2026 COMMENCEMENT SERIES | 21-year-old becomes the youngest Marquette Law School graduate since World War II

On May 16, 21-year-old Anthony Sikorski will be the youngest graduate of Marquette Law School in over 75 years. He started high school at nine, college at 14 and law school at 18. But looking at Sikorski now, you'd never know the challenges he's had to overcome to achieve such an extraordinary accomplishment.

Soon after he was born in 2004, his mom Jill Sikorski knew there was something special about Anthony: by age two he was already reading books.

"My husband and I noticed that he loved being read to," Jill explains. "I would read age- appropriate books to him and would hold it up so he could look at the pictures. I noticed one day that he was following along. Then he started reading, and I thought he was memorizing it all. One day we were at the library in Illinois. The librarian heard him lying on the floor reading a book. She was like, 'Is he reading? That's so unusual.' So, he hit a lot of these milestones extremely early."

Anthony later became interested in classical music - playing piano and dabbling in violin and percussion.

Growing up in South Elgin, IL, and later in Hartland, WI, he skipped four grades - kindergarten, second, and a portion of fourth and fifth grades. He graduated college with a bachelor's degree at 18.

"I was actually a biology major in college, with math and biochemistry minors," Anthony says. "I ended up in law school by a twist of fate. I was accepted into the pre-law program when I was deciding where to go to college. I've enjoyed studying everything to do with the government for a long time. I have a fascination with elections."

Despite reaching accomplishments beyond his years, each success was equally matched by the daily challenges of numerous medical conditions, including cystic fibrosis; he was recently diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Anthony has endured countless days in the hospital for lifesaving treatments. His younger brother, William, has many of the same conditions, so he's never had to go through treatment alone.

"Over their lifetime, they probably spent a year total in the hospital with their illnesses," Jill says. "Anthony literally took an oral final exam in a hospital bathroom. They could just see his face, but he was in there."

Anthony doesn't take his success for granted. He remains devoted to his close-knit family, recognizing that he couldn't have achieved it without his mother's unwavering support. She's been there for every treatment and even drives him and his brother, a student and future teaching assistant double majoring in the College of Business Administration, to campus for classes multiple times a week.

Now in his final year at Marquette Law School and with his graduation just a couple weeks away, Anthony is trying to soak it all in, hoping to share the spotlight with his inspiration, his mom, just in time for Mother's Day.

"In the end, my family and livelihood were here before I entered law school, and they're certainly going to be around after I graduate," Anthony says.

Anthony served as the editor-in-chief of the Marquette Law Review from 2025-26 and says his proudest moment was having a student comment on partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin, chosen for publication in the Marquette Law Review last year.

After graduation, Anthony will be working as a law clerk for the Wisconsin Supreme Court starting Aug. 1. Feeling grateful, Anthony says he couldn't have done it without his mom.

"It was a blessed three years of law school," Anthony says. "It was a fast three years, but I would defend every decision that I made. To me, there's nothing that I could ever do to thank my mom enough, other than trying to do my best to keep myself healthy and to put into practice what she's taught us for so many years."