13-year-old Earns High School Diploma

A preteen from Virginia will receive her high school diploma Friday, becoming the youngest girl in history to do so.

Thursday, June 4th 2009, 6:16 pm

By: News 9


By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- A preteen from Virginia will receive her high school diploma Friday, becoming the youngest girl in history to do so.

Paige Epler and her parents flew in from Virginia to get their first look at the OU campus. Paige earned her degree from the University of Oklahoma, which allows bright students all over the world to set their own pace.

"I'll be the youngest girl to ever walk the stage and earn my high school diploma, and I'm super excited," Paige said.

Paige started reading at 1-year-old. By her second birthday, she was reading a medical encyclopedia, and at 6-years-old she was performing Shakespeare.

She gives power-point lectures on saving sharks, and in January Paige played her violin at President Obama's inaugural luncheon.

It's little wonder then that Paige, who's now 13-years-old, could earn a diploma at such a young age. It was OU's long distance learning program that made it possible for Paige and 111 other students to earn a degree from the university's high school.

"We're just really grateful to OU high school to have this program that has allowed her the opportunity to go ahead and study and learn before she reached a certain age and sit and wait and be bored," said Pam Epler, Paige's mother.

Paige has prepared a speech she'll deliver during the ceremony for her fellow graduates.

"We got our diploma so we could enhance our abilities to think and reason and not just so that we could make money with it because our self-worth and our value isn't based on our job or our money," Paige said.

The OU High School graduation ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. at OU's Meachum Auditorium. Paige hasn't decided on a college yet, but she may stick with OU and continue her long-distance learning.

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