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In this April 16, 2018 photo, Tabitha Weeks smiles while her daughter, Olivia Weeks, reads her essay that she wrote to get accepted into Harvard University during the 18th Decatur Correctional Center Volunteer Luncheon and Program in Decatur, Ill. Before her mother went to prison in 2012 for an aggravated DUI that caused a death, Olivia was a competent student but not an outstanding one, certainly not one on track for an Ivy League education. When her mother left, Olivia, then 12 years old, made a choice to excel. She determined that she would not let the "black cloud of judgment" following her around her hometown of West Frankfort, Ill., keep her from succeeding, and she would not let her mother's mistake wipe away all the good she had done in Olivia's life. She will begin classes at Harvard with a full-ride scholarship in August. (Clay Jackson/Herald & Review via AP)

In this April 16, 2018 photo, Tabitha Weeks smiles while her daughter, Olivia Weeks, reads her essay that she wrote to get accepted into Harvard University during the 18th Decatur Correctional Center Volunteer Luncheon and Program in Decatur, Ill. Before her mother went to prison in 2012 for an aggravated DUI that caused a death, Olivia was a competent student but not an outstanding one, certainly not one on track for an Ivy League education. When her mother left, Olivia, then 12 years old, made a choice to excel. She determined that she would not let the "black cloud of judgment" following her around her hometown of West Frankfort, Ill., keep her from succeeding, and she would not let her mother's mistake wipe away all the good she had done in Olivia's life. She will begin classes at Harvard with a full-ride scholarship in August. (Clay Jackson/Herald & Review via AP)

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