KentNewsNet.com

Issue date: 11/2/06 Section: News

Senior finance major Amanda Tyler has changed her major seven times, but she will still graduate later this year. BRIAN MARKS | DAILY KENT STATER

Like many early graduates, senior Amanda Tyler will get her diploma in December.

But unlike those graduates, she's switched her major seven times, not to mention she just turned 20 in September.

Tyler graduated from high school in 2004 and will earn her bachelor's degree in finance in two and a half years.

She was able to earn her degree so fast because she completed 16 credit hours her senior year of high school. That was enough for her to enroll at the university as a sophomore with the basic English, psychology, chemistry and math classes under her belt.

According to Kent State faculty members, Tyler's situation isn't all that rare.

"It's more common than you think to have people start college early or come in with enough credits to make them sophomores or even juniors," said Jim Delisle, a special education professor who specializes in gifted education.

Deborah Craig, a coordinator for the Honors College, said Kent State does not usually have students who enroll at extremely young ages, but that in the Honors College it is common for students to graduate early through the Postsecondary Enrollment Options Program and Advanced Placement testing in high school.

Tyler's workload during her two-and-a-half years at college was enough to compensate for her coming in as an exploratory major and switching to athletic training, communications, leisure studies, public relations, fashion merchandising, business management, and ultimately, finance.

Tyler accumulated so many elective credit hours before finally sticking with a major that she has enough to graduate. She also took two semesters with an 18-credit hour schedule and two summers worth of classes.

But now, fresh out of her teenage years, Tyler faces an increasingly competitive job market filled with employees triple her age.

"When people see that I'm 20 it may set them back, and people may ask more questions to see if I'm capable," Tyler said. "I can get along with someone who's my own age just as well as someone who's 50."

But Susan Roxburgh, a sociology associate professor who specializes in youth and adolescence, said being successful professionally isn't all about a degree and the actual job function. She said that people who graduate young may not have the emotional development or social skills to do well in the workplace.

"We live in a society where there are fewer and fewer distinctions between adolescents and adults, and I think there is something to be said about slowing down," Roxburgh said. "Someone clever enough to graduate at 18 should be doing post-grad work.

"To think and learn at a slower pace is more beneficial than benefiting economically and going right out into the job market. And young graduates would have time to do so; so they should take a step back."

Tyler said she didn't come to Kent State planning to graduate early. But after her first year she decided to go for it because she wanted to get out of school. Now she thinks she may go back to get a master's degree in a few years.

Roxburgh said that going into the job market at 20 instead of 23 does not make much of a difference. But if a student's education started accelerating at an earlier age, that same age gap could be a huge deal in high school.

Delisle, who has seen such extremes as a 10-year old who has recently graduated from high school and will attend Carnegie Mellon full-time in the spring, said that he has taught a few students at Kent State who graduate at 18 and 19 years old.

Recently, the Ohio Department of Education required every school district to adopt a policy for accelerated education. Delisle said that was a strong statement for the state to make and that it proves that students who are skipped ahead are showing positive results.

But Roxburgh said that accelerated education and early graduation is just one of the trends in education these days.

"Accelerating education is coming back into vogue," Roxburgh said. "It went out of vogue because social reasons were setting people back. But education is all about fads, and that's what this is."

Tyler is not letting her age affect her after she graduates. She even came up with a way to sell herself to employers.

"I think it shows that I have the ability to accomplish what I set my mind to," Tyler said. "I have determination and drive that other people don't."

Over the summer Tyler worked as a finance intern for the Timken Company in Canton. Her internship was extended, and she still works there on Fridays. She does not know if she will be hired full-time.

"I don't even know if I want to work in finance after I graduate," she said. "I'll probably get a job like that for a few years and get my master's degree in something totally different."

Contact StaterOnline correspondent Sean Joseph at stjoseph@kent.edu.

Related Links http://www.ditd.org -- The Davidson Institute is a national nonprofit company serving America's gifted children. It's Web site contains information about the academy and articles about how to educate gifted children. http://www.piecesoflearning.com/consult/jdintro.htm -- A link to information about Jim Delisle. Contains a list of his education consulting services and more information about his areas of expertise with gifted education. http://explore.kent.edu/pseop/index.html -- Using the Postsecondary Enrollment Options Program at Kent State. Site includes information for high school students and parents, frequently asked questions, application for admission to the program and more about the Postsecondary Enrollment Options Program.

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