As a young teen, Peele was on an accelerated academic track. She went directly from the eighth grade to college, enrolling at Mary Baldwin College in Virginia at age 14.

"Technically, I'm a high school dropout," the Goldsboro, N.C., native said recently.

She graduated from Mary Baldwin Magna Cum Laude and enrolled at Duke's Divinity School three years ago at age 17. She graduated earlier this year, at age 20 the school's youngest-ever graduate. Now just 21, Peele recently started work at the Harlem Children's Zone, a New York City nonprofit agency that aids at-risk children.

At Mary Baldwin, Peele wasn't alone. She chose the college because it has a special program for gifted youngsters. The women's college, with an undergraduate enrollment of about 800, has about 10 to 20 young, gifted students like Peele each year, she said. It was a good fit, but also an adjustment.

"It was different academically," she said. "I had never studied and always pulled off straight A's. I went to school for the sports and the friends. In college, I had to learn how to study."

Still, Peele excelled at Mary Baldwin, she said. The move to Duke proved a mightier challenge, as she entered a graduate program filled with people far older than she and with a wide range of life experiences. Many divinity students are in their 30s or 40s and searching for a second career.

"At Mary Baldwin, I never felt my age," she said. "At Duke, I was very conscious that I was younger than everyone else. I found myself being quiet more."

But Peele was still drawn to leadership roles. Tiffney Marley, director of the divinity school's black church studies, saw in Peele a strength and interest in leadership. For one year, she was president of the Black Seminarians Union, a student organization.

"Here she was, a 19-year-old, leading a group of 25- to 50-year-olds. Many of her colleagues were old enough to be her parent; but there she was, the leader," Marley recounted. "She just has this way about her, a courage and maturity that compels people to listen to her and respond to her."

Master's degree in hand, Peele has set out to engage in ministry outside the traditional confines of a church. Her role at the Harlem Children's Zone is her first step: She said she wants to be a role model, particularly for young black women. She believes her story can inspire.

"In 2008, the idea of starting college early isn't unusual, but you don't hear it in the African-American community," she said. "Being an African-American and being a female, my hope is that my story represents possibility."