, her list appears to be pretty normal and contains items that every eight-year-old girl would seem to want, including Squishmellow toys, a pink iPad mini, and colorful new pencils.
But as you get lower and lower, something seems off.
Instead of completing her list with more items, the little girl wrote that this Christmas she'd like "more friends" and "less bullying" as her final two requests.
"I wasn’t going to post this," she captioned the short video. "But you know what... this is being 8 years old in 2022 and maybe we should be talking about it."
Watch the full video below:Along with the mom-of-two, social media users were also left heartbroken about the list.
"That broke my heart," wrote one user.
"Mom, your little girl is an angel who no one should bully. Please hug her for as long as you can and tell her she's amazing," added another.
Others recalled their own personal experiences too.
"My 9yo wrote this year 'To be pretty', I have no words for the sadness," wrote one user while another said: "I still have so much lingering trauma from being bullied as a child. Some teachers joined in. Happened to one of my daughters too! Life is hard."
While some also offered the heartbroken mother some advice, a few social media users went one step further and asked if they could send the little girl some gifts to cheer her up.
"You should set up a PO Box so we can send her postcards from friends around the country. I’d send her one from Oregon!"
"Any kind of squishmallow in particular she is looking for?" Another user asked. "I have some to give away and would love to send some her way."
Boliver later told her followers that she would be getting her daughter into martial arts in order to help her gain the confidence she needs to stand up to anyone who bullies her in the future.
We hope the youngster's wishes come true this Christmas!
relationships1 min(s) read
Published 16:44 26 Mar 2020 GMT
With increasing numbers of schools closed across the US due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents are having to put their teaching skills to the test. In fact, one mom from Verona, Kentucky, has gone viral after sharing a diary entry her eight-year-old son wrote critiquing her homeschooling abilities.
When Candice asked her son Ben to write a short entry in a journal, he didn't hold back, hilariously branding his mom "stressed" and "confused".
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Sharing the entry on Facebook, Candice wrote: "Y’all I’m dying!!!. This is Ben’s journal entry from Monday about our first “homed school” day. That last sentence. #WVNTI #imgettinthehangofitnow #maybe #kidsseeeverything #8yearoldcalledmeout."
The eight-year-old's very honest critique reads: “It is not going good. My mom’s getting stressed out. My mom is really getting confused. We took a break so my mom can figure this stuff out. I’m telling you it is not going good.”
This is the hilarious moment a mom "drove her kids to school", then realized she'd actually forgotten her kids at home:
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Unsurprisingly, the post has since gone viral with 302k shares, 44k reactions, and 15k comments at the time of writing.
One of the commenters wrote: "'My mom is really confused'. I laughed so hard at this and thought of you guys."
Another said: "Dude preach!! I’ve had to 'take my medicine' out on the deck sooo many times since they’ve been home!"
One homeschooling mom could totally relate to Candice, she wrote, "I'm about to go crazy with my 3 kids."
Fully embracing all the attention her post was getting, Candice occasionally took to the comments to update people on the situation. When asked if she had since "figured it all out", the mom replied, "it's a work in progress," adding that "we did have a breakthrough today with my 7th grader's Geometry work."
Candice also assured some of the commenters that her son wasn't seriously distressed by the homeschool situation, explaining that "knowing my son's sense of humor, I know he was just making fun of his mama."
health3 min(s) read
Published 16:17 12 Jun 2021 GMT
There's no doubt that abortion is a contentious issue.
Many women around the world are fighting for their right to chose whether or not they can terminate a pregnancy, and the activists who are struggling for this are both lauded and criticized from either side.
But there is an emotional toll to the procedure that is often left unexpressed - which is why it is so important to listen to the women who shared their personal stories on social media.
For example, in a video recently posted to TikTok, 19-year-old Kaylyn Weston spoke about how she coped with the after-effects of terminating a pregnancy.
In her TikTok video, Weston states: "On the right side, you're labeled a sinner. On the left, you're expected to only gain relief and an open future.
"When in reality, it feels like all my doors have been closed. No one wants to hear about the negative effects an abortion can have without it getting political."
The video has clearly resonated with other TikTok users, and accrued over 966,000 views, 202,000 reactions, and a further 8,000 comments as of the time of writing.
Indeed, many other women subsequently came out of the woodwork to share their experiences too.
For instance, one TikTok user wrote: "Honestly it's probably the hardest choice we make. No one is 'happy' after getting one. It's still a sore spot for me."
A second stated: "The mother's day guilt is the worst. But I was in NO place mentally or financially to be taking care of a baby."
Someone else stated: "It's been 7 years since mine... I still carry the ultrasound in my wallet."
Another person wrote: "As far as being labeled a sinner: only God knows what you went through. He understood your situation and understands your pain. God loves you."
Finally, someone else added: "Took me 10 years and every now and then, I see a kid that would have been the same age and [...] sadness overwhelms."
Commenting on her experiences in a later interview with Buzzfeed, Weston stated: "To me, forbidden grief is the grief that a woman may endure after having an abortion. It is isolating, heavy, and difficult to process."
She added: "It’s referred to as forbidden because we feel we shouldn’t experience grief of any kind, as it was our choice to terminate the pregnancy.
"However, a loss is a loss, and just because a woman decides to end her pregnancy does not mean that she will not regret or feel any negative emotions towards it.
"I feel the biggest misconception with abortion is that women are 'happy' to do it and feel free afterwards, when the reality can be the complete opposite."
