Craig Allen Cooper says he "couldn't be more proud" of his son Joshua Cooper after the high school senior was accepted into his "dream school", New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.
Joshua Cooper learned he had been accepted into the school on Dec. 14. A TikTok video of the father's and son's reactions to the acceptance news has since gone viral.
In the video, the two are seen intensely staring at a laptop computer screen, checking to see if the younger Cooper had been accepted. Once they read the good news, Craig Cooper begins jumping up and down and yelling excitedly, while Joshua Cooper becomes visibly emotional.
"When I saw 'Congratulations,' I went nuts, because there's no way they're gonna say, 'Congratulations, we didn't accept you,'" the elder Cooper told "Good Morning America."
"I couldn't be more proud. There aren't words. There's deep emotion," the father of four added. "I'm really, really proud of my boy."
The Coopers said they were overjoyed in the moment and could hardly contain their emotions.
"What people didn't see after the video is that we just started bawling," Craig Cooper said. "He actually got a scholarship, a big scholarship, and we didn't even know about it until probably two hours later because we were celebrating."
Joshua Cooper said the special moment was a long time coming and he made an intentional choice to wait to find out his application result with his family.
"They made an announcement that morning and said that the acceptances were coming out that day ... I was working at the time that it came out, so I decided to just lock my phone in my car and I didn't even pull it out of my glovebox driving home because I wanted to find out with my family," Joshua Cooper recalled. "I'd staked so much in it, and just didn't know if I was gonna get in."
The Independence High School student told "GMA" he has known since he was 14 that NYU was the school for him after he visited the university with his older sister, who was touring colleges at the time. When it was his turn, he applied early decision.
"I fell in love with the campus because I've always loved New York City since I was a kid," Joshua Cooper said. "And then I found out about the [Clive Davis Institute] program when I got into production when I was around 15. I found out about their program for it and got super interested and have always wanted to go there since."
Today, Joshua Cooper writes, sings and releases his own original songs, but he said his "passion is [music] production." He plans on earning a bachelor's of fine arts degree in recorded music.
Craig Cooper said he's "excited" to see his son embark on a new chapter and pursue his dreams.
"He's going after it and I think that's a message for the world and an example for the world, you know, go after it," he said. "You're gonna fall down a bunch but he keeps getting right back up and pursuing it, and I am so excited and happy for him."
