I decided to interview my high school neighbor, Julia, at the local cafe for some hot chocolate. I wanted to know what her experience has been like as a teenager in a college setting. She is a highly intelligent 17-year-old who has skipped 2 grades. She shed a lot of light on her feelings of alcohol, depression and current events. It is also interesting to note that she has been able to care for herself away from home for the past two years. For her, RIC has been “in one word, easy. This is the easiest work I have had to do…I don’t feel challenged at all, no one is pushing me!” She especially feels this strain in her art classes, where she and this student Andrew are “the only two good artists.” Her teacher does not give her criticism, so instead she and Andrew critique each other.
Julia has always been one to constantly push herself. She had a really difficult home-life, so I sense that she has used school to help her get through tough times. Her father is a severe alcoholic who can get violent during his drunken rages. Happily, her mother has since divorced him. As soon as her older brother went to school, she begged her parents to go. To compensate, her parents taught her how to read and do math problems. In second grade, it was her “big fantasy to skip a grade” because she was “already in third grade math and reading groups.” In 7th great, her fantasy came true when she was given the choice to either skip a grade or go to a gifted private school. She chose to skip a grade because she already wanted to leave the house as soon as possible. Later, she did the same with twelfth grade, which is why she is a seventeen-year-old at a college.
Although she was gifted at both mathematics and reading, she always loved art the most. Her favorite show was “Pappyland.” She was also a really creative writer in elementary school. She had “horrible night terrors” where she would “scream until I woke myself up.” Her poetry reflected her terror, and she wrote “deep dark poems at the age of seven.”
Julia's father’s alcoholism and abuse had an even greater affect as she grew older. Once she hit her teens, she became extremely depressed. This period lasted until fairly recently. She felt “hideous” and “was lonely even though [she] had tons of friends.” Even though she had already skipped a grade, she felt older than everyone. What helped her get through these dark times was the internet. She said that she “loved the internet…and still talk to some people that I started speaking to when I was ten.” By going online, she was “first exposed to big Atheist ideas.” Before this point she had been deeply religious, but afterwards she began to see the “logical flow in the Christianity myth.”
Since she has been in college, she has “snapped out of it.” She states that being “an arrogant asshole is sooo much better than what I used to be…when I sucked at life.” I think that there is a great sense of humor behind this comment. She is able to shed light on a time in her life when her family had made her into a mess. When she talks about her bleak childhood, she discusses it with a dark humor not unlike Augustin Burroughs. (My favorite author who wrote Running with Scissors, Dry, Magical Thinking, etc). I would be interested to see if her writing, or even art, reflects this.
The hardest part for her at
Julia has always assumed that she would go to college, but she recognizes that college is not for everyone. One of her goals is to graduate early, just like she did in high school and middle school. I hope that she does not do this because she strikes me as someone who loves to learn. . For now, college is a place where she can debate, do research, write and expand her art. It seems to me that college is the best place for her, no matter what her age.
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