Anthaea-Grace Patricia Dennis, a 12-year-old student from Ottawa, Canada, made history by being the youngest person in history to get a college degree. She happily received her Bachelor of Biomedical Science from the University of Ottawa this month.
Anthaea enrolled in the three-year intensive university programme when she was nine years old and completed it quickly. She encountered challenges at the university due to her youth and talent, including racism and expectations regarding her demeanour and speaking. But she didn’t let them stop her from moving forward.
She told CBC News, “I’m going to be happy for myself too, not just for other people. Despite all the difficulties and obstacles that a person like me has faced to get here, I am proud of myself.”
Since discovering Anthaea’s particular talents at age two, her mother, Johanna Dennis, has always encouraged her. Anthaea’s talents were fostered, and her success was ensured by Johanna, a law professor and single mother.
Anthaea has also proven her abilities as a researcher, having written a 40-page thesis on the connection between handedness and functional activity in the cerebellum. She conducted the research in less than a year, and she presented her findings at the Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology Symposium.
She is a gifted musician in addition to her outstanding academic accomplishments. She likes to watch TV with her family and spend time with her kitties.
Anthaea hopes to continue her research on functional activity in the cerebellum by pursuing postgraduate studies in the future. She also imagines running a group of like-minded researchers out of her own research facility.
“I’m very motivated by the fact that I can be the first (to do) something. You know, being able to show other young, gifted, and talented people that something like this is possible and that you can get through these roadblocks has always been something that I’ve always wanted to do,” she said.
