Steve Case should think about hiring this phenom....
Young Mr. Smith Goes to College
By Jennifer Lenhart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 7, 1999; Page A1
ASHLAND, Va., Sept. 6 – At precisely 8 a.m.
today, Gregory Smith – boy genius – strode
across the rain-soaked campus of
Randolph-Macon College, his mom and dad in
tow.
It was the first day of the fall semester at
Randolph-Macon, and Greg, a 10-year-old who
only three years ago started second grade, was
eager to begin his freshman year. He had a
carefully picked course load of 17 credits,
including Calculus I, Physics, French III and the
honors course Warfare in Antiquity.
But Greg wasn't going to be allowed to sit in his first college classroom
without a preliminary news conference. So he paused for photographs and
public small talk with Roger Martin, president of Randolph-Macon, who
declared Greg "an exceptional young man."
Chest out, chin up, Greg, who stands 54 inches tall, had to look skyward
to talk to Martin.
"Today's one of the most exciting days of my life," said the poised boy
with the mop of whitish-blond hair, whose official biography states that he
plans to have three PhDs by 33. "Ever since I was 4 years old, I dreamed
of starting college."
For Greg's parents, Janet and Bob Smith, Randolph-Macon was the right
choice because of its "peaceful" environment and a faculty devoted to
working closely with students. (The school also threw in a full, four-year
scholarship, worth roughly $70,000.) In return, Randolph-Macon enrolled
a student who already has appeared on "David Letterman" and whose
exploits are likely to continue attracting attention to the 169-year-old
school at least until he's a teenager.
Long before he began to dream of college, Greg's parents sensed they
had a very unusual child. Today, Janet Smith, 46, described early signs of
what was to come: memorizing and reciting books at 14 months; adding
numbers at 18 months. In an IQ test at 5, Greg "tested off the bell curve,"
she said.
In one year alone, Greg went from second grade to eighth grade, skipping
third grade altogether and completing an Algebra 1 course in only 10
weeks. He was just 7. He flew through the high school curriculum in 22
months.
Greg is the Smiths' only child, and they have remade their lives to
accommodate his unique gifts. The Smiths have sold their homes and
moved twice – first from Pennsylvania to Florida, and then last summer to
a small subdivision near Charlottesville – in pursuit of what they believe to
be the best educational opportunities for their son.
Bob Smith, 46, a microbiologist with a master's degree from the
University of Maryland, gave up a research job with a pharmaceutical firm
in Pennsylvania, and Janet Smith left behind her work as director of her
own arts center in Lititz, Pa., which offered classes in ballet, tap, jazz and
baton twirling.
The family moved to Jacksonville after a nationwide search for a school
system that would agree to let Greg advance through school at his own
speedy pace. The Smiths arrived without any jobs lined up. Bob Smith
later found employment as a teacher at Florida Community College in
Jacksonville, and now with a publishing house in Virginia. Janet Smith
stayed home and became Greg's "full-time advocate."
"We've made some major changes," Bob Smith said. "I don't really call it
a sacrifice. To me, every possible change is a new door to a new
opportunity."
Their son is believed to be the youngest person ever to graduate from a
public high school in Florida. The Smiths took what they called a
calculated risk in allowing their son to move rapidly through school. "It's
not an easy thing to do," Bob Smith said today. "It's difficult to watch your
child grow up so quickly."
The parents said that they weighed their child's need to be a child vs. his
need to fulfill his potential – and school always came out ahead.
About two or three years ago, Bob Smith said, "word got out" that there
was a genius in the midst of the other students at Fleming Island
Elementary School in Jacksonville. Greg began receiving attention from
the national media. A biography compiled by Randolph-Macon College
shows that in 1998 he made appearances on "60 Minutes," the "Today"
show and "NBC Nightly News" as well as the "Late Show with David
Letterman."
A media-shy boy could be shellshocked by all the attention, Bob Smith
allowed. But he said that his son, whose goals include developing space
colonies and becoming president of the United States, thrives on the
attention.
Greg, Bob Smith said, also has a message he wants to spread about
nonviolence.
"Gregory loves to talk to the public," Bob Smith said. "He has an agenda.
It's fun for him. When it stops being fun for him, we try to be attuned to
that. Then it will stop."
Greg said today that he arrived at college ready to make new friends. "As
long as the other kids don't bend my morals," he said, "whatever they
want to do I try to go along with."
Under Greg's moral code, for example, recreational burping is intolerable.
The young Smith also won't keep anyone as a friend who likes violence in
music or movies. It's family policy to walk out of any movie after the third
cuss word is heard, Bob Smith said.
The Smiths have said in interviews that Greg has some, but not many,
friends his own age. For the senior prom, he took his mom. He will play
with other children for a while, but then it gets boring. He'd rather be
reading and learning.
When the decision rolled around about where to send Greg to college,
Randolph-Macon, which was founded by Methodists in 1830, scored
high, Bob Smith said.
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