11-year-old graduates California junior college, has one piece of advice: ‘Never give up’

Eleven-year-old Athena Elling’s cap and gown may be smaller than most of her fellow classmates graduating from junior college on Thursday, but her achievement is monumental.

Athena will join predominantly 19 to 21-year-old graduates in walking across the stage at Irvine Valley College in Irvine, California. She is graduating with cum laude honors, earning her associate’s degree in liberal arts.

In an interview with USA TODAY ahead of the graduation, Athena’s mother, Christina Chow, shared that the community college provided a platform for her daughter to explore a variety of interests.

“In the past year, she has wanted to be a divorce attorney, an allergist, and an actor,” Chow said. “We’ve tried not to say no to anything she’s expressed interest in.”

The Elling Family: Youngest Graduates

The Elling family is no stranger to young graduates at Irvine Valley College. Athena’s brother, Tycho Elling, set the record for the youngest graduate from the Orange County community college last year, also at the age of 11.

Naturally, a bit of sibling rivalry motivated Athena to surpass her brother’s achievement.

“When my brother graduated with an AA just a few days before his 12th birthday, I was inspired and really wanted to achieve that as well,” Athena said.

With the guidance of college counselors, Athena completed her liberal arts degree in time to set the new record.

Chow described Tycho, now a student at the University of California-Irvine, as “hyper-focused,” while Athena is a natural extrovert. She holds a second-degree black belt in taekwondo and has a passion for acting and dance outside of college.

“We’ve been lucky that she has so many interests because her taekwondo classmates are her age, her dance classmates are her age,” Chow said. “The fact that she had so many additional outside interests was really kind of a blessing.”

Worldly Exposure at College

Athena told USA TODAY that she gained valuable insights from interacting with community college students who had diverse motivations for furthering their education.

“I love seeing how they’re taking classes just because they really enjoy the subjects,” she said. “I get to learn so much from them because they always know so much more.”

Chow acknowledged that the exposure to multiple generations of learners allowed Athena to learn lessons beyond the classroom.

Future Plans and Advice

Thursday’s ceremony will not be Athena’s last appearance at Irvine Valley College. She intends to pursue multiple other associate degrees.

“She had me email and also asked her counselor if she can get her credit limit lifted,” Chow said. “She said now that she has an associate’s degree, doesn’t that prove she can handle the work? She wanted to take more diverse classes and more credits even over the summer.”

When asked if she had any advice for the typically much older graduating class of 2024, Athena succinctly replied, “Just never give up.”