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Malia Obama Graduates High School, Her Dad Can't Handle It

The 17-year-old will receive her diploma on Friday.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s eldest daughter Malia is all grown up and graduating from high school.

The 17-year-old will receive her diploma from Washington, D.C.’s Sidwell Friends School on Friday. While the milestone is meant to be a joyous occasion, Obama said last week that it was a moment he’s been dreading.

“My daughter leaving me is just breaking my heart,” he said during a speech at an Indiana high school. “If there are any parents here, I hope you can give me some pointers on how not to cry too much at the ceremony and embarrass her.”

A White House official told People that Malia’s graduation will be a private affair, with no press coverage.

Malia and her younger sister Sasha, 15, have grown up in the public eye. The girls were just 10 and seven years old, respectively, when their father became the 44th President of the United States.

Recently, during an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Obama opened up about how his daughters have handled life in the limelight.

“They’ve handled it so well. They are just wonderful girls,” the President said on Thursday. “They’re smart and funny, but most importantly, they’re kind. They don’t have an attitude. That was the thing me and Michelle were most worried about when we got there. But they’ve just turned out to be incredible kids. I could not be prouder.”

But now, after eight years in the White House, Obama admitted that his eldest daughter is “very eager to get out.”

Malia, who turns 18 on July 4, will be taking a gap year before she heads off to Harvard University in fall 2017. This is the same school that Obama and his wife, Michelle, also attended. It is still unknown what Malia will be doing during her year off.

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