Two-year-old lands big fish with pink Barbie pole, and more

Two-year-old lands big fish with pink Barbie pole

Two-year-old Ella Haag, using her favorite pink Barbie fishing pole, caught a 20-pound, 30-inch muskie while fishing with her family at Minnesota’s Round Lake. First, Ella caught a tiny sunfish with a hook and worm. “Ella had her sunfish on and she’s reeling it in,” her mother, Carrie Haag, related. “Here comes this big muskie that went and ate her sunfish. So I grabbed the pole and yelled for Grandpa David,” who nabbed the fish with a net. Amazingly, the Barbie pole was up to the task. “I caught a shark,” explained Ella, who is smaller than the fish.

94-year-old graduates from college

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Seventy-eight years ago, Hazel Soares graduated high school in the midst of the Great Depression and was unable to afford college. Last week, the 94-year-old earned her undergraduate degree in art history, proudly participating in the graduation procession at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., as many of her 40 grandchildren and great-grandchildren looked on. “It’s taken me quite a long time because I’ve had a busy life,” she said. “I’m finally achieving it, and it makes me feel really good.” Said daughter Regina Hungerford: “We are really amazed. The biggest thing that we can all learn is that we’re never too old.”

13-year-old summits Mount Everest

Avid mountain climber Jordan Romero, a 13-year-old from Big Bear, Calif., has become the youngest person to summit Mount Everest. “The record is one thing, but standing on top of the world is just the best feeling you could ever imagine,” said Jordan, who was accompanied by his father and three Sherpa guides. “I’m doing this to inspire other kids to get outdoors and to set goals in life.” The eighth-grader has now climbed the tallest mountains on six out of seven continents; he hopes to conquer the seventh, Antarctica’s Vinson Massif, later this year.