The model and TV personality sat down with her girls and spoke with ET about their ambitious futures.
The future looks bright for Kimora Lee Simmons' daughters, Aoki and Ming. After graduating from college, the pair have their sights set on ambitious new horizons.
Kimora and her daughters recently sat down with ET's Deidre Behar and opened up about what it feels like to be moving on into the real world with some impressive degrees.
Ming -- who recently graduated from NYU -- said the experience has been "amazing" and explained why graduating now feels like a particular point of pride for her.
"Literally, our whole generation had a really hard time, 'cause it was COVID and everything got shut down and everything moved online," she recalled. "I think it just feels really good to be done."
"A lot of parents have said their kids have struggled tremendously because of COVID, just the guidelines change, they couldn't do in-person lab or study group in person," Kimora shared. "It was very, very tough. So to everybody who was in school over these past few years, congratulations! It's not easy."
"I remember, when I finished my last exam, I was on campus [and thought], 'What do you do with no school?'" Aoki shared, explaining how much of a shock it was to her routine when she graduated from Harvard. "I went to the library just to, like, stare at the wall, because every single day I'd go to the library... and I was like, 'I guess I'll just do that again, even though I have nothing to study for.'"
While she admitted she felt lost for a bit, Aoki said she has an idea what it is she wants to do next: "Apply to grad school." Specifically, she's planning on taking the LSATs to get into law school.
However, her accomplishments at Harvard are genuinely historic. At 20 years old, she's one of the youngest Black women to ever graduate from the prestigious Ivy League college -- something that really struck her older sister when it came time to commemorate their accomplishments.
"She can't even legally drink," Ming said. "I was like, 'Let's go out and celebrate!' She can't even go out and celebrate, and that's crazy."
For Aoki, not being able to fully indulge in the stereotypical, hard-partying college experience wasn't much of a problem.
"Honestly, I didn't notice. I am a big library person, and I was really busy this past semester," Aoki shared. "The age everyone can start going out is like junior/senior year, and I was modeling junior and senior year. So I would just come back and be in the library, [or taking] exams, and leave again."
For Ming, her big plans include using her degree to continue pursuing her passion for fashion.
"I studied fashion in school and I really, really love working with my mom, so I'm gonna start there," Ming shared. "Hopefully, in the future, [I will be doing] something with my own fashion brand and just kind of staying around the fashion [world], because that's what makes me really happy."
Kimora and Ming will soon get a chance to work together on Kimora's fashion line, Baby Phat. The pair are working on a DTC Launch this summer, which will give them a direct, hands-on opportunity to collaborate as colleagues.
For Kimora, there's a certain "push and pull" when it comes to seeing her girls striking out on their own and growing into their future selves.
"It's like the mama cub watching the babies, and you want them to go out there and take the world by storm, but you're also kind of protective," she explained. "You can't prevent everything, but hopefully they're in a good environment, they have a stable base, they have a great foundation, they know their sense of home."
As for the sisters, Ming and Aoki have some summer plans as well, now that undergrad is behind them.
"First thing on our list of things to do after college is to go on a trip together," Ming said, adding that they want to head to Europe -- where Aoki actually is old enough to legally drink as well. "I think that this is a really special time, and maybe we can get mom to fund it because we graduated at the same time."
"I guess I have to probably," Kimora added with a laugh.
RELATED CONTENT:
