GARY, IN (RNN) - An 18-year-old student is graduating with a bachelor's degree in sociology from Purdue University Northwest on Friday.
But Raven Osborne won't receive her high school diploma from 21st Century Charter School until May 22.
Talk about time management.
How Osborne did it: She attended college and high school concurrently as part of the curriculum of the charter school she attends, the Big Ten Network said.
#SeniorPictures #may5 #2017 #Purdue pic.twitter.com/CP3EYhbaSZ
— Raven Osborne (@itsmyrayray) March 8, 2017
A teacher once told Osborne, the only child of a single mother, that she didn't have what it takes to succeed, the Northwest Indiana Post-Tribune said.
She has proved that teacher wrong.
Osborne began taking classes at a community college as a freshman in high school, earning an associate degree in general studies at age 16.
Her mother and her school's principal encouraged her to become the first in the school's history to earn a bachelor's degree while still in high school.
It wasn't easy. To reach the goal, she took a blend of in-person and online classes that provided dual high-school and college credit, taking additional high school courses during the summer.
Her charter school covered college tuition and transportation through funds from the state of Indiana, the Big Ten Network reported.
Osborne impressed college professors, who weren't aware that she was still in high school, the Northwest Indiana Times said.
"She not only is academically gifted, but (also) has demonstrated amazing intellectual maturity in her pursuit of a baccalaureate degree at Purdue Northwest. She is joining a small number of students who have come to our university at a relatively young age to complete a baccalaureate degree program," Purdue spokesman Wes Lukoshus said.
She will return to her charter school to teach in the fall.
"I want to stay here and give back to others who want to do what I have done so far," Osborne said.
Copyright 2017 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.
