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Annemarie Westphalen, 15, graduated from Bassett High School last month. Although she doesn’t yet have a driver’s license, she is getting ready for college life. (Contributed photo) |
Monday, June 9, 2008
By JENNIFER BEELER - Bulletin Intern
Typically at the age of 15, teenagers are thinking about getting through high school.
But Annemarie Westphalen, 15, is picking out her fall semester courses and thinking about decorating her dorm room at Hollins University.
Early on, her mother, Jeanne Westphalen of Bassett, realized that Annemarie was unusually intelligent for her age when she wrote and delivered a speech at her preschool graduation. She even preferred to read books during nap time.
“She was smart,” Jeanne Westphalen recalled, “but we just had no idea.”
They got a better idea of just how smart she was when Annemarie was taken to the University of Virginia for psychological testing. After multiple intellectual, academic and behavioral assessments, the specialists said Annemarie exhibited an intelligence that was highly uncommon, according to Jeanne Westphalen. One even joked that she could be one of those kids who graduate from high school at the age of 15.
Little did Jeanne Westphalen and her husband, John, know that 11 years later, Annemarie would do just that.
She graduated from Bassett High School on May 31. Dean Randall, the school’s principal, said that to his knowledge, she was the youngest graduate the school has had.
But her age never caused an issue for the school or the teachers, he said. “She was just a student here,” he added.
In general, Annemarie was able to graduate so early because she took multiple classes from various grades at the same time, her mother said.
“The teachers and administration were great as far as figuring out things that would work,” Jeanne Westphalen recalled.
Her academic achievements clearly did not end with her preschool speech. In the second grade, Annemarie took social studies classes that were on the fourth- and fifth-grade levels. She took calculus when she was 13.
Annemarie completed algebra and geometry in middle school but, she said, math is not her area of expertise. She prefers art and writing poetry and short stories.
The social aspect of school life in her earlier years was not as easy as her classes were. Annemarie said she felt somewhat self-conscious about her intellect and tried not to stand out.
She recalled spending hours editing her papers, not for mistakes, but rather to “dumb down” her work. Once she received a score of a 10 on a test because she purposely left answers blank.
In middle school, Annemarie said, she felt her social life still was hindered somewhat by her intellect. She remembers classmates being wary of her, but she trudged through.
By the time she was settled in high school at the age of 11, she felt as though she was accepted, she said. Even some of her teachers were not aware that she was three years younger than her classmates.
While growing up, Annemarie was indifferent to her intelligence and also unaware of all the “behind the scenes” concerns and actions of her mother, she said. Jeanne Westphalen constantly consulted Annemarie’s teachers to make sure her daughter was not in over her head with accelerated classes.
“I tried to be protective but meet her needs,” Jeanne Westphalen said. “Things just fell into place.”
Now, Annemarie is preparing to set off for college in Roanoke this fall. She hopes to major in English with a specialization in creative writing at Hollins.
Her mother said Annemarie will be living just like the other freshmen, adding that no special provisions were made due to her age. “She would have been insulted if there had been,” Jeanne Westphalen joked.
Of course, Annemarie’s parents are “a bit apprehensive,” she said. “But we’ve communicated with other families of exceptionally and profoundly gifted students who have gone to college at a young age, and they have been reassuring.”
Like any new college student, Annemarie is excited yet nervous about this new chapter of her life.
But unlike other college students, Annemarie will have to make time for driver’s education classes. |
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