Mark Twain once said: "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." And it looks like this is exactly what applies to this Indiana teen. Raven Osborne is anything but conventional; while most people go through the routine of primary school, junior school, high school and then college, Osborne is doing it with a difference.
She is set to receive her college degree on May 5, while she will be handed her high school diploma on May 22. No, we aren't kidding. Talking about the whole arrangement to CBS News, Osborne said, "Yeah, they think I'm lying."
The 18-year-old has been taking part-time college classes as well as online course at a community college for a year and two years at the Purdue University Northwest. When added up, these college courses amounted to a full year of high school credit.
When Osborne is awarded a college degree on May 5, she will be a bachelor in sociology with a minor in early childhood education. When asked how she managed to juggle school and college, the student of the 21st Century Charter High School said: "Sophomore, that was the most work. I had five high school classes, four college classes."
While everyone might now believe that Osborne is a bright student, school during childhood wasn't easy for her. She used to stutter as a child and was even once told by a teacher that she couldn't succeed when it came to academics. "When I was a younger, I was labelled with a learning disability," Raven Osborne said. "But my mother always told me I could do whatever I wanted to do in life."
Meanwhile, Purdue spokesman Wes Lukoshus says that the university is extremely proud of Osborne and her achievements.
"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," he told the Northwest Indiana Times.
After earning a university degree and a high school diploma, Osborne will be back in the 21st Century Charter High School this fall and will work with elementary-age children, earning a salary of over $30,000 a year.
