AMERICA | 15-year-old girl graduates from US university before finishing high school, wins best student award.
A 15-year-old girl named Voca Ford has achieved an extraordinary milestone: earning an associate degree in Arts from Grand Rapids Community College, Michigan, all while still attending high school
Voca, a student at Tri-County High School, managed to balance both her high school and college courses, graduating with a 3.9 grade point average and being named one of her school’s three valedictorians.
Despite her impressive academic accomplishments, Voca’s approach to success is centered on finding personal fulfillment.
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“I focused on pushing everyone to find happiness in their lives and not focus on objective or perceived success. I think that’s really the most important thing in life to do something you actually enjoy doing,” she said.
Voca’s academic journey began early. As a child, she advanced quickly through grade levels, starting third-grade reading classes while still in kindergarten. Her mother, who introduced her to math and reading at an early age, helped nurture her love of learning.
By sixth grade, Voca was already taking algebra, and school administrators recognized her potential, having her take the SAT—a standardized test usually for high school students.
“I’ve always really enjoyed learning. It’s a weird thing to say because I feel a lot of life is just learning and adapting to what is around you,” Voca said.
”I really like the challenge of learning new things and broadening my horizons Just learning as much as you can with as much time as you’re given is really important to me,” she added.
Voca scored 1190 on the SAT, placing her in the 74th percentile nationally, and this impressive result allowed her to skip directly to her freshman year of high school.
That same year, she took her first college course, Introduction to Theatre, sparked by her interest in drama. Enjoying the experience, she continued to enroll in college courses alongside her high school curriculum.
During her senior year, Voca juggled four college courses each semester while completing her high school requirements. She finished her high school credits early, allowing her to spend the rest of her senior year immersed in music.
As a skilled flute and saxophone player, she participated in band, jazz band, and choir, while also helping to teach music to sixth- through eighth-grade students.
Looking ahead, Voca has plans to embark on an eight-month externship in psychiatric research at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City. She said her ultimate goal is to become a psychiatrist, and she hopes to write a research paper based on her externship experience.
After that, Voca is interested in enrolling in a six-year program that would allow her to begin medical school early.
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