June is the time when most elementary school students get excited about summer vacation. But Alisa Perales, who just turned 11 this month, prepares to go to her next big step: UC Riverside.
The San Bernardino girl became the youngest person to graduate from Crafton Hills College, a community college in Yukaipa, earning a degree in multiple sciences and another girl in mathematics.
The university said she would earn two more associate degrees in physics and computer science if she stays for another semester.
Instead, Allisa will earn her Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from UC Riverside in September.
“It’s a big moment,” said the Wiz’s child. “I’m ready to move to a new school and meet new friends.”
Sending her to college for four years is a rewarding result for her father, Rafael Perales.
After mastering basic ABC and 123 by her first birthday, Alisa was ready to expand her knowledge, so her father homeschooled her when Alisa started Crafton Hills College at the age of 8.
“She’s been different for the rest of her life, but I’ve always taught her there’s nothing she can’t understand,” her father told community college before graduating.
Raphael claimed that he did not set strict schedules or goals for the young girl. Rather, he said that he simply followed her lead as the girl’s thirst for knowledge and interest in school grew.
“I responded to what she was interested in, cultivated that interest and burned that fire,” said the proud father.
If everything goes well, Alisa will graduate from UC Riverside at the age of 13 with a degree in computer science. With many hopes and dreams, the young girl said she was just getting started.
“This is almost the beginning,” Alisa said, adding that she would like to pursue a career somewhere at the intersection of artificial intelligence and space science.
“I would like to ask me and my dad to go to Mars and other galaxies if possible,” he said, “who is surely another, but still a little girl from Dad.
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