12-Year-Old Girl Gains Admission to University of Toronto, Graduates with Bachelor’s Degree at 16

An intelligent girl identified as Vivian Xie has made headlines for her extraordinary academic achievements. The remarkable lady was admitted to the University of Toronto, Canada, at the age of 12, Vivian has recently graduated at just 16 years old with a double major in Biology and Cell and Molecular Biology.

A brilliant girl named Vivian Xie has made headlines for her extraordinary academic achievements. Admitted to the University of Toronto, Canada, at the age of 12, Vivian has recently graduated at just 16 years old with a double major in Biology and Cell and Molecular Biology.

Vivian not only graduated at an exceptional age but also made history by becoming the youngest-ever graduate from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Arts & Sciences since its inception in 1979. “The past four years have been pretty normal. If you actually didn’t know my age, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell,” she said.

Vivian began her post-secondary education at the University of Prince Edward Island before transferring to the University of Toronto. She credits her success to her passion for learning and the support of her grandmother, who is a schoolteacher.

“She was a schoolteacher. She started teaching me while I was playing in the park or having fun with my friends. She would slip little bits of unnoticeable information into my child brain,” Vivian said. “I wouldn’t notice at all. I would think that she was playing a very fun game with me. That’s how I ended up associating learning with a lot of fun. My grandmother gave me a lot of very good life philosophies. You know, the Asian parent thing where every little thing is a life lesson,” she added.

Vivian emphasized that she was never pressured to excel in school. She preferred learning at her own pace and recognized the importance of challenging herself when her studies were not stimulating enough. “You just have to give yourself time and space to do things at your own pace. It’s not like a race,” she said.

Despite her academic prowess, Vivian enjoys other activities like creative writing and cooking. “People say, ‘Don’t be a jack of all trades, start specializing.’ But for me, I think that’s terrible advice,” she said. “When all you know how to use is a hammer, you’re going to see everything as a nail. I feel like that’s a terrible way to approach life.”

Vivian believes that having a variety of skills and knowledge has benefited her. In addition to excelling academically, she is driven by her strong passion for living life to the fullest. “All of these incredible coincidences happened for us to be able to exist right now. And then you throw it away, and that’s such a waste. Just have fun and really, really enjoy the time that you have on Earth,” she said.

Looking ahead, Vivian will continue her education at the University of Toronto, where she has enrolled in a master’s degree program in Applied Immunology. She hopes to complete her PhD by the age of 22.

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SOURCES: ALLSCHOOL, SCHOLARSHIP REGION