Leah Remini vs <The knowledge board>📝 — Instagram Profile Comparison

I graduated!!! I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a concentration in Psychology, summa cum laude! Five years ago, I started this journey with an eighth-grade education, and even that was from a Scientology school, where critical thinking was discouraged and the quality of instruction was subpar, to say the least. I did not get here alone. Thank you to @nyusps and @nyusps_dean . Thank you to everyone who supported me, encouraged me, and believed in me, especially on the days I was not sure I could do this. And there were plenty of those days. To my therapist, who told me not to give up when I was told I likely would not be accepted into a prestigious program. To my tutor, without whom I likely would have given up at the harder points along the way. To all those here who have sent me loving messages on social media. And to everyone else who has cheered me on in person through the ups and the downs of it, it means more than I can put into words. It got me over this finish line of being a student again and graduating. That goal once seemed impossible. To those who have asked me, “Why this? Why now?” I pursued higher education to reclaim a piece of myself. When you come out of a high-control group like Scientology, or even a high-control family, there are parts of you that were never allowed to fully develop. Those parts include your curiosity and your ability and right to question. Education was discouraged because knowledge creates confidence in your ability to trust your own mind and navigate the world. That leads to true independence, and that would never be allowed. I wanted that back. But more than that, I needed to understand. I needed to understand how my mother could have us join Scientology when I was just eight years old, and how my family and I could be part of something like this and stay in it for so long. I needed to understand how these systems work, how they influence people, and how they take hold. (Part 1 of 2 — continued in comments below)