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15-year-old girl is the youngest graduate at Valencia College commencement

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Central Florida student will be the youngest graduate to walk across the stage on Sunday at UCF’s Addition Financial Arena.

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At only 15 years, Erika Nielsen will earn her associate’s in arts degree from Valencia College.

May will be a double graduation month for Nielsen as she will graduate from the Osceola School of the Arts later this month.

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Nielsen is not the first one in the family to earn a degree at a young age. Her dad earned his Ph.D. in nuclear physics at age 19.

The young grad will be enrolling in college in the fall to finish her bachelor’s degree. She plans to pursue a medical career after her father underwent an open-heart surgery.

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Nielsen hopes to become a robotic cardiac surgeon.

The commencement ceremonies will be streamed live on May 7 on this website.



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