Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey admits that she was "devastated" by the recent allegations of sexual abuse at her South African girls school. But reflecting on the school's turbulent first year, Oprah says, "I don't regret" opening the school. "From the very first half hour, after I was able to pull myself together, I knew that this too shall pass," Winfrey, 53, told People.com "Just work on it, focus on the girls, focus on the girls, focus on the girls. And the girls are now fine," she added.
Earlier this year, a student at Oprah's Leadership Academy for Girls went public, accusing school officials of physical and sexual abuse. In the subsequent investigation, a dorm matron was suspended and arrested. Winfrey, meanwhile, issued a public apology to the families of the students, saying, "I've disappointed you. I'm so sorry.
Oprah continued: "I think that all crisis is there to teach you about your life."
"You have to be far more careful in choosing people to stand in the gap for you. You have to stay on it."
Oprah also revealed, that with students off on summer break, she is already looking forward to the start of a new school year. "The school is going to be better because that happened," she said. "We're going to come back and have best year ever!"
Oprah also spoke out about the knocks her credibility received when the school scandal was unearthed, saying: "Oh, my goodness. I'm 53, years old, not 23."
"By the time you're 53 years old, if you don't know who you are, if you're not grounded in your own truth, if you're not able to brush off what other people think or say about you, then you've had a pretty pathetic life."
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