“Today” show anchor Al Roker and his wife ABC News correspondent Deborah Roberts shared with the world last week that their 19-year-old son Nick Roker would be going to college.
Nick, who has special needs, is on the autism spectrum and suffered from developmental delays, including speaking and walking as a toddler. Since then, Nick has accomplished numerous achievements, such as earning a black belt in taekwondo and receiving two college acceptance letters.
Al first shared the news on his official Instagram account on Dec. 16 by uploading a video of Nick — the youngest of his three children — informing both parents that he’s been accepted to two colleges. When asked by his mother what happened, the incoming freshman said, “I got accepted.”
As the recording continued, Deborah also asked Nick how many acceptance letters he received. He replied “two” without disclosing the names of the schools. The clip ends with Nick expressing how excited he was and embracing his mother.
In addition to the video, Al wrote how proud he was of his son in the caption. He said, “So very very proud of my #collegebound young man. #congratulations @nick.roker155.” As fans viewed Al’s post, many congratulated Nick on his latest accomplishment.
“Yay!!! Congrats, Nick!!!”
“How wonderful! He’s just so adorable I can hardly contain myself. What a wonderful young man!”
“This is so awesome! Congratulations.”
“This is the best news ever. So excited and proud of Nick! Perseverance and hard work pays off. Congrats to Nick and you guys for cheering him on.”
‘YES!!! YES!! We’re excited for him!!! Wow!!! What an accomplishment!!”
The following day, on Dec. 17, Deborah, who appeared on “The View,” opened up about her and Al’s journey with Nick.
She said, while holding back tears, “I have good news, if I can share … I’m trying to talk about it without crying, because many of you know that we have been on journey with our son Nick, who has been over his lifetime dealing with learning disabilities, developmental disabilities.”
The 61-year-old added, “He has accomplished so many things. He has gotten a black belt in taekwondo. He swam competitively. He tried to train for the marathon, although he changed his mind. He just got accepted into college.”
As the clip continued, Al’s previous Instagram post about Nick’s college acceptance letters appeared on the screen. Deborah stated how proud she and Al were toward the end of the video: “I got his permission to talk about it because that is his private business, but he is so excited, and we are too.”
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