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Home · Celebrity

5 Super Cool Things Yara Shahidi Accomplished During Her Gap Year—Just To Name A Few

The actress continued to shine a light on important social issues, had some fun, and starred in her own spin-off.
5 Super Cool Things Yara Shahidi Accomplished During Her Gap Year—Just To Name A Few
Michael Kovac/Getty Images
By Sydney Scott · Updated December 6, 2020
Yara Shahidi has made a name for herself as not only one of Hollywood’s talented young stars to watch, but also as an activist who’s using her platform to encourage others to speak out about issues of inequality and injustice.
So, it came as no surprise when, last year, Shahidi announced that she would be taking a gap year before enrolling at Harvard University to focus on upcoming projects and issues close to her heart. Shahidi was able to spend the year working with brands on cool new campaigns and even popped up in the music video for one of the year’s biggest songs. The actress has accomplished quite a bit within her gap year. Here are just a few of the things she’s achieved. Her Black-ish spin-off Grown-ish premiered Shahidi’s Black-ish character Zoey Johnson landed her own spin-off, aptly named Grown-ish, which premiered back in January. The series follows Zoey as she navigates college and her new independence. Yara Shahidi told ESSENCE last August that the goal of the show was “to portray college in its most authentic form.”

Surreal moment #325747 : when I feel the love and support of the thought leaders and change makers who literally made and continue to make room for my existence and success @oprahmagazine @oprah ✨grateful

A post shared by Yara (يارا‎) Shahidi (@yarashahidi) on Aug 1, 2018 at 6:40pm PDT

Oprah Winfrey named her one young person who gives her “hope for the future” The actress got a shout out from the media mogul, who said she hopes she’s still around when Shahidi becomes president. “That is going to happen if she wants it to happen,” Winfrey said during a Q&A on O The Oprah Magazine‘s Instagram account.

Surreal moment #325747 : when I feel the love and support of the thought leaders and change makers who literally made and continue to make room for my existence and success @oprahmagazine @oprah ✨grateful

A post shared by Yara (يارا‎) Shahidi (@yarashahidi) on Aug 1, 2018 at 6:40pm PDT

Shahidi popped up in Drake’s video for “Nice For What” There were a slew of familiar faces in Drake’s video for “Nice For What” and Shahidi was one of them. The Grown-ish actress appeared alongside Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jourdan Dunn, and Misty Copeland.

So super excited to announce our @eighteenx18 content partnership with @nowthisnews ⚡️✨ we’re bringing you a video series, Snapchat series + more as we inform and educate ourselves for Midterm elections ⚡️#wevotenext #eighteenx18

A post shared by Yara (يارا‎) Shahidi (@yarashahidi) on Apr 18, 2018 at 9:55am PDT

She launched a new voting initiative Teaming up with NowThis to get the message out, Shahidi launched Eighteen x ’18, an initiative to get young voters engaged in politics and encourage first-time voters to head to the polls for midterm elections.

This is more than just gun control, this is investing in the lives of our community @eighteenx18

A post shared by Yara (يارا‎) Shahidi (@yarashahidi) on May 26, 2018 at 8:20pm PDT

And, she teamed up with Aerie for #AerieReal, the brand’s new body-positive campaign Shahidi starred in the campaign alongside her mom, Keri, and other notables like Aly Raisman and Iskra Lawrence. The campaign focused on body positivity, and encouraged women to embrace the body they were given.

#AerieREAL Role Model @YaraShahidi is heading to our NYC store for a Real Talk on 6.23 & we’re giving YOU & a friend a chance to skip the line! Tag a friend below, make sure you’re following @Aerie & comment #AerieSWEEPS to enter for your chance to win VIP access for 2.

A post shared by aerie (@aerie) on Jun 11, 2018 at 6:00am PDT

TOPICS:  college gap year harvard Yara Shahidi
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