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13-year-old earns two college degrees

"Some people hear my story and might think, 'Wow, you must be amazing.' It's not me. It's the blessings God has given me."
Credit: Clancy, Samuel

GODFREY, Ill. – When Anya Alexis Wilkie was still in diapers, her mom Brandy knew she was ready to read.

“By the time she was 8- or 9-months-old, she was reading her first words,” Brandy said.

When Anya Alexis was three, she was quoting Shakespeare. Brandy decided to homeschool her gifted daughter.

“In homeschooling, when I finished one assignment, I was able to move onto the next and I really enjoyed that,” Brandy said.

When she was 12, Anya Alexis enrolled at Lewis and Clark Community College. Some of those classes, she said, were not as tough as her mom’s.

“Mom is a wonderful teacher,” Anya Alexis said. “She pushes me harder that what my college coursework pushed me.”

In between studying, Anya Alexis also plays the violin. She’s been playing since she was three.

Last week, the 13-year-old graduated. She earned two Associates Degrees, one in Arts and one in Music Performance.

Still, Anya Alexis does not feel advanced or gifted.

“Some people hear my story and might think, ‘Wow, you must be amazing.’ It's not me. It's the blessings God has given me.”

Anya Alexis graduated with a 4.0 GPA. She has been admitted at SIUE, but is taking a break from studying for now.

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