An 18-year-old genius has achieved an outstanding feat, bagging a PhD at such a young age.
The lady, identified as Thessalonika Arzu-Embry (Tessa Embry), completed a PhD in Aviation Psychology from Capella University, Minneapolis, USA.
She has written her name in gold, becoming one of America’s youngest Doctorate degree holders.
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Tessa’s father, Carlos Arzu, an Airforce veteran was a manager at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and this availed her the opportunity to spend a lot of time at airports.
As a 5-year-old, Tessa sat in a plane and an air-show instructor showed her how it worked. All of these contributed to her decision to study Aviation Psychology.
She told Blackdoctors.org, that she grew up around airplanes and took flights all the time.
A Master’s degree at 16
The outstanding Tessa went on to earn a high school diploma at age 11. When she clocked 14, she completed a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Chicago University, Chicago, Illinois.
Her next step was to obtain a Master’s degree in Business Administration, which she completed at 16.
“If I see opportunity to go forward, I would say, ‘Why slow it down? “It’s best to go through it and take advantage of the opportunity, because it will help other people as a whole; it will help businesses and society,” Tessa told Chicago Tribune.
According to her mother, Tessa was prepared academically and mentally to achieve all the feats she’s attained, and she supported her dreams.
She said, “Academically and mentally, she was prepared for it. And I didn’t want to put a cap on it and hinder her and limit her if she was able to accomplish it. And I just went on and encouraged her to go ahead and make the most of it.”
Now 23 years of age, Tessa Embry is a licensed pilot and also an author.
READ ALSO: 18-year-old mom emerges valedictorian, wins $600k in scholarships
17-year-old girl wins multiple scholarships
Meanwhile, an outstanding 17-year-old girl broke the 152-year-old record of Albany High School, New York, to become her first black valedictorian.
Onovu Otitigbe-Dangerfield graduated with an impressive 4.0 GPA, beating all her colleagues and clinching the prestigious award.
She said, “It’s overwhelming and really surreal to me, especially hearing from Black girls from other schools that it inspired and motivated them. They reached out to me saying, ‘it was so nice to see one of us in there.”
