SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Eighteen-year-old Tiara Abraham's educational accomplishments are nothing short of extraordinary, but she politely hesitates to accept the compliment.
"I don't know, I don't know," Tiara said, laughing. "I, yeah, I mean, I've been doing this my whole life so, I just, I don't really see it. I've been in college for like over half my life."
Tiara, who was born in California, is humble and certainly wise beyond her years.
"I graduated high school at 13 years old, and I transferred to UC Davis as a junior at 14 years old."
Her bachelor's degree in music in hand – at age 16 – Tiara was accepted at Indiana University and earned a master's degree in music just last month.
"When I came out, I let out this huge cry," Tiara said. "And my mom's like, she ... she always tells the story, she always says 'that girl's gonna be an opera singer.'"
Tiara's mother, Dr. Taji Abraham, said some people are surprised to learn of the complexities of study in the field of music.
"And so yeah, so we're super proud that Tiara got that at 18," Taji said.
But don't expect Tiara to rest on her laurels. She plans to return to IU in the fall to begin work on a doctorate.
"So, usually it ends up, you know, being like five, five years, but I'm aiming for three, 3.5, so we'll see how that goes," Tiara said.
