According to ABC News 5 Cleveland, Anita Bennett earned three university degrees from Cuyahoga Community College while still enrolled as a first-year high school student at Ohio Connections Academy.
She is now well on her way to pursuing a bachelor’s degree as she maintains her studies in high school thanks to Ohio’s dual enrollment program, College Credit Plus (CCP).
Despite being young, Bennett is wise beyond her years, noting that remaining optimistic throughout the hurdles of attending college while still learning to navigate high school has been a game changer for her.
“When you don’t know about college, that kind of stuff, it can seem really, really hard, and it could seem impossible at times,” said Bennett, per the outlet. “But just knowing that if you put your mind to it, you can do it and that the sky’s the limit and you create your own boundaries.”
Stemming from a family of intelligent women, Bennett’s older sisters Angel and Amber began their college journeys at ages 13 and 11, respectively.
Bennett’s mother’s journey as an entrepreneur has had an impact, even shaping the fields she has chosen to study.
“Seeing my mother and how hard she worked and how she got her business running and how successful it was really inspired me to go into that field as well,” Bennett noted. “And I’ve always wanted to do something like that with my life. So, seeing her already have a successful business, it only makes sense to me to take over that when I get older since I wanted to work in the childcare industry as well.”
Not only does she hold an associate of arts and associate of technical studies in child care administration and management through CCP, but Bennett’s recent accomplishment includes graduating summa cum laude with an associate of science degree.
