OC Boy, 13, Earns 4 Associates Degrees From Fullerton College

FULLERTON, CA —Pomp and circumstance arrived at a La Mirada boy's home this week as he celebrated his graduation, but this was no ordinary achievement. Jack Rico, 13, graduated from Fullerton College with four associate degrees.

Yes, he started at age 11.

He earned associates degrees in: social sciences, social behavior and self-development, arts and human expression, and history, according to the school, all completed in his two years at the college.

Jack plans to continue his education at the University of Nevada, where he has a full scholarship, according to NBC4.

When asked about what he has accomplished, Jack told NBC4 that he feels proud. "I still can't believe that I've achieved something like this," Jack told NBC4. "I didn't know that I could really do that."

Jack Rico was just one student in the largest graduating class in the history of Fullerton College.

Despite the hurdles of graduating during a global pandemic, the class of 2020 was celebrated through videos released by the college by the school's president, Greg Shultz, and other faculty members.

Kim Olrijan, president of the faculty senate, discussed the unconventional graduation in the time of coronavirus, saying, "It is okay to be disappointed that you can't celebrate your commencement in the way you imagined. The lack of a traditional ceremony doesn't diminish the achievement."

The community college was founded in 1913. The Spanish Flu, and two world wars have not stopped the school, and neither will coronavirus, Shultz said.