Leah Remini Celebrates Finishing Her First Semester Finals At NYU: ‘It’s Tough, But It’s Worth It’

etcanada.com:

Leah Remini is celebrating the end of a new chapter in her second act. On Saturday, the actress and activist, 51, shared that she had just completed her first semester of final exams at NYU. “Going to college for the first time at 51 after living most of my life in a cult and only having an 8th grade education hasn’t been easy,” Remini wrote on Twitter, alluding to the many years she spent as a member of the Church of Scientology. “I took my first NYU final exams this week and I’m glad I decided to educate myself,” she added. “It’s never too late.

It’s tough, but it’s worth it.” Remini, who grew up a Scientologist, left the organization in 2013 and went on to create her Emmy-winning docuseries, “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath”, which investigated the controversial religion and shone a light on the experiences of those who also left the church. READ MORE: Leah Remini Shares Throwback Photo From Teen Acting Days, Details Abuse Growing Up In Church Of Scientology Remini shared the news that she would be attending NYU last May, posting a photo of her acceptance letter on Instagram. “I am so excited, in tears and wanted to share this with you guys,” she captioned her post. “For someone like me, a person who desperately wanted a higher education and options in my life, coming from a cult and a family who didn’t value an education, this is a very big day for me.

This didn’t come easy.” She added, “This is one of the last chunks of my life that I am taking back for myself from Scientology.

It took a lot for me to take this step, for fear that I was not smart enough, not worthy enough, not able to do the work that will be required, my age … I did it anyway with a lot of encouragement from a very special person