Alisa Perales’s father drives her to and from class, helps her understand her textbooks, and rewards her academic achievements with trips to Disneyland, near their home in San Bernardino, Calif.
Alisa tackles the schoolwork herself, though, mastering Calculus 3 and computer science college courses, some weeks putting in 35 hours doing homework alone.
Not bad for a 10-year-old.
For her graduation from Crafton Hills College this April, Alisa’s been in the spotlight—featured on Fox News, People Magazine, NBC News, and more. With a grade point average close to 4.0 and two associate college degrees in mathematics and several sciences in hand, she’s the youngest graduate in the college’s history.
“It’s exciting for sure,” Alisa told The Epoch Times. “I always believed in myself that I could do it, and I’ve always kept up with my homework.”
Alisa, who turns 11 next week and was solving algebra equations at age 5, she said, may have her pick of universities from among Stanford, UC Arizona, UC Riverside, and others for when her studies continue next fall. She’s already received acceptance letters.
She'll major in computer science, she says, hoping to one day work in something related to AI, or possibly even aerospace.
“Or possibly even going to space,” she said.
Pondering future employers, she named “Elon Musk” and “Space X” as potential avenues.
Her dad, Rafael Perales, says he’s supportive no matter what Alisa chooses.
“I think that she is well positioned to take on either role of a parent or a worker,” said Perales, 51, an attorney who chose to homeschool Alisa for the past 10 years after passing the bar exam, instead of practicing law. She can choose a career, a family, or both, he added, and can also homeschool her own children too if she so chooses.
“I hope that she would be happy no matter what she does,” he said.
Alisa was always a quick learner. As a toddler, she would sort objects into clearly categorized piles and speak with a clarity beyond her years that even frightened some adults.
Her dad thinks she’s naturally sharp, but says her achievement is less about her being gifted and more about how a parent or teacher nurtures that gift. All kids are gifted.
“There’s a lot of children who have a lot of potential that is wasted by inattentiveness or just really not receiving the time by the parents or the teacher,” Perales said. “I don’t know how anybody is able to learn with 25 people trying to be taught by one person.”
With help from an inheritance that allowed him to stay home, Perales chose to teach Alisa from when she was 1 year old. He instilled a sense of responsibility and curiosity to make learning fun.
He wanted to be “more hands on” and “take control of her education and teach her the way that I know is good,” he said, likening children to “little saplings” who when showered with love “grow into mighty sequoias.”
Seeing his daughter flourish, Perales has become a true believer in homeschooling and urges more parents to give it a serious try.
“There is no comparison,” he said. “It’s like comparing the strength of a lion to a mouse.”
After 10 years learning at home, Alisa attended Crafton Hills to advance her career prospects. Sometimes she would walk into a class and feel stumped by some new topic but then look around and see she wasn’t alone.
Relentlessly working the problem, comprehension suddenly blossoms. “I got it!” she would think. “I’m going to do good in this class.”
“She really puts in the work,” said Perales. “It’s well earned. It’s not something where she just sits back and like a wizard can just whip up answers out of the ether of her mind.”
Alisa may be only 10, but she’s self-disciplined, always pushing herself to keep up with work, with no procrastinating or cutting class.
“I made sure to be there doing my thing,” she said.
Under all that load, though, what about a social life? Onlookers have mentioned their concern to Perales that she would become unsocialized due to being homeschooled.
“That has turned out to be completely wrong,” said Perales, who drives Alisa to her soccer games and to the park to bike-ride with her friends. “Alisa is one of the most outgoing and friendly kids you would ever meet.”
Since joining college, her network has only blossomed. When asked to quantify her circle of college pals, she laughed and said, “hundreds.”
