“I decided to graduate early when I was looking at my credits for next year and I realized I only had about four credits left, which isn’t enough to keep me enrolled,” Wiekamp said.

Wiekamp has always been ahead in school, so it was no surprise she had only four credits left to take next year.

“I have been taking high school classes since I was in seventh grade,” Wiekamp said. “I was done with high school math as a freshman, and because of that was able to take both high school sciences, which meant that now, at sophomore/junior age, I was moved into AP (Advanced Placement) science at the senior level.”

Wiekamp was moving so fast through the high school core classes that she was taking as electives that she was quickly running out of core classes to take.

Katie Wiekamp is shown at her kindergarten graduation.

“I thought, since I had the credits, I might as well apply to graduate early. I am so grateful that the school board voted in my favor and allowed me to graduate in May,” Wiekamp said.

Being gifted can be hard to navigate for both the student, the school, and the parents, but Wiekamp had a great support system.

“I give props to my mom,” said Wiekamp. “It definitely runs in the family. I have two older sisters as well, so I was able to read what they would bring home for take-home reading assignments.

“My teachers were always great too,” she said. “They never held me back and always encouraged and found ways for me to continue learning at the level I was at.”

Out of all of her advanced learning in elementary school and before, the thing she remembers most was reading.

“I remember at like age four or five when I was able to really start reading more advanced books for my age, that I thought I was so cool. I thought I was like the big kids reading my ‘June B. Jones’ books,” she said.

Little did Wiekamp know that her love for reading would be the gateway to continue to learn at a high level.

“I think that once you can read, everything else comes easier,” Wiekamp said. “I remember my mom would bring home books from her classroom about robots and space and that ignited my love for science.”

Wiekamp has applied and been accepted to the MSU nursing program and is both excited and nervous to start her college career.

“I met with my adviser and have already set up all of my semesters. I’ve seen the campus and toured the nursing program building, ” she said. “I have cousins that play basketball for Minot State and have been to events and around the university my whole life. Being only 16, I think it will be good to go somewhere familiar.

“My mom and I actually made a deal that if I decided to graduate early that I’d at least spend one year at MSU until I was 17,” Wiekamp said. “MSU has an amazing nursing program, and I’ve always loved science.”

Although nursing wasn’t Wiekamp’s first choice, it ended up being the best of both worlds.

“I wanted to be a vet when I was little, and over time that turned into an interest in human medicine. I’d love to be an OBGYN, or in the birth and delivery side of nursing,” she said. “Without forcing myself into a specific medical track at 16 years old, the MSU nursing program allows me to look into all those opportunities.”