Teen goes viral as essay that made teacher cry has the internet in tears

A teen by the name of Ryan Harman has gone viral on TikTok after sharing an essay she wrote that made her English professor cry – and it’s now making all of TikTok cry too.

The pen might not be mightier than a sword if you find yourself in a sword fight. However, it is a good tool if you want to make your teachers cry. This is what Ryan Harman did after submitting a personal essay. And she also decided to share it on TikTok.

In just two days, the video has been watched over six million times and has accumulated over 882,500 likes, and for good reason.

The reason? It makes most people who read it burst into tears.

What is the essay that made my English teacher cry trend on TikTok?

Ryan decided to write an essay about her mom, who died in 2022 after a battle with cancer. She explains the heart-wrenching and tragic story of her mother passing away from cancer when she was just 18 years old. 

“From the day she was diagnosed, she lost a different part of her every day. She was strong, resilient, loving, caring and most of all the best mom anyone could ask for,” she wrote. 

It starts with her explaining how proud she’d been after her mom had managed to go to her high school graduation after being unable to leave the house.

Ryan went on to describe how she went on a beach vacation with her friends. While away, her mom suddenly stopped replying to her FaceTime calls. However, Ryan decided not to worry and continued to enjoy her time away.

As she got back home, her mom had gotten significantly worse. The tumors had grown rapidly and her spine had 75% collapsed, and she then entered hospice care and never got back up from her bed.

“The first couple of days following her entering hospice care, I was in shock. I didn’t believe that my mom was going to die when I was only 18,” Ryan wrote.

The rest of the essay detailed the family’s last moments with their mom while her “heart shattered into a million pieces”.

It’s making people all across the world cry

The response Ryan got after posting the essay on her TikTok has been nothing but supportive. With over 20,700 comments, the compliments keep flooding in.

One person commented: “This has me ugly crying right now, you’re so strong. I know your mom is so proud of who you’ve become.”

Another said: “I just sobbed. Im so beyond sorry for your loss, this is beautiful.”

“I just cried so much, this is so good,” a third person wrote.