It’s graduation day for the youngest person in Canada to finish a university degree

Anthaea-Grace Patricia Dennis is about to become the youngest person in Canadian history to graduate from university.

The 12-year-old is expected to accept her University of Ottawa diploma for a bachelor's degree in biomedical science this evening.

Patricia Dennis started her university studies when she was nine years old.

She completed a 40-page thesis about the relationship between the brain and the hand for right-handed versus left-handed people.

Her mother Johanna Dennis says she knew her daughter was special when she was about two-and-a-half years old.

The not-yet-teenager is looking to attend postgraduate school next.

She told The Canadian Press in an interview that she's excited to get her own lab and work with others on her research about the cerebellum, the part of the brain responsible for co-ordinating balance and movement.

"I can now call myself a researcher," she said. "I feel like the master of the cerebellum."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2023.