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The caps, mylar balloons and $40 orchid flower leis are blooming, which means one thing: it’s graduation season.
Beginning in early May, high schools, colleges and universities honor their newest alumni and the families that supported them through their trials.
It’s difficult to stand out among millions of peers, but a young phenom may have done so.
On Friday, 11-year-old San Bernardino resident Alisa Perales graduated from Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa with associate degrees in the subjects of multiple sciences and mathematics.
She is the school’s youngest graduate and among the youngest in California state history.
I spoke with Alisa and her father Rafael in the lead-up to her graduation to find out how they accomplished such a feat in such a short time.
Where does she stand among California’s youngest graduates?
The famed Guinness Book of World Records listed Northern California’s Michael Kearney as the “youngest graduate.” He earned his associate degree in geology from Santa Rosa Community College at the age of 8 in 1992. He then graduated with a bachelor’s in anthropology two years later at 10 from South Alabama University.
Irvine Valley College has its own trio of young scholars that includes Zoe Elling, who graduated Thursday at the age of 10. She just nipped her older siblings Athena and Tycho, who also graduated from Irvine Valley at 11 in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Moshe Kai Cavalin also graduated at 11 from East Los Angeles College in 2008 with a degree in liberal studies.
Not far behind, 12-year-old Clovis Hung graduated from Fullerton College with five associate degrees in 2023.
How did Perales complete school so quickly?
The path toward the graduation stage started a decade ago, when Rafael Perales noticed his daughter’s natural academic prowess.
“I wanted to see what my kid could do with full-time attention and learning,” Perales said.
A civil lawyer by trade who is divorced and raised his daughter alone, Perales quit his burgeoning practice to become Alisa’s instructor.
The duo treated learning like a profession, studying eight hours a day, six days a week.
“I worked hard from the beginning till now,” Alisa said. “I felt like I was a natural at the work, at learning, but it was still a lot of hard work.”
By her second birthday, Alisa had already mastered the alphabet and could count into the hundreds. At 2½ years old, she could read on her own. By 3, she was writing with upper elementary school precision, had conquered multiplication tables and understood division, her father said.
Alisa moved onto long division by age 4 and basic algebra by the time she was 5.
By 8, Alisa had completed all the coursework mandated by the state to graduate from high school with a diploma.
Did Alisa enjoy her childhood?
It wasn’t all hard work, though. Between the ages of 4 and 8, Perales scaled back — reducing classroom time to five days a week.
Wanting to reward his daughter, Perales bought a Disneyland season pass and took Alisa to the Happiest Place on Earth every weekend.
There, she found joy noshing on chicken tenders, turkey legs and Mickey Mouse cookies.
Alisa said she plays soccer with friends in her San Bernardino neighborhood, often racing to find them at a local park once she’s finished with her schoolwork.
She also connects with pals over the online video game platform Roblox.
“She runs into the crowd of kids and makes new friends and everybody is having a great time instantly,” Perales said.
What’s next?
Up next is university — she’s already been accepted to a few University of California campuses, though she hasn’t yet decided where she’s heading this fall. Eventually, the tween dynamo dreams of working with artificial intelligence at aerospace giant SpaceX.
“It’s a really exciting time to be graduating and preparing for my future,” Alisa said.
Check out the full story.
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(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Leigh Keily)
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Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Elijah Wolfson, environment, health and science editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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