Homeschool high achiever enters Air Force. (Making a Difference).

Joyce Lippe, 18, lost her father in a helicopter accident at age two. Soon thereafter, she began pestering her mother to teach her to read. Mrs. Lippe eventually relented, and within a three-week period at age three Joyce was reading on her own.

In an Air Force Press News (AFPN) story posted July 23rd on the official U.S. Air Force website Air Force Link, Miss Lippe recalled how anxious she was to read and learn math: "Every day I would come home and throw temper tantrums because they wouldn't teach me in daycare." So her mom, an elementary school teacher, "created her own teaching program, and from that I learned to read in three weeks. After seeing that, she decided to home school me with the help of my grandparents."

By the time Joyce was 10, she was performing so far above high school level that she began attending community college-level classes. By age 13, as reported by AFPN, "she had earned an associate of arts degree in liberal studies" at Central Arizona College, while posting a perfect 4.0 grade point average (GPA). She was also named valedictorian and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges.

Joyce then enrolled as a full-time student at Arizona State University. She graduated at age 17 with a bachelor of science degree in biology after earning another 4.0 GPA and a place on the National Dean's List honoring outstanding college students.

Joyce has long dreamed of becoming a physician. Two years ago, while searching for a scholarship to help offset the expense of medical school, she noticed Technical Sergeant Malcolm Hawkins, an Air Force recruiter, during a Medical Professions Career Fair at the University of Arizona. She grabbed one of his business cards and called him the next day.

Hawkins told AFPN that when he first spoke with Joyce, he thought someone was playing a practical joke on him. "I remember one afternoon sitting in my office doing paperwork when I got the call. I ...