At 13, Jack Rico is the Youngest Fullerton College Graduate

Posted on May 29, 2020

Dressed up in a graduation cap, gown and flip-flops, 13-year-old Jack Rico accepted his diploma from Fullerton College at a private drive-by celebration with family and friends on May 27 in La Mirada. Jack became the youngest Hornet in Fullerton College’s 107-year history to earn not only one, but four associate’s degrees in just two years, making headlines all over the country and warming the hearts of the Fullerton College community.

ABC 7 Eyewitness News was the first media outlet to report on Jack’s story on May 25. The young scholar’s endearing story gave many people something to smile about and was picked up by media outlets all over the world. From the national CBS This Morning to Big Boy’s Neighborhood to Inside Edition and many more, Jack’s story blew up the internet.

“I just love learning new stuff,” Jack told CNN in an article published on May 27. “I love knowing more about the world and all the different things we could study.”

Jack began his journey at Fullerton College in 2018 as a “special admit” student when he took his very first class, Philosophy 105F World Religions, and loved it. “All the students, faculty and staff were so welcoming and friendly,” he said. “I learned a lot in all my classes and all of them were amazing.”

Jack’s mother, Ru Andrade, shares that because of that first experience, Jack asked to take more classes, and at one point, was enrolled in five courses at FC, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA and still finding time to do things ordinary 13-year-olds do, like playing video games, drawing, and spending time with his family.

“We’ve also done a lot of traveling,” Andrade said. “Traveling has just made a huge impact in homeschooling. For us to be able to learn about something and then go see it, I think made a big difference,” she added to explain how her son has been able to progress through college in such a short amount of time. Jack has earned four Associate of Arts degrees in Social Sciences, Social Behavior & Self-Development, Arts & Human Expression, and History.

Andrade also said her son’s love for learning has been present since he was just a baby. “He was always an old soul. Even as a baby, you could just tell he was soaking everything in,” she said.

Similarly, Fullerton College English Professor Elli England said Jack was always deeply focused with new concepts while enrolled in her English 100 course, but always added a sense of play to his troubleshooting.

“It was like watching someone put together a puzzle,” England said. “When he struggled with a new writing concept or some deep, metaphorical meaning from a text, he dove right into it, systematically asking questions, soliciting feedback, and staying with it until he had it figured out. Jack was such a great model to his classmates and we were all inspired by his hard work and consistent effort.”

England along with Fullerton College Dean of Social Sciences Jorge Gamboa and President Greg Schulz were among those who helped congratulate Jack at his drive-by celebration.

“His professors and I are so proud and excited for him,” said President Schulz. “I’ve known Jack for nearly two years, and I can attest to his strong work ethic and his off-the-charts intellect. He’s also funny and caring, and I’m so proud that Fullerton College has been a launchpad for him. He has many more accomplishments ahead.”

So what’s next for the young scholar? Jack will begin his first set of classes at the University of Nevada Las Vegas on a full scholarship the week of June 1, which is not much downtime for the young prodigy, but that doesn’t seem to bother him too much.

“Everything has been amazing and I’ll never forget it,” Jack said.

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