Early College for Gifted Teens at Simon's Rock College of Bard

Posted by Carla Marie Boulianne Nov 15, 2008

Simon's Rock holds a bittersweet place in my heart as one of my biggest educational regrets and an exceptional missed opportunity. When I was fifteen, Simon's Rock courted my application after receiving my SAT scores. I was determined to attend. I wrote my application essay on an old Brothers electric typewriter hauled from class to class. My teachers wrote wonderful letters of recommendation and my friends bid me farewell at the end of my sophomore year of high school. I was going to college at Simon's Rock!

Then my absentee father balked at the cost when I asked for his income for my FAFSA. Simon's Rock tuition was $25,000 in 1990. My mother insisted any school would accept you for $25,000; she is inherently skeptical. Then the unthinkable happened. My mother admitted she was not ready for me to move back East to attend collee. She forbid my attendance and refused to sign the paperwork. T

That was the abrupt beginning of my descent into chronic underachievement. I was a straight "A" student when Simon's Rock discovered me. After my aborted attempt to start college early, my grades became a mix of five letters from the alphabet. It was six long years before I tried again, including four years after high school working minimum wage and getting nowhere.

My mother has apologized for not letting me attend early college at Simon's Rock of Bard College. I accept her apology and understand. While attempting to make a final decision about my daughter's grade acceleration, one of my first incredibly selfish thoughts was that she would leave me a year early and I would not be ready. My fear was never that she wouldn't be ready for college at a younger age; it was all aout a mother not wanting to lose her child to the world.

My daughter's grade acceleration reinstilled her love of learning and diverted an early descent into underachievement. I won't fool myself into thinking there won't be other challenges parenting my gifted child. I do know if my daughter ever asks to skip high school and attend Simon's Rock, CSULA-EEP, PEG, or TS-EEP, my answer will be a resounding "Yes!" I won't get in the way of her happiness or chances for success.