13-Year-Old Girl Heads to College

[Deleted]

One smart little girl! Anybody out there have one of these?

Autum Ashante, a 13-year-old from the Bronx, N.Y., will be starting her freshman year at the University of Connecticut this fall at the age of 13.

AOL Black Voices reports that Autum speaks three languages (Arabic, Swahili and Spanish) in addition to English, is an accomplished performer at various of spoken-word venues around the country and scored 149 on an IQ test.

Her father, Ben Ashante, recognized Autum's talents early on and opted for homeschooling. Having retired early, he was able to dedicate himself to his daughter's education full time, enlisting the help of local retired teachers to supplement her curriculum.

Mr. Ashante said in a recent statement to the Daily News that he wants his child to be a role model for others, especially black and Latino young people. "What she's doing is groundbreaking, but this is not about vanity," he said. "It's about setting the tone for other black and Latino children who will come behind her. They're always being told they are underachievers. We want to show this can be done."

In our opinion, Autum's not the only one who's a role model in this family. Congrats to her parents for their commitment to allowing her to fulfill her potential, and for having a vision that's even broader than her individual success.

www.theroot.com/buzz/13-year-old-bronx-girl-heads-college?wpisrc=obnetwork

[twista]

guess we better vote for her to be the next president.
a 13yr old going to college shows that she is smarter than obama.
maybe the country would turn around if she was running it.

[LovinIt]

uggg i have a cousin like this..i feel sorry for him.....it's really for kids this intelligent to fit in... kids their own age bore them... and ppl that are at the same intelligent level as this kid, dont accept them..... it's sad..... my cousin went through all of this his while growing up...if you were to ask him, he hated being that smart for this very reason.....

smart kid tho

[vikesfan]

Jul 11, 2011 15:15:11 GMT -6 LovinIt said:

uggg i have a cousin like this..i feel sorry for him.....it's really for kids this intelligent to fit in... kids their own age bore them... and ppl that are at the same intelligent level as this kid, dont accept them..... it's sad..... my cousin went through all of this his while growing up...if you were to ask him, he hated being that smart for this very reason.....

smart kid tho

Fully agree with this, I feel very sorry for this little girl. Her social circle/friends I would guess is very small. Normal 13 year olds interests and hers would vary greatly to the point of theirs would bore her and hers wouldn't be understood by them, and I don't see a 18-19 year old college freshman befriending this kid as she is underdeveloped physically as well as socially. How many 18-19 year olds want to be known to hang around the 13 year old genius? This poor kids missed out on a lot of life, I am guessing no sports, or social clubs in school(beings she was home schooled), has stunted her socially and shes going to be thrown into an environment intended for kids on the threshhold of adulthood.

[northsider]

I bet Obama could pass the walmart employment test.

[No Alter Ego here]

Jul 11, 2011 17:29:43 GMT -6 northsider said:

I bet Obama could pass the walmart employment test.

Where's the like button when you need it??? ;D ;D

[71suzq]

i think this is great! tho her social environment will be off right now, in 10 yrs it's not going to matter as much. it's not easy being the smart kid, especially a genius, but it will have it's bonuses later in life. i hope her family has encouraged her that the tough times of acceptance will pass in time. however, it's very possible with her additional languages, she probably spends a lot of time on the computer and meeting kids her own age with similiar backgrounds. she's not the only one out there accomplishing this.

[GrAhAm]

kewl...