Entire Class Erupts With Joy When Student Receives Ivy League Acceptance Letter

This video of a senior learning he got into Cornell will give you all the feels

While little kids around the world are preparing to see if Santa is going to bring them the toys they asked for this year, high school seniors are anxiously awaiting much bigger news – the results of their college applications.

Last week senior Brendon Gauthier, who attends TM Landry College Prep in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana was surrounded by teachers and friends as he waited to find out if he had been accepted into Cornell University, his first choice school.

“It was just the most nervous I’ve felt through all my 17 years of living,” Gauthier told The Sun. “Typing on the computer was very slow to what I normally do.”

TM Landry College Prep prides itself on having a family atmosphere. The school has a standing tradition of faculty and fellow students showing up to support each other when receiving their college application results and creating videos to share on Facebook. In Gauthier’s own video, the room explodes with excitement at he learns that he’s been accepted to Cornell.

“What’s not in there is me crying,” he said. “As soon as I got to my family, I immediately just broke down. Whenever I saw them, I saw my history — I saw my life throughout 17 years and all the trials and tribulations that I went through.”

“People see that positive end result, but I would definitely like to say that it did not come easy,” Gauthier continued. “Nothing on this grand of a scale comes easy. Everything that has led to this moment was hard.”

And while he got the best news of his life, Gauthier points out his teachers and friends were there to rally around him in case the news wasn’t what he was hoping. “The entire student body comes around, and good, bad or ugly we’re there,” he said. “That family aspect is a key foundation within the school. [If] I’d gotten denied, they would’ve been there.”

Gauthier, who will attend the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in the fall and hopes to be a veterinarian, credits his mom and family as the reason for his academic success. “If I didn’t want [a good grade] for myself, I damn sure wanted it for my mom,” he said. “If I don’t succeed, then I’m letting her down. That’s what’s always fueled my drive: to get my family in a better situation.”

Besides being a video that will make people smile, he hopes seeing his Cornell acceptance video will inspire other students to work towards achieving their own goals, no matter what their background.

“Throughout my life, coming from where I’m from, I didn’t have a lot of collegiate role models,” Gauthier said. “I want my video to motivate that next kid, even if he’s not African-American. I want that video to inspire him to say, ‘education can take me to where I want to go.’”

We wish Gauthier success next fall as he begins his studies. And if you need us, we’ll be watching this video on repeat for the rest of the day.