Teen Who Graduated College Before High School Is No Role Model
Talk about making us all feel slightly inadequate with our kid's educational progress. A 17-year-old from California is currently making the rounds of the "weird news" reports because he graduated from college BEFORE graduating from high school. Ay carumba.
Here I thought "reads at high first grade level while only a kindergartner" was something to brag about. If I wore one, my hat would be off for Spencer La Favor and his mom, who he says supported him as he juggled high school and college classes. What he's accomplished is incredible. But that's not to say I'd let my daughter do it.
Call me a meanie or perhaps just a realist. I don't mean to denigrate what this kid has accomplished, but reading about how Spencer spent every year from ninth grade on trying to keep up with classes at both Independence High School and Taft Community College made me sad. As he said:
I would take three online classes at Taft Community College. Then I'd go to school and take advanced-placement classes in English and history and honors chemistry. It was pretty rough.
I remember ninth grade. I was taking tenth grade coursework, and it was HARD. But that's just it, I was taking tenth grade coursework and having a hard enough time trying to fit in friends, family, and extracurriculars. I can't imagine if I'd piled college on top of that. What kind of life would I have had? What kind of fun?
Today's kids have a benefit that kids just a few short generations back didn't. They get to be kids on up through their teen years. They get to balance school with fun. Sure, many of them have jobs, but there is still time left over to enjoy the simplicity of hitting the mall or poking around on Facebook.
If it sounds indulgent, consider this. Kids who learn to play by themselves are shown to do better in college, because they have developed the ability to think outside the box. And workers who cave to the allure of "me" time are better employees in the end. Teaching our kids to "work, work, work" may seem like it has real world application, but in the end, it can seriously backfire.
Congratulations to Spencer La Favor on college graduation, on high school graduation, and on having just a year and a half left to finish his bachelor's degree. Here's hoping he finds some time to relax too!
Would you let your kids take this route?
Image via Tulane Public Relations/Flickr
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LiberalK
kelli0585
I took a few college courses in high school. I took a longer-than-expected break, and now I'm currently working on my bachelor's right now.
In all fairness. . . he went to a community college. Honestly, I found community college to be TONS easier than high school. And I'm not even exaggerating. The expectations of community college are set so low, especially when juxtaposed to my advanced placement courses in high school. College didn't hold a candle to what we were doing in high school English. In high school, we wrote essays where using helping verbs were verboten (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been. . . . just try that one). In college, we wrote about what we saw on a film version of The Lottery.
I can absolutely see this as something "doable." Many kids are in an extracurricular activity; band, drill team, athletics. A lot of these take up copious amounts of time outside of the 8-3:30 timeframe. If a kid chose PE instead, that would leave lots of time to focus on something else. Especially an Associates degree.
And let's be real, here. Studies have shown that community college students in the 18-20 bracket are more than likely to drop out before transferring to a 4-year University. I would cite my sources, but a quick Google would suffice. This kid dodged a bullet.
butterflymkm
kelli0585
Sorry. . .I should have reiterated my last paragraph. Students in the 18-20 bracket were more likely to drop out of community college, COMPARED to those who start at a 4-year university.
jeannesager
@butterfly, I did the same as you -- exactly the same, actually. Started college classes at 14, graduated at 16. But I see a difference between taking a few college courses, and taking enough to graduate from college, you know?
Katt709
I, like the PPs, wouldn't encourage it, but I wouldn't stand in my child's way either. High school, to me, was very boring and unchallenging. If it weren't for the Fine Arts Center, where I went every day for the second half of the day to dance, I wouldn't have made it through high school. I was that bored! When I got to college, where I could pick and choose classes and whether or not to actually go to class, I excelled! I applaude this guy for finding a way to get through the boredom!
butterflymkm
Bethsunshine
I homeschool my kids, and when they are 16, they will have the opportunity for dual enrollment. I am just going to wait and see what happens. They may be ready or they may not be, it will depend on their maturity level and how much responsibility they can handle.
I don't think there is anything wrong with what this girl did. I went to my first year of nursing school at the local tech school when I was a senior. It was nice to go ahead and get it out of the way; I also hated high school and going to nursing school was a nice break for me.
I think if a teen wants to do this, they should, as long as they aren't burning themselves out.
Anon
Momtohalfdzn
What is with the comments degrading a person for attending community college? Look Anon, community college is REAL college since you can pick up an education and a DEGREE there.