Leah Remini is overjoyed after sharing her admission letter to New York University

Leah Remini was over the moon on Thursday when she revealed that she had been accepted into New York University.

The 50-year-old King Of Queens star posted the start of her acceptance letter to Instagram, along with a moving caption about her years-long desire to go to college.

The acceptance letter stated that the actress had been admitted into an associate’s degree Liberal Arts program in the School of Professional Studies, which was previously the School of Continuing Education. 

Leah shared her joy at the acceptance letter in a lengthy caption to her post.

‘I am so excited, in tears and wanted to share this with you guys,’ she wrote. ‘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. 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….’ she continued.

‘I did it anyway with a lot of encouragement from a very special person in my life. I am ready to do the work and honestly, I’m scared shitless! And I am excited to start on my journey. It’s just never too late is it? Thank you to NYU @nyuniversity for believing in me.

‘And thank you John @iescentralmass, you are an amazing man and anyone needing someone to cheer them on, to walk them through this (sometimes) intimidating process, who are scared to take this first step, should choose you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.’

Among her friends and fans sending their congratulations was Leah’s good friend Jennifer Lopez.

‘So proud of you baby!’ the Out Of Sight actress wrote. ‘So happy for you #noitsnevertoolate.’

Last month, Leah shared a photo of herself hanging out with Jennifer and their mutual friend Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, which Jennifer reposted and captioned, ‘Girl Power.’

Goldsmith-Thomas, a film producer and a friend to the actress, popped into the comments as well. 

‘In true Leah fashion she took it on, faced her fears, and applied to NYU for fall semester 2021. And guess what? SHE GOT IN!!!!! SHE GOT IN!!!!’ 

She added: ‘To all of the people out there who are wishing or waiting or dreaming of second chances, just remember every day you wake up you have a second chance to be whomever you want to be- the only thing stopping you is YOU!’ 

Leah’s Dancing With The Stars castmate Maksim Chmerkovskiy also wrote, ‘I’m so proud of you my love!!!’

Leah has previously spoken about how she spent her teenage years working to make money to pay off debts to Scientology.

Her first television appearances began when she was around 18 in the late 1980s, but her biggest success wouldn’t come until 1998 when she was cast as one of the leads on CBS’ The King Of Queens opposite Kevin James. 

Leah’s higher education plans also set an example for her 16-year-old daughter Sofia, whom she shares with her husband Angelo Pagán.

Back in January, she appeared virtually on Drew Barrymore’s talk show to share things that her mini-me daughter had ‘inspired’ her to pay attention to, issues such as racial inequality and climate change.

‘[Sofia] sends me things that I should be posting on social media about systemic racism, social injustice, constantly saying, “Mom, you need to be doing this. I need less plastics in this house,”‘ she recounted.    

‘It makes me so proud to to know that she’s somebody who cares about what’s happening in the world,’ she shared, adding, ‘I wasn’t thinking about these things when I was her age.’