Student to get B.A., At 13, Shaun Tateishi scored higher on the college SAT than the average college freshman.
sets sights on master’s
degree -- all at 18
Advanced coursework
By Treena Shapiro
is fun, he says
tshapiro@starbulletin.comSo while his peers entered eighth grade, Tateishi enrolled at Hawaii Pacific University.
Now 18, Tateishi expects to earn a bachelor's degree in communications and speech in May 2002, and a master's degree in communications a year later.
He recently was named a Collegiate All-American Scholar by the United States Achievement Academy and awarded a $100 scholarship.
Tateishi said one of the advantages of starting college so early is that it leaves him more time to pursue other things at an early age, such as a master's degree in film studies and law school.
"I figure that I'm young and I have a lot of opportunities," he said.
He plans to become a trial attorney in a major metropolitan area.
Born and raised on Oahu, Tateishi attended Kahala Elementary School and one semester of seventh grade at Iolani School.
He spent the second half of that year at a school in Pelican Rapids, Minn., where he was visiting with relatives.
Tateishi's academic path took a new course when standardized test scores gained him acceptance to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth.
The center scouts out students who score in the top 3 percent on national standardized tests and offers them challenging educational programs both in and out of school.
Tateishi also took the SAT, usually given to college-bound high school seniors. Though he declined to reveal his score, "it was higher than the average for college freshmen for both verbal and math," he said.
As a result, Tateishi was given a small scholarship to HPU.
"Basically, I did start HPU in fall 1997, just out of seventh grade," he said.
For the first few semesters, financial restraints limited Tateishi to taking seven credits a semester.
In spring 1999, he became a degree-seeking student eligible for financial aid and has been a full-time student ever since, earning As in all his courses, except for one B in Calculus 2.
"I'm very happy with my decision," he said. "I think it was the right one to make."
HPU Dean of Communication Helen Varner, who nominated Tateishi for the All-American Scholar award, said she has been Tateishi's teacher and mentor.
She also has been his adviser for the student groups he has joined -- Tateishi was last year's president of the HPU chapter of the American Advertising Federation and currently is president of the university's debate society.
"Shaun is enthusiastic about his leadership role rather than seeing it as onerous," she said. "He goes the extra mile when he is asked to do something.
"He is extremely responsible and mature for his age. Doing something nice for him is an investment. I'm quite certain he will come back and do wonderful things for himself and for HPU."
Tateishi said he still has friends his age and others who are older, adding that does not mind missing out on the high school experience.
"I've had enough fun over the years to make up for that," he said. "I'm learning a lot more and that's great because I'm actually being challenged.
"I find that fun."