(KRON) — Friday is graduation day for the students at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose. This year’s valedictorian is getting a lot of attention at just 12-years-old.

The equations of calculus might confuse you and I, but for Phung-Hieu Diep it’s a peace of cake. He’s always been known for challenging himself, which is how he ended up at Evergreen Valley College. Enrolling in classes when he was 10-years-old.

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“Took some placement tests to skip middle school and high school and I passed all those so I just went to college,” said Diep.  

He attended community college before taking his driver’s test and is one of the youngest college students you’ll ever meet, surrounded by students twice his age. Diep says the San Jose campus was the perfect place for him to explore his curiosity for math and science.

“Every time I walk into a classroom, I’m a bit nervous, but over the semester I started to know the people around me better and we’ve become friends,” said Diep.

Diep just finished his second year of college, earning an associate’s degree in mathematics. He didn’t just finish the course work, he excelled, graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA and being named valedictorian of his graduating class. It’s no surprise to his professors like Dr. Alessandro Bailetti-Saez, who says the 12-year-old always showed up to class looking for as much knowledge as possible.

“Hieu had that mentality of doing well, but not because he wanted to do well but because he wanted to learn,” said Dr. Bailetti-Saez.

After graduation, Diep plans on taking more classes and earning more degrees at Evergreen Valley. His long-term goal is to become an infectious disease physician.

“When I don’t understand something I work really hard on it, ask questions and try to learn from my mistakes,” said the young valedictorian.

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