msu's youngest grad

[hokeyfine]

interesting article in the comical today about msu's youngest ever grad.(13). If you read the article you can see how book smart she is but VERY nieve about the world, i.e einstein.

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articl ... aduate.txt

[BozoneCat]

Not to sound like a mean-spirited, cold-hearted SOB, but that story just about made me want to puke. I think it is really cool and amazing that such a young person is able to graduate college with a degree in a difficult subject (mathematics). But, that article couldn't have been more of a whiny sob-story if Terrell Owens had written it. Could she possibly try any harder, without simly flat-out asking for it, to get some poor sop with a heart of gold, deep pockets, and a brain of pudding to pay for her to go back to school?!?! For all of the degrees she wants, she will be about 50 by the time she finishes them all. I don't know if that gives her enough time to stop war, heal the sick, feed the hungry, cure cancer and AIDS, formulate a collective bargaining agreement for the NHL, dismantle all weapons, capture Osama bin Laden, settle the feud between Shaq and Kobe, save the rain forests and the ozone layer, reverse global warming, and most importantly drive the grizzly athletic department into the ground...

[mquast53000]

The story sounded like the mother was some what of a driving force...

[Cat Grad]

How many years will it take for her to learn to think for herself instead of reciting academia...hope it doesn't take her thirty years to realize in order to make any significant contributions, she's got to go against conventional wisdom and do something with a null hypothesis...

[SonomaCat]

I'll join the chorus ... I can't help but dislike everything about that article--not the writing itself, but the personalities described. I just didn't get a warm and fuzzy from it. Quite the opposite, actually.

[HelenaCat95]

I agree - little Doogie Hauser didn't engender the warm fuzzies

But if she can find a way to convince the BCS to move to a playoff, then it will all have been worth it.

[rtb]

WOW!! I feel a whole lot better after reading this post. I just finished reading the article and made my way over here for the morning. I wanted to vent about that article, but I thought I would come across as a hearless SOB. I am very glad to see that many of us are on the same page about this girl.

I am impressed with her ability to graduate from MSU at such a young age as well, but that story and her cry for more money was rediculous.

I agree that it appears her mother is the driving force behind everything. I hope this girl can form her own view of the world and acheive some of her goals!!

Now to the smart mouth comment from me....can you imagine going to MSU and probably never attending one sporting event? WHY GO TO COLLEGE??

[mquast53000]

Why is it when you hear about a child prodigy they always study math or science? I would be more impressed if they studied sociology, business or political science. You know areas that you have to blossom socially as well as academically. My college years were so much fun because of the social aspect. You know that a 14 year old certainly doesn’t enjoy that portion of college. It is too bad; because there is a really good chance that such an intelligent individual will contribute little to our society.

[Cat Grad]

My initial response is that we're one of the few societies that have allowed one to become a philosopher without demonstrating a command of math or science. One of them there Greeks before this child (female on top of it!) had something to the effect of: ...Let no man enter without a command of geometry...maybe it was gerontology, but, anyway...

[BozoneCat]

Why is it when you hear about a child prodigy they always study math or science? I would be more impressed if they studied sociology, business or political science. You know areas that you have to blossom socially as well as academically. My college years were so much fun because of the social aspect. You know that a 14 year old certainly doesn’t enjoy that portion of college. It is too bad; because there is a really good chance that such an intelligent individual will contribute little to our society.

Be careful making blanket generalizations about us science types! I feel that my education has necessitated that I bloom academically and socially as well. In fact, I feel that my profession (physical therapy) is just as dependent on the social aspect as the academic aspect. I graduated from MSU in pre-med. I do have to say that I knew many people in my major who fell under that umbrella, but I also knew many people in other majors that did as well.

I also wouldn't say that just because someone has no social skills means they have little chance to contribute to society. If someone wants to stay in a research lab all day and ultimately cures cancer, I would say that they have contributed more than you or I ever will.

[SonomaCat]

Why is it when you hear about a child prodigy they always study math or science? I would be more impressed if they studied sociology, business or political science. You know areas that you have to blossom socially as well as academically. My college years were so much fun because of the social aspect. You know that a 14 year old certainly doesn’t enjoy that portion of college. It is too bad; because there is a really good chance that such an intelligent individual will contribute little to our society.

Be careful making blanket generalizations about us science types! I feel that my education has necessitated that I bloom academically and socially as well. In fact, I feel that my profession (physical therapy) is just as dependent on the social aspect as the academic aspect. I graduated from MSU in pre-med. I do have to say that I knew many people in my major who fell under that umbrella, but I also knew many people in other majors that did as well.

I also wouldn't say that just because someone has no social skills means they have little chance to contribute to society. If someone wants to stay in a research lab all day and ultimately cures cancer, I would say that they have contributed more than you or I ever will.

Yeah, if they cure cancer without the ability to interact with people, all is well. More often, though, they end up more like the unabomber.

I certainly don't think many successful scientific types get far without having good social skills, and all of my MSU science major friends almost have too much in the way of social skills.

I think what people are reacting to in this article is a possible severe lack of balance in a person's life and how that might impact her later in her life.

I hope she accomplishes everything she hopes to -- that would be very cool. In the meantime, I hope she makes at least one real friend.

[rtb]

Yeah, if they cure cancer without the ability to interact with people, all is well. More often, though, they end up more like the unabomber.

I certainly don't think many successful scientific types get far without having good social skills, and all of my MSU science major friends almost have too much in the way of social skills.

I think what people are reacting to in this article is a possible severe lack of balance in a person's life and how that might impact her later in her life.

I hope she accomplishes everything she hopes to -- that would be very cool. In the meantime, I hope she makes at least one real friend.

Exactly!! I think MSU is well known for producing very well balanced grads and that is what many of us expect from MSU. When you read something like this, it just doesn't fit with the culture that we are used to.

[mquast53000]

BAC & rtb hit on the point that I was trying to make. I would also like to add that a person learns how to interact with others when they are young. Well when this girl went to MSU she was 12 years old… Well she certainly wasn’t interacting too much with her peers at the time. It is important to be challenged academically, but a person must also learn how to socialize with others.

[Cat Grad]

Man, you should have had the opportunity to go through high school in the Valley during the 60s. We really had some well balanced college students in Bozo back then...I could run to Idaho and get a pickup full of Coors and bring it back and sell it to the college kids for way more than gas and cost...

[HelenaCat95]

Man - when I went to MSU, I sure felt like a 12 year old

[hokeyfine]

that's pretty good catgrad! i use to take coors on the train to minnesota and sell it to people in the dorms. had to compete with special export.

[Cat Grad]

Grain Belt, Schmidts, Hamms were special imports?

[grizbeer]

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the story:

Smith worked cleaning houses and offices, often the midnight shift, so she could accompany her daughter to all her classes, to keep her safe and support her emotionally.

So if I got this straight she had no problem leaving the girl alone all night when she was working, but was with her the whole time on campus to keep her safe?

Promethea also doesn't get outside much because the place has no fence and she's afraid of getting bitten again by a dog.

Promethea said she doesn't feel that she lost out on the things that make up a normal childhood.

She didn't miss out on the little things, like for instance, going outside, or having a dog?

Every other child in America can go to school for free until they're 18, said her mother, Georgia Smith, 51. Children with disabilities can get a free education -- but not Promethea.

"I feel almost discriminated against," she said.

"Einstein used to be my idol, my hero," she said. When she learned he contributed to the creation of the atomic bomb and to the deaths of hundreds of thousands at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, she tore down her Einstein posters. Plus, she said, he turned out to be "a lousy father, a lousy husband."

"I'm not going to be a scientist who's not morally upright," she said.

My guess is that mom will sign her up for the first weapons design job that pays a couple hundred thousand, and serving humanity can suck on the tailpipe of mom's new Lexus.

[DCC2MSU]

I think this is actually the girl I had P-Chem with and that would have been a while ago (spring 2000 I think). It is pretty scary to think of the questions she was asking that could stump the professor at that age. Her mother used to come to class with her and take notes and record the lectures. I remember a couple of us scored better on one test and were feeling pretty good until you saw her almost in tears and remembered how old she was. That sure made you feel like a jerk. I think everyone is right about the social life, I wonder if she will ever be able to grasp it or will just crack. I always thought of the movie Real Genius. Good show by the way.

[SonomaCat]

"Crying? There's no crying in ... P-Chem!"