Back in 2007, Oprah opened the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, a competitive boarding school in Johannesburg, South Africa, that offers education to disadvantaged students from across the country. A decade later, Fusion is catching up with the first ever class — all of whom graduated in 2012 and went on to colleges in both the United States and South Africa.
In the one-hour special, Kimberly Brooks (a Fusion host and former Harpo employee) interviews five of the students about how OWLAG helped them and where they are now. "To finally be at a point where I can aspire to be great...that was never a possibility," says one of the alums. But they also keep it real about their experience, talking about the pressure that comes with being a student at a school owned by Oprah Winfrey and the struggle of acclimating to American life as college students.
Brooks also chats with Winfrey (whom the girls call "Mom O" — I know) about how the girls have grown in the past 10 years. "My work with these girls feels as natural to me as if they were my own children," Winfrey says. "For me, this is what mothering was meant to be."
This one is sure to be a tearjerker. Watch the trailer, below.
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O Girls will air on Fusion January 15 at 8 p.m. EST.