--- description: Esther Okade is 10 years old and is at the top of her class at Open University title: Meet the 10-Year-Old Girl Who Is Already Acing College image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Meet the 10-Year-Old Girl Who Is Already Acing College  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Mar 11, 2015 3:00 PM CUT  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Mar 11, 2015 3:00 PM CUT Esther Okade is only 10 years old, but she’s already the top freshman in her college class,[ CNN reports](http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/09/africa/esther-okade-maths-genius/ "undefined"). The British-Nigerian math prodigy is enrolled at Open University, a distance learning college and hails from the industrial town Walsall in England’s Midlands. [She told CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/09/africa/esther-okade-maths-genius/ "undefined"), “I actually wanted to start when I was seven. But my mum was like, “you’re too young, calm down.” Okade told the [_Birmingham Mail_](http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/walsall-maths-genius-esther-okade-8687998 "undefined")that she hopes to get a PhD and run her own business someday: When she isn’t studying for exams, [_CNN_ reports](http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/09/africa/esther-okade-maths-genius/ "undefined") that she writes math workbooks for children called “Yummy Yummy Algebra,” while her family works to open “Shakespeare Academy,” a nursery school and primary school in Nigeria’s Delta region. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3740423/10-year-old-math-prodigy-girl-esther-okade-in-college/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3740423/10-year-old-math-prodigy-girl-esther-okade-in-college/"},"headline":"Meet the 10-Year-Old Girl Who Is Already Acing College","datePublished":"2015-03-11T15:00:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:17:34.102Z","description":"She's a math prodigy","url":"https://time.com/3740423/10-year-old-math-prodigy-girl-esther-okade-in-college/","keywords":["Newsfeed","society"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3740423/10-year-old-math-prodigy-girl-esther-okade-in-college/","name":"Meet the 10-Year-Old Girl Who Is Already Acing College"}}]}] ```