17-Year-Old Opens College Acceptance Letter at Mother's Grave

A 17-year-old opens her college acceptance email in front of mom's grave. Since her mother had missed so many things that she has done, she wanted to share the special moment with her mom whether she gets in or not.

In 2016, Skylar Hughes lost her mom, Rasheda Hughes, on her last day of seventh grade. She had imagined that opening an acceptance email would determine her future, so she planned to share the moment with her late mom.

Her mom missed a lot of things while she was growing up

Hughes told "Good Morning America" that her mother had missed many things when she was in her childhood and while growing up. Since she could bring her laptop everywhere, she knew she wanted to do it with her.

The teenager explained that whether she gets accepted or denied, she wanted to share the moment with her mother because she knew it would be filled with emotions. She also said that she would find peace beside her mom and knew that her mother would be proud of her no matter what happens.

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The Loganville, Georgia, teen applied for early admission to Duke. Besides that, it was the only school to which she applied. In mid-December, the Durham, North Carolina, school sent Hughes and email regarding her application.

It took her 20 minutes to open the email

The teen brought her laptop and went to her mom's gravesite together with her dad. Father James Hughes said that his daughter took about 20 minutes before she opened the email from Duke.

James remembers trying to get his daughter to click the button. He said that the system had logged Hughes out because they were out there for a long time waiting for her to open the email.

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Hard work pays off

Hughes learned that she got accepted to Duke University Class of 2025 when she finally opened the email. She started to break down when she saw blue streamers. She was glad that all her hard work had paid off.

The teen and her dad said that they felt Rasheda's presence at that moment. James noted that it was one thing his late wife could have participated in because she had missed so many things in her teenager's life.

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Find a cure to mom's disease

Hughes has set her eyes on Duke because she had wanted to enter their strong marine science program. She had long dreamed of becoming a marine biology researcher to help find cures to medical conditions, like brain aneurysm, that took her mom's life.

She wanted to show people that they are more than their circumstances. She thanks her dad and her relatives for pushing her to give her best every time. Arianne Belzer, Hughes' Latin teacher, said that she wanted to be like Skylar, who has never stopped after encountering hurdles and has moved mountains.