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Graduating from college has always been a huge accomplishment for anyone able to achieve this goal. While most pre-teens are worried about their summer plans, 12-year-old D.J Tillman had other plans. D.J. short for Dorothy Jean graduated Friday with a bachelors degree from Excelsior College.

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Tillman told NEWS 10 “I want to (get) my masters in environmental engineering. I do want to take a couple gap months.”

D.J’s mother Jemelita Tillman also spoke with News 10 about her daughter beating the odds.

“There are some great things coming out of the south side of Chicago and this, my baby, is one of the greatest of them all,” Tillman said.

“With environmental engineering, it’s all about helping people, the environment, and that’s just what I love to do,” DJ said.

D.J. and her mother don’t feel like she’s missing out on being a child.

“It’s not I just lock myself away from the world and do school all day. I still have friends and we go to the park and go to movies,” D.J said.

“She still plays with bubbles,” her mother said. “My child still loves to go on the swing. So when the question comes up, is she nervous, is she going to miss stop for high school, she’s not even in the high school mind.”

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D.J.’s planning to get her masters degree in environmental engineering. Her mother, she said she hopes D.J. joins the Space Force.

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