Leah Remini earns college degree at age 53: "It's never too late to continue your education"

Former "King of Queens" actor Leah Remini has a message for those interested in pursuing a college degree later in life: "It's never too late to continue your education." 

Remini, 53, posted on social media on Thursday that she received an associate's degree from New York University —a feat she's been working on for the past three years. Remini said she embarked on this "terrifying journey" after only having an eighth grade education and spending 35 years in a "totalitarian cult," referring to the Church of Scientology. 

"I desperately wanted a higher education for many years but didn't move forward because I feared I was not smart enough," she said. "Even though I had managed to leave Scientology, three decades of brainwashing still gripped my mind."