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Not afraid to be different: Simone Evans to graduate college at 14

Autumn Schanil - Staff Writer
Posted 5/2/16

WURTSBORO — Simone Evans, from Wurtsboro, will be graduating with high honors from SUNY Ulster in May.

So what makes her different from all the other graduates?

Simone will be a college …

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Not afraid to be different: Simone Evans to graduate college at 14

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WURTSBORO — Simone Evans, from Wurtsboro, will be graduating with high honors from SUNY Ulster in May.

So what makes her different from all the other graduates?

Simone will be a college graduate at just 14 years old.

At the age of three, she began reading and writing and at the age of five, she started first grade.

In second grade Simone joined the Center for Talented Youth (CTY) at Johns Hopkins University, which focuses on identifying and developing the talents of the most advanced K-12 learners worldwide.

By the end of fifth grade, Simone was so far advanced in her classes that her mother, Elizabeth Evans, began homeschooling her in order to “bridge the gap.”

At the seventh grade level, Simone took the ACTs, a standardized test that measures college readiness. Her scores were some of the highest in the world.

“We knew she was profoundly gifted,” said Elizabeth, “and we were trying to find options for her after she took the ACTs. Finally, we were on vacation in the summer and she said, ‘how about I start college?'

“We said fine, if someone will take you, and then the journey just ... sort of started.”

The Evans' began looking around at various colleges in the area and Simone immediately settled on Ulster. She chose the college because it's small, commuter friendly and has an excellent music program. More importantly, they looked at and treated her not as a 12 year old, but as they would any other high school student enrolling in college.

“When I started college, I wasn't really sure where I wanted to go,” said Simone, “I knew I liked math and science so I decided to go as a math major. I took my first biology course and that's when I discovered that I wanted to go into medicine.”

After graduating from Ulster, Simone wants to continue her studies by enrolling in a four-year pre-medical program, specifically to study infectious diseases.

“My mom is from South Africa where there are a lot of malaria cases. Malaria is a very easily treatable disease but it's still a huge killer,” explained Simone. “That's kind of my original inspiration to study infectious diseases. But there are a lot of others that have no cures, such as Lyme disease and there are a lot of cases in our area.

“I'm also drawn to the fact that these diseases can evolve very quickly. So part of my interest is to study but the other part is to cure.”

The path of medical study that Simone is working towards will take anywhere from 12 to 14 years of study and practice to complete, yet she is more excited than ever.

“None of this has ever seemed strange to me,” said Simone with a smile. “I just always wanted more challenging course work and eventually I thought, ‘why can't I start college and get a head start?'”

Still undecided as to which college she will attend, Simone has her eyes and heart set on Harvard University.

And although she is breaking down barriers and pushing boundaries, Simone is still just a 14 year old. She is a member of the local swim team, enjoys hanging out with her friends, hiking and traveling with her family.

“If there are any other kids out there that want to do something, I hope they know that they shouldn't be afraid to be different,” added Simone. “They should embrace what they are naturally drawn towards.”

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