At first, the older students didn't take her seriously, but "by the end of the semester, all of the other students were asking me for help on questions.”
Sawsan Ahmed of Weston, Florida, graduated from Broward College with an associate's degree and a 4.0 GPA on December 15, 2021. Nothing seems unusual, right? Well, that's only if you don't count the fact that she is just 12 years old.
Now, the brilliant pre-teen is all set to attend the University of Florida to study computer programming, chemistry, and biology, according to Good Morning America.
"Their courses with Python programming through biology really caught my interest. It's an amazing place for really studying those topics so it's really cool that I was accepted I get to go there next semester," Ahmed said.
Ahmed's family first noticed she was gifted academically during her homeschooling sessions. They found out that she was able to quickly go through a curriculum that was several years ahead of her grade level.
Meet Sawsan Ahmed — a 12-year-old girl who just graduated from college! https://t.co/s59SgMXBmO pic.twitter.com/dCQAlKsYsi
— ABC News (@ABC) January 5, 2022
“All of her education has pretty much been child-led. Whenever she shows an interest in something, we sort of dive into it and try to follow her interest as best that we can,” Sawsan’s mother, Jeena Santos Ahmed said. “We talked to her about new developments that we read about, we let her listen to NPR and learn about new scientific discoveries."
When Ahmed was 9, she earned her high school diploma. She also passed a post-secondary education readiness test that allowed her to take college courses, according to her parents.
Ahmed first started off by taking one class per semester at Broward College so she could get used to the intensity of the advanced classes. She also had a bunch of extracurricular activities, but they were either moved online or canceled due to the pandemic, which gave her ample time to enroll in multiple college classes at once. But she knew that the older students were surprised to see her there.
Wow! Florida girl Sawsan Ahmed graduated from Broward College with an associate degree and a 4.0 GPA. In the spring, the 12-year-old will attend the University of Florida to study computer programming, chemistry and biology. (via Good Morning America) https://t.co/ef3UCBSV6x
— clevelanddotcom (@clevelanddotcom) January 5, 2022
“At the very beginning, everyone was helping me, calling me 'honey,' 'sweetie,' things like that," she said of the students in her science lab course. "But by the end of the semester, all of the other students were asking me for help on questions.”
She works hard and her professor, Amber Abels, an assistant biology professor at Broward College has nothing but nice things to say about her. "The thing I remember most is that she was always ready to do lab work every day, like, exceptionally excited. It was great. She was more than able to keep up and was an excellent student.”
Her love for science comes from her dad, who works as a physician at the Cleveland Clinic’s cancer center in Abu Dhabi. "Physicians like my dad save lives one at a time, but if I invented a technology that can work in medicine it could save many lives at once," she said.
Despite being brilliant in every sense, she still is a little child at heart who loves art, music, Disney movies, and video games. As for her share of advice for kids just like her? “Shoot for the stars and don't underestimate yourself," Ahmed said. "That mentality is what brought me here."
References:
Cover Image Source: YouTube | Miami Herald (At just 12 years old, she'll be the youngest to ever graduate from Broward College)
