Eleven years ago, parents of a young girl felt she was not being challenged enough at school, so they took a risk and decided to pull her out. As it turns out, their risk resulted in their daughter receiving associate's and bachelor's degrees by age 16.

Now, at age 23, Julia Nepper has added Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin to her list of incredible accomplishments.

"I'm so proud of her," Nadine Nepper, Julia’s mother, told WECT. "All that hard work has paid off. It's hard to believe she was kept back in kindergarten that one year."

At age 12, Julia enrolled in classes at Cape Fear Community College in North Carolina. After two years and an associate’s degree, she entered the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where she received a bachelor’s.

“Most of the people I’ve met, in my life, could have done what I did if they had the right support,” Julia told the local news station. “I don’t fault my parents, pushing me, with regards to my education. Clearly, I could handle it, and it worked. So they must have done something right.”

Now that she is finally out of school, Julia is admittedly excited and nervous about what the future has in store.

“I’ve been in college most of my life and I haven’t really been in the real world,” Julia added. “It’s exciting but actually scary to go out and get a job.”

For many people who recently learned of Julia’s story, they think the 23-year-old will have no problem landing a job.