Natalia Bryant, daughter of Vanessa Bryant and the late Kobe Bryant, is officially a freshman at the University of Southern California. On Thursday, mother Vanessa posted a selfie she took with her daughters Natalia, as well as Bianka, 4, and Capri, 2. The picture was taken while the family helped Natalia move into school, wearing the USC colors with pride.
Vanessa wrote on her Instagram post, “Today was rough,” referring to what is surely the emotional weight of experiencing such a landmark family moment after the passing of loved ones. “This was before the tears came down.”
This comes after Vanessa shared a video back in March of Natalia’s acceptance into USC, and as any senior in high school would be, Natalia was beyond excited to get the news. Vanessa shared that she was of course so proud of her daughter and added that her father would have been equally delighted with the accomplishment.
“Tears of joy,” Vanessa said in the Instagram post. “I’m SO happy for you Nani! I know daddy is so PROUD OF YOU. I am so PROUD OF YOU!! Your hard work and dedication was so worth it. You pushed through the most excruciating pain imaginable and you succeeded,” she continued. “I wish Daddy and Gigi were physically here to celebrate but I know they’re here in spirit. We love you so much!”
In an interview earlier this month, Vanessa said in an interview that Natalia had been very resilient in the wake of her father and younger sister’s untimely death. Vanessa said that her daughters helped her to smile through the pain of the situation, and that making sure they new they were loved and supported was most important for her.
“On top of her own grief, she has balanced her senior year of high school, applying to colleges, nurturing her sisters, and just recently signing her own modeling contract with IMG,” Vanessa said.
