Fifteen-year old Christina Brown is graduating Saturday.

So what, you say.

Not so fast.

This isn't a junior high or even a high school commencement we're talking about.

She'll be dressing up in a cap and gown with some people old enough to be her parents.

Christina's graduating from Cal State Bakersfield with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

She's not the youngest to ever go to class at the university but will be the youngest grad in CSUB history.

Christina insists she's no girl genius. At 10 she enrolled in some community college classes, including some business classes her mom taught at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster.

By the sixth grade, at age 11, her parents were unhappy with the local schools. They say they were so fed up with the lack of maturity exhibited by her classmates that they gave Christina the option of going to community college full time. It was meant to be a temporary arrangement, with Christina enrolling in high school at 14. But when it came time for her freshman year of high school, she had already earned an associate degree and was ready to be a junior in college.

She didn't need a high school diploma to enroll in the community college, and once she had earned her associate's degree, she could enroll at CSUB.

Now she's finishing college at CSUB's Antelope Valley satellite campus with a nearly perfect 3.99 grade point average. She'll come to Bakersfield Saturday for commencement.

"When you're put in a college environment, it's really easy to adapt," Christina said. "A lot of people who talked to me told me they were similar to me. They loved college but hated high school. And I'm a nerd. I wouldn't have done well in high school."

In August she'll start grad school at the University of Dayton in Ohio with plans to finish her master's degree by the time most people her age are graduating high school. She turns 16 in July and hopes to get a driver's license by January.

"It's not like all this came easy to her," said her dad, Paul Brown. "She definitely worked very, very hard,"

Paul Brown, a United Airlines pilot, said she was like any normal child through about the fourth grade. But by the fifth grade she began maturing beyond her classmates. A year later they enrolled her in community college full time when it was clear she didn't fit in with many of the students her age.

"No one ever criticized us, but people expressed concerns about her missing out on social interaction with kids her age," Paul Brown said.

She hasn't missed out on every high school experience. She went to the prom this year with a friend of her sister Jennifer, who is 18.

Jennifer, by the way, is smart too. She graduated on Friday in Lancaster as one of Paraclete High School's valedictorians and is off to the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the fall. She was given the option of going to community college too, but chose the high school experience.

Christina has been mum about her age since transferring to CSUB at 14.

Most of her classmates found out her age last month when it was reported in the psychology department's newsletter. Some of her close friends figured it out before then.

Study partner Kathleen Siamis, 44, has known Christina for two years and didn't realize how young she was until about six months ago.

She started having suspicions about Christina's age when she noticed that she was always getting driven to and from school. Then she heard a rumor.

"I had no idea. She's just a really sweet and really wise person. I've been around the block a few times and I just never would have known," Siamis said. "I heard a rumor that she was 15. I just said, 'No way. It just can't be.'"

Siamis does look older than 15, but younger than a college graduate.

Once during a group study session, Siamis said one of the men was suspicious and kept pressing Christina about her age. Christina tried to change the subject and began working on the computer to dodge the question, said Siamis.

She said when people found out her age at Antelope Valley College, she was treated differently and has since tried to keep her age to herself.

"I say I don't like to talk about my age or I'd say I don't look my age so I don't like to talk about it, so they'd assume I was older and not ask me anymore," Christina said.

CSUB psychology professor Allison Evans-Fluckey allowed Christina to lecture classes on several occasions on topics such as group dynamics and discrimination. The students, some who were three times Christina's age, were taking notes and asking questions.

"She's above average. She's an exceptional student. Compared to all the students I've had, she is one of the best. She's mature. She's dedicated, committed, responsible," Evans-Fluckey said. "I definitely think she is a genius in some way. She loves learning."

Siamis recalled asking friends, including Christina, for advice about becoming a foster parent. Siamis is already a single mom and will be required to get a master's degree to reach her career goals.

While most of Siamis' friends were telling her she should put her career and school first, Christina advised her not to worry about getting straight A's and to make her son her first priority. And Christina told her to spend more time thinking about foster parenting before moving forward.

"Most people are like 'go, go for your career. Get out there.' She seemed to have knowledge about what was important," Siamis said. "She's just wise beyond her years."

Christina will leave for grad school in August and yes, she'll be living in the dormitories away from her parents.

She made trips alone to Vancouver, Canada, and San Francisco for psychology functions, sort of trial runs, said her father. She did great on those trips, but like any good dad, Brown still has his reservations.

"It is very scary. I'm very concerned. We did check out the campus (in Ohio) and it's a very nice campus in a safe neighborhood," he said.

Christina's career goal is to teach psychology and do research. Following her master's degree she hopes to pursue a doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley.

"I'm not a genius at all I don't think," Christina said. "I'm just a hard worker."