TEEN GETTING DEGREE, RELIES ON MOM FOR RIDES

diploma, then we’re good.”

Her brother is the one who challenged her to get into the Honors College, a place that would become her “second home.” Rosiak couldn’t resist the challenge, which is perhaps one of the keys to her success.

“I love a challenge and I love being challenged,” Rosiak said. “It’s one of my main motivations.”

Rosiak, who considers herself a “very social person,” keeps in touch with her friends who still attend her old high school. One of her friends even took her to homecoming last year. “I don’t miss any of it,” Rosiak says. “I am happy where I am now.”

A family effort

Having only turned 16 in February, Rosiak is still learning how to drive. She has her learner’s permit and now hopes to get her full license. But for now, she relies on her mom to drive her.

“My mom does all the heavy lifting,” Rosiak says. “She will drop my sister and me off at school and pick us up. This might be harder on my mom than me because she has to do all the driving.”

Little sister is a typical 10-year-old fifth-grader and doesn’t yet have plans to follow an accelerated life path.

“We always joke around about that stuff,” Rosiak says. “She wants to go a more traditional path. (When we ask if she wants to skip any grades), she goes, ‘Maybe, we’ll see about it.’ ”

Naturally, Rosiak’s parents are proud.

“It’s a real accomplishment — you don’t normally see that,” said Richard Rosiak, who works as a divorce lawyer in the Los Angeles area and commutes between California and Nevada. “Everybody who asks her about it is very surprised. She started at 13.”

Asked how it felt to have his daughter following in his legal footsteps, Richard Rosiak responded with dry humor: “I am very excited about that. That way I can retire sooner.”

Mom, Margarita, is proud of her daughter’s dedication and offers her full support. “I’m there 100 percent, whenever she needs something from me,” she said. “Advice, friendship, anything she needs, I’m there for her. I’m very proud.”

The family celebrated Charlotte’s latest accomplishment with a weekend of parties for friends and families.

Just a normal kid … kind of

Rosiak appears to be grounded, as if graduating from college years ahead of her peers was nothing out of the ordinary. She’s a huge Vegas Golden Knights fan, and she loves painting with watercolors and lunching with friends. She enjoys attending social events put on by the Honors College, such as picnics, game nights and costume parties.

Christianity plays a large role in her life, and she does a lot of volunteering for her church.

But has she missed out on a crucial aspect of life in bypassing the normal high school routines and traditions?

“No, I wouldn’t say I missed anything,” she said. “I don’t have any regrets. I’m very happy with life and happy with the decisions I’ve made so far. My best friends are here at the Honors College. I have a whole normal life.”

Both the Honors College and the Hospitality School have played a huge role in helping Rosiak develop that sense of normalcy. She credits the hospitality program with teaching her how to be open, how to talk to people and put yourself out there. And she found a “second home, a second family” in the students and professors at the Honors College.

“Dean Marta Meana took a chance to take me in at age 14,” Rosiak says. “I’m eternally grateful.”

Meana reciprocates the positive sentiments.

“I am very confident that Charlotte will be extremely successful in whatever venture she decides to settle on,” Meana says. “If she ends up being a practicing lawyer, good luck to anyone on the opposing side. She is formidable at 16 — imagine later.”