This autumn, August Maturo is penning a new chapter.

The young actor has just transferred to UCLA at the age of 17. A third-year English student, Maturo said he previously attended Moorpark College with a mix of in-person and asynchronous classes to better accommodate his schedule as a working actor. Maturo, who is minoring in film, television and digital media, has been acting since the age of 5. His credits include Disney’s “Girl Meets World” and “Mickey and the Roadster Racers” – and more recently, FOX dramas “Accused” and “9-1-1.” For Maturo, his love of education spans as far back as his career.

“Honestly, I just loved the idea – when I was little – of being able to learn things and attain new things and attain new knowledge, and being able to remember that and have that with me, and have that change me,” Maturo said. “I just thought that was such a cool concept and I wanted to do as much of it as possible.”

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Before his college days, Maturo’s first educational encounters were on set. Screenwriter and producer Gary Dauberman, who worked with Maturo on “The Nun,” said balancing schooling and filming can be difficult for young actors because they require quick shifts in focus. Recognizing how on-set education differs from traditional schooling, Maturo said he enjoyed the experience because it complemented his preferred one-on-one learning style.

Once a star on Disney’s “Crash & Bernstein,” Emmy-nominated actress Mckenna Grace said she met Maturo around the age of 6 after she asked him to sign her cast while they were both working for the company. Now 18, she said the experience of being a child actor can become isolating, especially when the majority of the cast and crew are of a different age group. However, she and Maturo have been able to navigate the peculiar experience together.

“When we were younger, I remember I used to help him with all of his math homework and teach him how to do it all,” Grace said. “Then one week, all of a sudden I was like, ‘Wait, whoa. Where did you go?’ And all of a sudden he was way past me and helping me with mine.”

Reflecting on their early childhood memories, Grace said she has always admired Maturo’s passion when it came to his academic pursuits. While on the “Girl Meets World” set, Maturo said he would staple packets of paper together, designating each one with its own subject to pursue in his spare time.

After researching national options for higher education, Maturo said his attention shifted abroad when he searched for the best college in the world at 5 years old. It was then, he added, that he decided he would one day attend the University of Oxford in England. While his dream remains, he said he set his sights on UCLA for his undergraduate education because of its prestige and proximity to home.

Maturo said he took the California High School Proficiency Examination while in 10th grade, which allowed him to graduate early and work adult hours on set. However, he said passing the exam was also a pivotal step in his education, opening the door for community college. Once at Moorpark College, Maturo said he participated in the UCLA Transfer Alliance Program. For Maturo, his academic pursuits work to round out his story, rather than override it.

“I’m not really looking for a new identity here at UCLA, because I am me,” Maturo said. “I just want to add more.”

As someone who has never set foot in a school for class, Grace said she and Maturo rejoiced at his matriculation at UCLA. Though she looks back fondly on her untraditional schooling memories, she said one major struggle was meeting people her age. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she said her and Maturo had an abnormal reaction to the widespread shift to online classes. Used to empty Zoom classrooms, the young students were excited to see new faces and teachers populating their screens, she added. Nowadays, she said her amusement comes from watching her best friend experience college-themed milestones, like when she helped Maturo move into his dorm.

“It’s funny, all these mundane, normal, school, college experience things are just really cool to the both of us,” Grace said. “It’s like, ‘Wait, dude, like you’re serious? You have a professor and stuff and you go in person and sit in your classroom?’”

While he pursues his bachelor’s degree, Maturo said he’s taking a pause in his acting career. As someone who never experienced the hallmarks of high school, he said he wanted to prioritize seeking out the traditional college experiences. Though he had previously never considered it, Maturo said he decided to join a fraternity to carve out a social space for himself on the large campus. Now an associate member of Theta Xi, Maturo said his priorities lie with his education and fraternity for the time being.

Apart from his experiences at Moorpark College, Maturo said his classes at UCLA are some of the largest he’s been in. In contrast to the one-on-one lessons of his youth, he said he looks forward to connecting with his professors through office hours. Regardless of the subject, he said he strives to sit in the front row of every class and soak up the opportunities the campus has to offer.

“I kid you not, I literally pinch myself every day that I’m here at UCLA,” Maturo said. “Every time I’m attending a lecture or I’m attending a discussion or anything, I’m just astounded and amazed because I’m like, ‘I’ve never had professors that are like this ever in my entire life.’”

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Looking back on his educational and professional journey, Maturo said his ambition has always been to accomplish as much as possible in both realms. He added that his attitude when it comes to striving towards his aspirations is characterized by the guiding question, “Why not?” At the end of the day, Maturo said though his schooling has strayed from the norm, it was to his benefit, and he’s excited to see what his time at UCLA will bring.

“When you take all those other people out of the picture and you just focus on yourself, and what you want to do and how you’re going to get there, then everything just becomes so much easier,” Maturo said. “I didn’t always know that UCLA was going to be the goal, but I did know that I did want to continue acting, and I did want to continue my education, and that blossomed from there. As I got older, those virtues still stayed with me.”