Meet Little Girl Who Finished High School at 9, College at 12, Graduates with a Perfect CGPA

Sawsan Ahmed has been celebrated for emerging as the youngest student in her college. The 12-year-old girl graduated with a perfect CGPA of 4.0 over 4.0.

According to a report by DailyMail.com, Sawsan Ahmed of Weston, of Florida graduated from Broward College in Fort Lauderdale with an associate’s degree on December 15 after earning a 4.0 GPA.

Sawsan, who was nine years old when she graduated from high school, took multiple classes during the pandemic.

She will continue her education this spring at the University of Florida, where she plans to study computer programming, chemistry, and biology.

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Her story as narrated by DailyMail.com:

The pre-teen’s family realized she was gifted academically when she advanced to a curriculum that was several years ahead of her grade level while she was being homeschooled. 

Sawsan’s mother, Jeena Santos Ahmed, told the news outlet that her daughter has been in charge of her education from day one, saying they did their best to encourage her interests. 

‘We talked to her about new developments that we read about, we let her listen to NPR and learn about new scientific discoveries,’ she said.   

Sawsan was just nine when she earned her high school diploma and passed the Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (PERT), a placement test that Florida uses to determine whether a student is ready for college-level course work.   

By the time she was 10, she was attending in-person classes at Broward College. She started with one class per semester to give herself time to adjust to the more advanced curriculum, but she quickly excelled. 

‘At the very beginning, everyone was helping me, calling me “honey,” “sweetie,” things like that,” she recalled of the students in her science lab. ‘But by the end of the semester, all of the other students were asking me for help on questions.’

After the COVID-19 pandemic led to her extracurricular activities being moved online or canceled, she had more free time to take multiple college classes at once.  

Sawsan and her family found out she was accepted into the University of Florida last summer. Her father, Wesam Ahmed, a physician at the Cleveland Clinic’s cancer center in Abu Dhabi, would like to see her enter the field of medicine one day. 

‘Physicians like my dad save lives one at a time, but if I invented technology that can work in medicine it could save many lives at once,’ she said. 

The college student explained that she is inspired by strong women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), saying Andrea Gellatly — a biomedical engineer and team leader on the competition series Battlebots — is one of her role models. 

When she’s not studying science, she enjoys art, music, watching Disney movies, and playing video games, just like any other kid her age.  

Sawsan hasn’t even started classes at the University of Florida yet, but she already has big plans for her future. After receiving her bachelor’s degree, she would like to earn a medical degree or doctorate.   

‘Shoot for the stars and don’t underestimate yourself,’ she advised. ‘That mentality is what brought me here.’

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