Those who have survived post-secondary education can understand “the struggle,” but for 12-year-old Caleb Anderson, college classes are his middle school. Young Anderson is a sophomore at Chattahoochee Technical College in Marietta, Georgia, and is currently studying aerospace engineering. His parents became aware of his little bright mind at a very early age.
What We Know:
- According to his family, Caleb started to imitate his mother’s speech at only four weeks old, some infants can’t do this until a couple of months later. At nine months old, he had already learned more than 250 words in American Sign Language. Fast forward to the age of four, he was already reading at an accelerated level.
“I was getting my master’s in education so I knew that there was something special about that,” Claire Anderson, Caleb’s mother told USA Today.
- Caleb’s plans after Chattahoochee Technical only consist of continuing his education at other schools. He wishes to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and later the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT). One of his biggest long term goals includes getting an internship with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a dream he has developed over the span of his short educational career already.
- Instead of thinking about the next video game or toy he wanted to get, Caleb mentioned he had his sights on space since has was a toddler. “I figured that aerospace engineering would be the best path,” he said.
- Caleb’s mother has stated that due to his incredible intellect, she feared a small number of things such as his sense of self. She noted how he didn’t need to study or get help with many subjects other kids struggled with. While other parents wouldn’t see this as an issue, Claire said that she “didn’t like the character that was building in him”.
- Moving forward, his parents decided there were other things that needed attention rather than what if’s. Claire is a former teacher and her husband, Kobi, is an IT salesman. Over time, their initial worries faded and they started to teach him things books couldn’t, such as “compassion, kindness, looking for the good in others”.
When Caleb’s mother noticed that he quickly outpaced the work of his grade levels, she was concerned that a lack of a challenge could be holding him back. She now advocates to other parents to pay mind to their kids’ educations, even as early as she did with her son. Caleb has two siblings, 7-year-old Hannah and 8-year-old Aaron, who are also just as gifted in their studies.
