Angelina Jolie, 47, ‘So Excited’ And Emotional While Dropping Daughter Zahara, 17, Off At College: Cancer ‘Previvor’ Is Thriving

“A very special place and an honor to have a family member as a new Spelman girl.”

The Eternals star is seen in photos shared by the school's Vice President for Student Affairs Darryl Holloman on Instagram. The mother and daughter also met with the school's president Dr. Helene Gayle.

In the first photo, Jolie poses with Dr. Gayle on the school’s campus, and in a video, the two women are seen chatting.

Asked how she feels about being a Spelman mom, Jolie replied, “I’m gonna start crying! I have not started crying yet.”

In another snap, Jolie and Zahara both pose with Holloman in what appears to be a dorm

“Zahara with her Spelman sisters!” the actress captioned an image on Instagram of her daughter surrounded by fellow Spelman attendees. "Congratulations to all new students starting this year,” she added.

Jolie also added a group of hashtags to her post, including, #SpelmanCollege, #SpelmanSisters and #HBCU.

Along with Zahara, Jolie shares twins Vivienne and Knox, 14, as well as Shiloh, 16, Pax, 18, and Maddox, 20, with ex-husband Brad Pitt, 58.

In addition to being a philanthropist and advocate for refugees, Angelina Jolie is also a previvor.

Jolie’s ‘Previvor’ Status

The 45-year-old actress and mother of six lost her own mother to ovarian cancer, prompting Jolie to champion cancer screening via blood test for the BRCA1 gene, which she had herself.

This led to Jolie having both of her breasts removed as a preventative measure against breast cancer.

Jolie has been vocal about her previvor journey, penning OpEds for The New York Times, including "My Medical Choice" in 2013, and "Diary of a Surgery" in 2015.

In the opinion pieces, Jolie writes about losing her mom at age 56 after her decade-long battle with cancer, and the impact her death had on Jolie and her own children.

"We often speak of "Mommy's mommy," and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us,” she wrote. “They have asked if the same could happen to me. I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a "faulty" gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.”

Jolie spoke to her doctors and weighed her options.

"My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman,” she wrote. “Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average."

She decided to undergo a risk-reducing bilateral mastectomy (RRBM), in which both breasts are removed.

Testing For Breast Cancer

Jolie's transparency with the public and her fans led to significant changes in cancer awareness, dubbed by places like Harvard Medical School, the "Angelina Jolie Effect." It refers to the spike seen in genetic tests for breast cancer following her public disclosure of her BRCA1 gene.

But before genetic testing, an even easier test is saving lives everyday.

Women aged 45 and 54 should have annual mammograms; women with a history of breast cancer in their family should begin screening even earlier.

Dr. Connie Lehman, the chief of the Breast Imaging Division at Massachusetts General Hospital, emphasizes in an earlier interview how mammograms save lives.

She says, "If you haven't gone through menopause yet, I think it's very important that you have a mammogram every year. We know that cancers grow more rapidly in our younger patients, and having that annual mammogram can be lifesaving."

"After menopause, it may be perfectly acceptable to reduce that frequency to every two years," says Dr. Lehman. "But what I'm most concerned about is the women who haven't been in for a mammogram for two, three, or four years, those women that have never had a mammogram. We all agree regular screening mammography saves lives."

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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