June is the time of the year when most elementary school students get excited about their summer break. But Alisa Perales, who just turned 11 years old this month, will be preparing for her next big step: Going to UC Riverside.
The girl from San Bernardino already made history in her Inland Empire community as she became the youngest person to graduate from Crafton Hills College, a community college in Yucaipa, California.
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WATCH HEREPerales earned a degree in multiple sciences and another in mathematics while studying at Crafton Hills. The college said she would have earned two more associate degrees, in physics and computer science, if she stayed for one more semester.
Instead, Allisa will be pursuing her bachelor’s degree in computer science at UC Riverside in September.
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SIGN UP “It’s a big moment,” the whiz kid said. “I’m ready to move on to a new school and meet new friends.”
Sending her off to a four-year college is also a rewarding outcome for her father, Raphael Perales, who spotted her love of learning at an early age.
After mastering basic ABCs and 123s by her first birthday, Alisa was ready to expand her knowledge, so her father homeschooled her until when it became the time for Alisa to start Crafton Hills College at age 8.
“She’s been different her whole life, but I have always taught her that there’s nothing out there she’s not capable of understanding,” the father told the community college before the graduation.
Raphael insisted that he did not set out a rigorous schedule or goal for the young girl. Rather, he said 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 and helped feed that interest and fueled that fire,” the proud father said.
If all goes well, Alisa would be graduating from UC Riverside with a degree in computer science at 13. With many hopes and dreams, the young girl said she’s just getting started.
“This is pretty much only the beginning,” Alisa said, adding she hopes to pursue a career somewhere in the intersection of artificial intelligence and space science.
“I want me and my dad to go to Mars or some other galaxy, if possible,” said the 11-year-old with achievements like no other, yet still daddy’s little girl.
