据英国《每日邮报》报道,年仅16岁的美国女孩泰斯卡•菲茨杰拉德今年刚从波特兰州立大学毕业,将去佐治亚理工学院攻读博士学位,研究方向是认知科学与人机交互,22岁时她就可以拿到博士学位。
泰斯卡跳过初中和高中,12岁就被大学录取。但她并不为自己缺失传统高中教育经历感到遗憾。她说:“我问别人是否喜欢高中生活,或者是否希望跳过高中,肯定回答与否定回答都有。我喜欢我的学习之路,如果让我重新活一遍,我还会坚持我的选择。”
泰斯卡的父母很早就开始对她进行家庭教育。母亲艾米说:“我保证,如果你坚持每天家教孩子8个小时,他们也能12岁上大学。”
泰斯卡的父亲是一名程序员。泰斯卡从小对电脑就很痴迷。15岁时,她花了600个小时自己动手设计了一个机器人。
泰斯卡对人机交互和认知科学尤其着迷。她说:“这方面的知识总能让我陶醉。我们永远无法完全了解大脑如何思维,在这个领域,真的是学无止境,而且计算机科学和人工智能都与这个领域密切相关。”
Tesca Fitzgerald will be heading off to grad school, but when she finally begins classes at the Georgia Institute of Technology, her classmates will be several years older than her。
In college at age 12, Tesca just graduated from Portland State University and is on the fast track to receive her PhD in cognitive science and human robotic interaction by age 22.
Her mom Ami Fitzgerald says its all down to their homeschooling that has allowed her daughters the freedom to study at their own speed。
Her parents, Ami and Mark Fitzgerald began homeschooling all of their three daughters early on because they were being bullied。