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Show THE DAILY CHRONICLE UTAH 2 0 1111111' i mu 1 i Tliimni luii iimiini- -l JL n Xfrrer i Si T It SEPRRRTE THE OLDEST RnD WUIIGEST STUDENTS Off CRflPUS i ALEX"LEE Chronicle Feature Writer The Kindergarten Dropout Somebody please tell Helen Obzansky it's Saturday. She wakes up at 7 a.m., then takes a bus to campus to work on the Maple Project, a mathematical model for describing electron orbits. At 10 a.m. she practices theorems on the whiteboard. After some ordinary differential equae tions, she hops on a bus for her 2 p.m. class. In the evening, she takes a breather and relaxes a bit at the theatre. Then it is back to more math (just a review this time). By 11 p.m., she unwinds by doing her "monstrous pile" of laundry. "I put my pencil down at midnight," she fast-trac- salsa-danc- says. That's part of what it takes to be the youngest student at the University of Utah. Hanna Obzansky Obzansky, who turned 16 last month, is already junior with 63 credit hours. Obzansky will not hold that title for long, however. Her sister, Hannah, is a at Westminster College and will sophomore transfer to the U in the fall. She also has a brother, Chris, who is a junior at Wilmington College in Delaware. Born and reared in Maryland, Obzansky got k on the academic early. When Obzansky enrolled in kindergarten, she was already e level.. reading at a "I was able to read the 'Little House on the Prairie' series, and the teachers were teaching me how to turn the pages," says Obzansky, who cut her teeth at a Montessori school before kindergarten. (Montessori is a teaching method that fosters a child's intrinsic propensity to learn.) Obzansky found everything at kindergarten objectionable and protested vehemently, recalls her mother, Eileen Johnston. "She'd a first-grad- . come home and complain, "There was a model supermarket setup today; why don't they just go to a real supermarket?" The remonstrations persisted, and by Halloween Obzansky was a kindergarten dropout. Johnston, a dentist, decided to put her career on hold to home-schoObzansky and her brother and sister. For the next seven years, the Obzanskys' days were filled with books, music, museums, ol libraries and arts and crafts. Johnston consciously created an environment that was "rich intellectually and spiritually." She describes homeschooi as "more of an attitude than a curriculum." Obzansky has fond memories of her childhood. "We went outside and played all day," she recalls. f , Yet their freedom from "the slavery of public school" and their academic success alienated them from other kids. "I didn't have many friends my age because they hated my guts," - Obzansky says without remorse. When Obzansky reached the age of 12, her mother had to resume her dental career to maintain her license. To put them back in school, Johnston had her children tested at the local Cecil Community College to determine what grade they should be in. To her surprise, all three were one year below college level. "Cecil Community College said, 'Why not just enroll them here,'" she recalled. Johnston, who had no faith in public elementary and secondary schools, followed the college's advice. Obzansky remained at Cecil until the spring of 2000. After a brief visit to Salt Lake City, her mother decided to move the family here. "She wanted us to live in a safe city," says Obzansky, whose family members belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints. Obzansky could not enroll at the U immediately because she did not have the minimum 30 college credit hours required by the U for a transfer student. After a semester at Salt Lake Community College, she transferred to the U last summer and has loved it since. "I thank heaven everyday to be here. It's beautiful here," says the vivacious teenager with short red hair. "I love getting an education, to be learning. I love the freedom." Although Obzansky excels in English, she is focused on eventually getting a doctoral degree in math. "Math is more pure. You can do anything in math," she says. "If you study English, you'd be making minimum wage the rest of your life." Obzansky docs not consider herself to have much of a college life. "I'm consumed with my studies," she says. And romance is out of the question. "I have a strict policy to not date anyone I go to school with. It's not professional," Obzansky say "It's not a good thing to give people the opportunity to spread rumors about you." Obzansky does have one campus extracurricular activity. She is the founder and president of the Ute Great Libertarian Offer the campus Libertarian party, which has 15 members. Obzansky is passionate about politics and is ready at any time to change the subject to the "only party that wants true freedom." "Do you know one in five teenagers can't read? That is a shame! I think that can be compensated by the private sector." Obzansky says, leaning forward on the table. A Libertarian booth at a local community fair piqued Obzansky's interest in politics, "I (left), age 14, will be joining her sister Helen next fall as the youngest matriculated student on campus. CHRONICLE FEATURE EDITOR JAMES GARDNER JGARDNERCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU see COLLEGE, page 8 581-704- 1 |