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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Gregory Smith
Aired June 01, 2003 - 08:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to talk about another college graduation here. This one's very, very unique.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: A whole different kind.
NEVILLE: A whole different kind. That's right. Because, you know, for most people, colleges is a milestone that is taken, what? You know, maybe by the time you're 23, perhaps?
COOPER: Yes, 21 or 22.
NEVILLE: OK. Well, try 13 years old. I mean, this guy Gregory -- his name is Gregory Smith, OK? He was barely 10 when he graduated from high school in Orange Park, Florida. That was in 1999. And now he's a college graduate.
COOPER: And we are pleased that he joins us this morning. He graduated, as we said, at 13, his diploma from Randolph Macon College in Virginia. And he joins us now live from Charlottesville.
Gregory, good morning. Congratulations.
GREGORY SMITH, GRADUATED COLLEGE AT 13: Good morning. Thanks for having me here.
NEVILLE: All right. Gregory, you know what? Most 13-year-olds think people in college are ancient. So, I mean, did you have friends in college? What was your college experience like?
SMITH: Well, I've been very fortunate that the students at RMC, Randolph-Macon College, have been very nice to me, and I've made many friendships.
COOPER: What -- Why did you want to do this? I mean, what -- why? I mean, it seems always you've been on sort of this accelerated learning curve. Why do you want to continue with this?
SMITH: I've always had a passion for learning. I've always desired to strive to learn as much as I can about our world, and to continue on this path that I've begun.
NEVILLE: Well, that's very admirable, I mean, to say the least here. But gee, come on, Gregory, you're 13. I mean, I'm extremely impressed and I'm sure everybody else watching is very impressed. But you know, do you do anything that 13-year-olds do? SMITH: I do all those normal things, such is play sports. I love basketball, football and soccer. I watch TV. I do all those normal things that 13-year-olds do.
NEVILLE: When do you have time to do that? You're a brainiac, man.
SMITH: Thank you. I just -- I also love to learn and what I'm trying to work on is, through my other work, inspiring youth through my organization, International Youth Advocates, is to show the children that it is normal for children to love to learn, as well.
COOPER: Where do you want to go from here? You know, you just graduated college. I understand you're already planning at least one PhD, and you'd probably want to go for more. What's your plan?
SMITH: Well, I'd like to go on to get four PhD's, in mathematics, biomedical research, aerospace engineering and political science.
COOPER: You really picked some easy subjects there. You've decided to kind of go low ball it, I'd say. It's incredibly impressive. So what is the first one you plan on doing?
SMITH: I'm going to go straight into a PhD in mathematics this summer.
NEVILLE: So no break.
COOPER: And are you going to do it just over the summer? I mean, how long, this is obviously going to take you -- I would hope it's going to take you awhile, because if not it's going to depress me extraordinarily. How long is the mathematics PhD going to take?
SMITH: Mathematics PhD program is normally around a five-year program.
NEVILLE: But you plan to finish it in how many years?
SMITH: It's still to be seen how long it takes, but I'm looking forward to beginning it this summer. I get to start on June 9, which is my birthday.
NEVILLE: Your birthday. That's right.
SMITH: It's a great birthday present.
NEVILLE: I can imagine.
COOPER: I know your parents have made a lot of sacrifices to enable you to accelerate like this. How do they feel? They must be, I guess, very proud of you graduating from college.
SMITH: I'm very fortunate to have such wonderful parents who have always supported my academic desires and given me such an incredible opportunity to learn. Every time I've desired to learn something new, they've given me the books, the movies, the games, they've taken me to the museums necessary so that I'd be able to learn about it. It's been so fortunate. I'm so fortunate to have such incredible parents.
NEVILLE: Hey, Gregory, how old were you when you realized you were so gifted? When you realized.
SMITH: My parents learned prior to when I did, but the main time when I started learning how gifted I was, was in kindergarten, when I realized that I was -- I had already been reading books by Jules Verne, just "The Journey to the Center of the Earth," and in kindergarten, most students were still learning the alphabet.
At that point I learned I had -- that I needed something more advanced.
NEVILLE: Gregory, who's your best friend?
SMITH: Well, I have many friends, both college as well as my own age.
NEVILLE: Your own age, who's your best buddy?
SMITH: I have many friends in my own community, yes, that we play sports. I have a number of friends that are on my indoor soccer league.
COOPER: That's great. And we wish you all the best. You know, you've got a long career ahead of you and a long path. Do you know what kind of a job you want to do ultimately, or do you want to stay in the education field?
SMITH: Well, with my science work I want to go into research. I've always believed that science is the gateway to understanding our universe, that math is the beacon that lights its path. And so what I'm working for is to find connections between the different sciences I'm interested in, biology and physics, as well as chemistry. And I believe that the main connections that we can use are with the mathematics field.
NEVILLE: OK, Gregory Smith, right?
COOPER: Gregory Smith.
NEVILLE: Happy birthday, June 9.
SMITH: Thank you.
COOPER: And we wish you all of the best and congratulations to you and your parents throughout. Thank you very much, Greg.
SMITH: Thank you very much for having me here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 1, 2003 - 08:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to talk about another college graduation here. This one's very, very unique.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: A whole different kind.
NEVILLE: A whole different kind. That's right. Because, you know, for most people, colleges is a milestone that is taken, what? You know, maybe by the time you're 23, perhaps?
COOPER: Yes, 21 or 22.
NEVILLE: OK. Well, try 13 years old. I mean, this guy Gregory -- his name is Gregory Smith, OK? He was barely 10 when he graduated from high school in Orange Park, Florida. That was in 1999. And now he's a college graduate.
COOPER: And we are pleased that he joins us this morning. He graduated, as we said, at 13, his diploma from Randolph Macon College in Virginia. And he joins us now live from Charlottesville.
Gregory, good morning. Congratulations.
GREGORY SMITH, GRADUATED COLLEGE AT 13: Good morning. Thanks for having me here.
NEVILLE: All right. Gregory, you know what? Most 13-year-olds think people in college are ancient. So, I mean, did you have friends in college? What was your college experience like?
SMITH: Well, I've been very fortunate that the students at RMC, Randolph-Macon College, have been very nice to me, and I've made many friendships.
COOPER: What -- Why did you want to do this? I mean, what -- why? I mean, it seems always you've been on sort of this accelerated learning curve. Why do you want to continue with this?
SMITH: I've always had a passion for learning. I've always desired to strive to learn as much as I can about our world, and to continue on this path that I've begun.
NEVILLE: Well, that's very admirable, I mean, to say the least here. But gee, come on, Gregory, you're 13. I mean, I'm extremely impressed and I'm sure everybody else watching is very impressed. But you know, do you do anything that 13-year-olds do? SMITH: I do all those normal things, such is play sports. I love basketball, football and soccer. I watch TV. I do all those normal things that 13-year-olds do.
NEVILLE: When do you have time to do that? You're a brainiac, man.
SMITH: Thank you. I just -- I also love to learn and what I'm trying to work on is, through my other work, inspiring youth through my organization, International Youth Advocates, is to show the children that it is normal for children to love to learn, as well.
COOPER: Where do you want to go from here? You know, you just graduated college. I understand you're already planning at least one PhD, and you'd probably want to go for more. What's your plan?
SMITH: Well, I'd like to go on to get four PhD's, in mathematics, biomedical research, aerospace engineering and political science.
COOPER: You really picked some easy subjects there. You've decided to kind of go low ball it, I'd say. It's incredibly impressive. So what is the first one you plan on doing?
SMITH: I'm going to go straight into a PhD in mathematics this summer.
NEVILLE: So no break.
COOPER: And are you going to do it just over the summer? I mean, how long, this is obviously going to take you -- I would hope it's going to take you awhile, because if not it's going to depress me extraordinarily. How long is the mathematics PhD going to take?
SMITH: Mathematics PhD program is normally around a five-year program.
NEVILLE: But you plan to finish it in how many years?
SMITH: It's still to be seen how long it takes, but I'm looking forward to beginning it this summer. I get to start on June 9, which is my birthday.
NEVILLE: Your birthday. That's right.
SMITH: It's a great birthday present.
NEVILLE: I can imagine.
COOPER: I know your parents have made a lot of sacrifices to enable you to accelerate like this. How do they feel? They must be, I guess, very proud of you graduating from college.
SMITH: I'm very fortunate to have such wonderful parents who have always supported my academic desires and given me such an incredible opportunity to learn. Every time I've desired to learn something new, they've given me the books, the movies, the games, they've taken me to the museums necessary so that I'd be able to learn about it. It's been so fortunate. I'm so fortunate to have such incredible parents.
NEVILLE: Hey, Gregory, how old were you when you realized you were so gifted? When you realized.
SMITH: My parents learned prior to when I did, but the main time when I started learning how gifted I was, was in kindergarten, when I realized that I was -- I had already been reading books by Jules Verne, just "The Journey to the Center of the Earth," and in kindergarten, most students were still learning the alphabet.
At that point I learned I had -- that I needed something more advanced.
NEVILLE: Gregory, who's your best friend?
SMITH: Well, I have many friends, both college as well as my own age.
NEVILLE: Your own age, who's your best buddy?
SMITH: I have many friends in my own community, yes, that we play sports. I have a number of friends that are on my indoor soccer league.
COOPER: That's great. And we wish you all the best. You know, you've got a long career ahead of you and a long path. Do you know what kind of a job you want to do ultimately, or do you want to stay in the education field?
SMITH: Well, with my science work I want to go into research. I've always believed that science is the gateway to understanding our universe, that math is the beacon that lights its path. And so what I'm working for is to find connections between the different sciences I'm interested in, biology and physics, as well as chemistry. And I believe that the main connections that we can use are with the mathematics field.
NEVILLE: OK, Gregory Smith, right?
COOPER: Gregory Smith.
NEVILLE: Happy birthday, June 9.
SMITH: Thank you.
COOPER: And we wish you all of the best and congratulations to you and your parents throughout. Thank you very much, Greg.
SMITH: Thank you very much for having me here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
