Williamsburg, Va. - Grace Duval, like most seniors, is getting ready for a big day. She's graduating tomorrow.
"I'm so excited. It's been a long road getting here. I've worked really hard. I'm happy that I'll finally have that little piece of paper."
Grace plans to attend Penn State in the fall and study French.
"I'll miss my family, but I'm so happy that I'll be at Penn State living in my own apartment studying what I'm really passionate about."
Grace has been one of the top students at her school, Christopher Newport University. She's only 17.
"I originally started taking English at Thomas Nelson Community College when I was ten. Being home schooled helped me accelerate in subjects that I was really passionate about, and to have more attention and more time to study and to read and focus on school and not so much the social aspect,” says Duval.
She’ll graduate from college summa cum laude with a Bachelor's in French.
She's going to Penn State to get her Masters where she'll also be teaching undergrads or students her own age.
"I hope no one sees this in Pennsylvania! I'm looking forward to that. I feel like teaching is something I want to get into as a profession."
Her mother, Natalie Duval, home schooled grace. She says she never intended to send her daughter college so young. She was just looking for ways to keep challenging Grace.
"At age ten, I knew that I taught her everything that I could as far as English and history. She had already read most of Shakespeare’s works by that time and I thought I needed to do something for her."
Duval doesn't consider herself any kind of prodigy, just a hardworking kid who likes learning.
"It’s what I do for fun, just like other people are good at sports. I’m good at writing papers."
