Oprah Winfrey's first graduating class from her school in SA

Oprah embraces 'mother role' as she watches first class graduate from school she founded in South Africa

After handpicking 72 underprivileged girls from South African shantytowns five years ago, giving them the opportunity to leave their homes for higher education, the 58-year-old said she has been able to experience all the ups and downs of motherhood.

'Now, five years later, after implementing the idea inspired by Nelson Mandela, the girls are in American colleges.

Ms Winfrey said: 'What is the single, life-changing, trajectory-changing moment for me was being exposed to a world of education that offered me insight into how I saw the world, and I just wanted to do that for somebody else. That's all.' And now, as the girls prepare to continue their under-graduate education, Ms Winfrey said she will still be providing support for them.

'I knew from the moment that I met these girls that I was going to fall in love with them, and I did,' she said. 'When you change a girl's life, you change not just her -- you change the whole family.'