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Genius 11-year-old graduates from St. Petersburg College

William Maillis is not your typical child.
William Maillis, who plans to transfer to the University of South Florida in the fall, is graduating from St. Petersburg College today. He wants to be an astrophysicist.

He’s a genius and today, he graduated college…at 11 years old!

William Maillis, who plans to transfer to the University of South Florida in the fall, walked across the stage today in the St. Petersburg College graduation ceremony.

William was declared a genius by the age of 5 by Ohio State psychologist Joanne Ruthsatz. By 9, he graduated from high school in Pittsburgh.

Williams said his next step was to head off to the University of South Florida for his bachelor's degree, then onto somewhere like University of Florida to get a master's and doctorate degrees in astrophysics.

"I want to be an astrophysicist to prove God is real using science," William said.

William has been amazing people for years. How’s this for brilliance?

  • He learned addition and subtraction at one and half
  • He knew the alphabet in three languages at three years old
  • He learned Algebra by the age of four
  • And he started elementary school at four years old

Williams said going to college with people that were mostly twice his age was different, but he got used to it.

WATCH: "It's just like any other person, because everybody has their genius."

"Just being around them, and having them treat you like an actual friend," William said.

William sure is inspiring as a person who graduated college at just over a decade old, but also shared some great words of inspiration to others.

"Everybody has their own genius. Mine is in astrophysics, but everyone has their own genius," William said.

Today, Emerald Morrow followed William during his graduation. Watch for her report on 10News.

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