Nashoba Valley Student Graduating College Before High School
WESTFORD (CBS) – Alicia Gentile captained her track and cheerleading teams at Nashoba Valley Technical High School. But such things barely make it on to the 18-year-old's budding resume.
That's because Gentile will be earning a college diploma before she walks across the stage at her high school graduation.
"You definitely learn a bit about self-reliance," the high school senior says.
Gentile always had super grades - a 99.6 average at Nashoba Valley - and says academics came easy.
But during her sophomore year she decided she needed a bigger challenge.
With her mother urging her on, the Groton teenager tackled something called "dual enrollment" – taking all of her classes at Middlesex Community College.
"In my first class everyone called me the kid," says Alicia.
The "kid" would earn her first college "A" at age 16, and wound up tutoring older students in both anatomy and physiology.
"She sets very high goals," says Nashoba Valley Tech Superintendent Denise Pigeon. "And she goes after them."
Oddly, Gentile will graduate from college before high school.
Thursday night, Alicia will give the commencement speech at Middlesex Community College when she earns an associate's degree in liberal arts and sciences.
Next Saturday, she will speak during her high school graduation at Nashoba Valley.
"I'm graduating in May from college and June from high school," Alicia says with a smile. "So a lot of people ask 'How does that work?'"
Her college grades are more than enough to keep a promise she made to her late great-grandmother – claiming the title of senior class valedictorian.
"She goes above and beyond in everything she does," says Pigeon.
Gentile wants to become a pediatric oncologist. That's a doctor specializing in children's cancers.
Her interest in medicine comes from her mother and was stoked at Nashoba Valley.
But she says her drive to succeed is now rooted in her broken family, where brushes with abuse and addiction have made Alicia determined to set a better example for her 12-year-old brother.
"You can make your way out of it. You can persevere through it," she says. "It just takes a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of effort. But it's definitely possible."
Next for Gentile, it's on to the University of San Francisco – with little brother watching.
"I think he's really proud of me," she says proudly.
And he's not the only one.
