Goodwill Hunting

While researching her role as a socialite turned philanthropist in Beyond Borders, Jolie embarks on two goodwill trips for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. After meeting war victims in Sierra Leone, Jolie tells PEOPLE, "My impressions are hard to cope with, so I write them down." In 2003 her journals are published as Notes From My Travels. In August, she is appointed goodwill ambassador for the UNHCR.

August 01

A Father's Plea

Through tears and sobs, her father pleads with Jolie on Access Hollywood to get help for her "serious mental problems." It is the start of a years-long estrangement. Her mother comes to her defense, telling PEOPLE, "There's nothing wrong with Angelina's mental health. Mentally and physically, she is magnificently healthy." Jolie says, "It's horrible."

August

A Special Tattoo

Jolie travels to Thailand to have a Buddhist prayer of protection for her son Maddox tattooed onto her left shoulder blade. The Thai artist uses the traditional method of a hammer and "a foot-and-a-half-long needle," Jolie says to PEOPLE.

December

I Can Fly

Partly to impress her son Maddox, Jolie earns her pilot's license. "Every time Mad sees a plane, he's amazed," Jolie says to PEOPLE. "If I could actually fly a plane by the time he's 4, I'll be like Superman to him."

June 28

Welcome, Zahara

Pitt accompanies Jolie and Maddox on tours of orphanages in Addis Ababa and Ethiopia, where Jolie finds her second child, daughter Zahara Marley. Jolie is the only parent named on the paperwork, which is finalized July 6. Later that year she tells PEOPLE why adoption means so much to her. "There's something about making a choice," she says, "waking up and traveling somewhere and finding your family."