In an exclusive interview with Essence, Yara Shahidi shared insights into her transformative college experience at Harvard. The talented 23-year-old actress graduated in 2022 with a Bachelor's degree in African-American studies from this esteemed Ivy League institution.

When asked why attending college was important to her in terms of building a foundation for her career Shahidi shared, “ I think college provided a safe space to do a lot of growing up, particularly in figuring out what I believed and actually having the time to study and figure things out–especially as somebody that’s been outspoken from a young age. I think it gave me time with myself to just be very reflective, in which the stakes weren’t as high.”

Yara's dedication to her education and self-care is evident in her journey as an actress. She gained recognition for her role as Zoey Johnson on the hit sitcom Black-ish, a show that explores racial identity and culture within a modern black family. With her success in the role, she then went on to star in the spin-off series Grown-ish, which follows Zoey's college experience and highlights important issues facing young adults today. While filming Grown-ish she was a student at Harvard

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Yara emphasizes the significance of achieving a “balanced life” by embracing both personal growth and academic excellence during one's college journey.

“I think especially in high school and college, it’s easy to take pride in the all-nighters and the lack of sleep and like, when’s the last time you ate a meal,” she said in the Essence feature. “I think the one thing that I finally had gotten to [see] is it’s not as cute as it sounds and you actually don’t win any points. And so the closest we can strive to have a more balanced life, the better, which is, again, why this was meaningful to me because this is the support I needed for my work-life balance, calling in that extra help, having a teacher that I talked to work through a problem so I wasn’t spending double the time trying to do it by myself.”