Early College October 2002 The year that Octavian was in the sixth grade he decided to take a college class at Christopher Newport University, Newport News. He wanted to take a World History class in order to study more formally his favorite subject. A trip to the admissions department was a lesson in futility for me when the nice ladies there told me that the college had recently denied admission (unclassified) to several homeschooled youngsters of similar ages (12-15). According to the admissions staff, CNU made the new policy regarding underage concurrent students because their professors were uncomfortable teaching “children.” No amount of assurances of Octavian’s maturity and focus could sway them. “We know that kids like your son are extremely intelligent, serious, and more studious than most of our regular students, but our hands are tied. We would love to see your son at the college, but we can’t do anything about this new policy.” They said. Overhearing the conversation, an adult standing nearby pointed out that she knew of 12 year-olds who attend William and Mary. With that, the admissions manager took me aside and told me to give William and Mary a call as she was sure that they did, in fact, take 12 year-olds and would probably welcome my son. A one-hour visit with the Dean of Admissions at The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, netted Octavian permission to audit a class at the age of 12. Dr. Carey couldn’t have been nicer as she chatted with Octavian about his interests and goals. Her permission was a tacit validation of his years of study, self-direction, and intelligence. Octavian left her office on cloud nine. A sophomore class called Latin Literature became his trial by fire. Octavian had never taken extensive notes, nor had he taken exams or tests during his homeschooling career. Never made to keep a schedule when doing his school work, Octavian had always set his own educational goals…could he attend to someone else’s demands? The success story of Octavian’s college experience is not in the fact that he took excellent notes (even if I couldn’t read them), or that he received excellent grades on exams, or that he already knew much of the historical background for the subject matter they covered, though all of those things are true. His success lay in his discovery of himself. He found that he is a member of a small minority of students who actually love what they study. He found that the “system” is not hard to master. He found that the years he spent at home reading hundreds of books were years well spent, rather than the directionless wanderings he previously assumed they were. Aha! A frame of reference for his life! Octavian took a senior level course called Age of Alexander in the fall of 2001. The class was small (12 students), the professor very passionate, and the subject was one of Octavian’s favorites. A semester and a B+ later, Octavian had tackled his first panel discussion, his first college term paper (Thank goodness for Mrs. Switzer, his writing coach…), and possibly his first experience with a real peer group (these juniors and seniors were fluent in Latin, Greek, and some even studied Sanskrit). Today, a grant from the National Gifted Children’s Fund enables Octavian to continue to attend William and Mary as a concurrent student (attending both high school and college classes). This fall finds him in the freshman standard, Chemistry 101, and his fourth semester of Classical Guitar. He plans to continue taking courses until he has maxed out the 30 credits allowed an unclassified student. And, with all of those credits on his record, if he decides to apply for admission and is accepted, he could enroll as a sophomore! Note: For more information, read my early college articles. Go to Articles and Lectures and click on "Articles," then scroll down to the early college section. The articles are stored in PDF files that you can print with your own computer. © 2001, Smart Kid At Home. World Rights Reserved. |
