A proud father has revealed a touching montage of interviews he conducted with his daughter every first day of the school year, starting with kindergarten.
Ray Petelin, 47, a meteorologist for Pittsburgh’s KDKA, shared an adorable video on his X account, revealing a combination of clips capturing his daughter Elizabeth on every first day of school from kindergarten through her senior year.
When Elizabeth was in kindergarten, when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she answered “doctor.”
As the years passed, her adult career aspirations changed: she went from teacher to magician, waitress, open-heart surgeon, physical therapist and “a million other things.”
Ray has since spoken to DailyMail.com about the origins of this sweet concept which also served as a way to document the childhood and adolescence of his daughter, now 17 years old.
Ray Petelin, 47, a meteorologist for KDKA in Pittsburgh, shared an adorable mashup of clips capturing his daughter on each first day of school from kindergarten through her senior year.
Her daughter Elizabeth, now 17, said she loves how it turned out.
“I wanted to interview Elizabeth before her first day of kindergarten, so I could show her how much she changed when she moved on to her senior year of high school,” she said.
‘The following year, I realized how much she had changed just between kindergarten and first grade, so I decided to interview her again.
“That’s when it became a tradition.”
From the beginning, Isabel was very enthusiastic about the ritual.
“During her early school years, Elizabeth was very interested in interviews, especially in second grade,” Ray recalls.
But her pre-adolescent years were accompanied by some resistance.
“In fifth and sixth grade, I could tell Elizabeth thought it was a bad idea. She even told me so,” Ray admitted. “I’m glad Elizabeth stayed involved in those years.”
“I think when she got to seventh grade she realized how special this was to me. I think at that point it became important and special to Elizabeth as well,” she fondly described.
Ray and Elizabeth did a weekly segment together for KDKA, so much of Pittsburgh has been able to watch her grow up.
Over the years, her career aspirations ranged from doctor, teacher, magician, waitress, open-heart surgeon, physical therapist and “a million other things.”
Entering her senior year of high school, Elizabeth is grateful that her father has continued with the interviews.
“Elizabeth told me that, looking back, she loved doing the interviews and she loves how they turned out,” Ray said.
Since Ray tweeted the one-minute, 22-second interview montage on August 25, the post has garnered nearly 200,000 likes, with many parents responding that they want to do the same with their own children.
“This is amazing and makes me want to do this for my daughter. She’ll be starting daycare in a couple of weeks,” wrote one.
“My first child starts kindergarten in a few weeks. I’m doing this!” commented another.
Regarding the overwhelmingly positive response, Ray noted that he and Elizabeth have been doing a weekly science and education segment, titled “Hello Ray!” for KDKA for years.
“She grew up in front of our viewers at KDKA-TV, so I thought people in Pittsburgh would love to see her grow up in that video. I quickly realized that this video resonated with people outside of Pittsburgh as well,” she shared with DailyMail.com about the reaction.
‘My wife Rachel, Elizabeth and I are still amazed at how quickly and how far this very special tradition of ours has spread.
‘If we’re going to go viral for something, I’m glad it’s for being a loving family.
“This has been a very special tradition for us and I am glad that there are now others who will try to make it a tradition in their family as well.”
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