WATCH: The Woman Set to Become SMU’s Youngest Law School Graduate EVER
Please allow us to introduce you to the young woman who is set to become the youngest ever law school graduate from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
This is Haley Taylor Schlitz. At just 19-years-old, she looks to be the youngest ever to graduate law school from SMU. ABC 13 reports that "in 2019, Taylor Schlitz was accepted to nine different law schools, eventually attending SMU's Dedman School of Law in Dallas, according to a news release from the university."
So it would seem obvious she is clearly a gifted and brilliant student. However, her achievements are vast...and she's only just getting started.
According to a news release from SMU, she is also "an author, public speaker and advocate for 'the issues students of color face in navigating gifted and talented programs in public schools.'"
Schlitz told ABC 13 that she felt when she was younger, it was a struggle for her school to notice her when it came to their gifted and talent program--something to which she'd aspired.
In SMU's news release, she said:
"Many girls and students of color are left out of our nation's gifted and talented programs."
In response, her parents opted for homeschooling, which she graduated at the young age of 13. She then became a graduate of Texas Women's University at the age of 16. And now, she is set to graduate SMU's Dedman School of Law at only 19 years of age.
Schlitz told ABC13 that "society will lose out on the potential scientist who cures a major disease, the entrepreneur who starts the next Amazon and so much more. All because of their gender and/or skin color."
We have a feeling these insights could inform her future work. And what are her plans after May 13's graduation?
Schlitz also said in the SMU news release that she is planning a focus on "education policy issues [in an effort] to increase opportunities "for gifted and talented girls and students of color."
We'll be here cheering you on, Haley. Congratulations.
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