15-Year-Old Boy Becomes Youngest Person Ever To Graduate From University Of Nevada – Fifth Degree In Four Years

A 15-year-old boy has become the youngest person ever to graduate from the University of Nevada — making it his fifth degree in just four years.

Child prodigy Jack Rico, from California, had already earned four associate’s degrees by the time he was 13 years old, DailyMail reports.

He has now completed his bachelor’s degree in history at University of Nevada, Las Vegas with an impressive grade point average of 3.78.

Jack in an interview with the school expressed;

I honestly loved all the classes I took. The majority of my classes were through the history or film departments, and every class taught me something different.

Jack had been homeschooled by his mother, Ru Andrade, but after four years of teaching him everything she could, she began struggling to find new things for him to learn.

‘I had given everything I had, and he was smarter than me,’ his mom told Fox News.

At age 11, he took a placement exam at Fullerton College — which offered a K-12 bridge program — and scored so high that they put him in college-level courses.

Within two years of studying there, he earned four associate degrees — one in each concentration of history, social behavior, art and human expression, and social science.

At the time, he became the youngest person to graduate from a college in California, earning a perfect 4.0 GPA.

When he was 14, he started taking classes at the University of Nevada. He explained how he buckled down and studied even more despite fun distractions calling his attention.

 

Jack expressed;

In my first two semesters, I was on it. I managed my time really well and made sure I completed all assignments on time. This semester it has been a little more difficult for me to stay motivated. I missed my very first assignment ever in college a few weeks ago. That was enough to push me back on track.

I started writing down everything again and making sure I’m staying organized. I have a PS5 still in the box staring at me, but I promised myself I’m not going to open it until after finals.

And on December 14, after just a year, he officially graduated on December 14, 2021 — and Jack said the accomplishment feels ‘awesome.’

He noted;

I worked really hard but I also had a lot of support. All my professors and classmates have been awesome. A huge thank you to my mom for driving me back and forth from California to UNLV every week so that I could take classes on campus.

‘Just being alongside of him on this journey has been so amazing,’ his mom gushed.

Andrade stated;

I know he gets a lot of attention for his brain, but he’s the sweetest kid — never been in trouble once. He has a sister who has autism who he is amazing with.

Obviously, we are so proud of him because this is what he wanted. But also proud of the human he is. That’s the coolest thing about him.

Now Jack has plans to earn his master’s degree, but wants to take one semester off from school so that he can relax and just be a teenager.

He told Fox News that his next goal is to learn how to code, and said he also hopes to become fluent in Spanish.

Although Jack is unsure about his career path, he said he wants a job that will make him enough money to take care of his sister ‘for the rest of her life.’

‘That’s his plan and motivation through all of this,’ his mother Andrade added.

His mom explained in a 2020 interview with Las Vegas Review that the 15-year-old ‘is not a genius,’ he just ‘works very hard‘ and loves to learn.

And although she described him as an ‘old soul,‘ she added that he still loves to do the same things other kids his age like to do, like play video games.