‘A lot of people think I’m abnormally bright or a genius. But I’m not; I just work hard’

Ashkan Fayzy was 13 when he was elected vice president of the student body at Mesa College. Now 15, King, as he is called by his friends, will graduate next year with a bachelor’s degree in law from National University. In the fourth grade, his older brother, Aurash Fayzy, made poor grades, fell asleep in class and was dismissed by his Santa Barbara teacher as mentally retarded. A school district psychologist tested the 9-year-old and found he had the intelligence of a 16-year-old. “Ary,” now 17, will graduate from National University in a few weeks with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. The Fayzy brothers were interviewed by Times staff writer G. Jeanette Avent and photographed by Vince Compagnone.

Ashkan: Junior high was hard because I had the experience of kids not really caring about their education. They came to class and, while the instructor was talking, I’d look on one side and a girl would be combing her hair, and I’d look on the other side and see some kid playing with his knife or toy. It was really frustrating to see they didn’t appreciate their education, and they didn’t take it seriously. That’s what really drove me to go to a school where people care. They really wanted to be in class at Mesa. After seventh grade, I started going to Mesa College.

When I went to Mesa, I was 11 1/2 years old. It was more challenging to me, so I just worked that much harder, but it wasn’t something where I had to do something special to keep up. Often, I would get grades better than my classmates who were in their early 20s.

And I still had fun. It really wasn’t hard for me to talk to my classmates. The cheerleaders would pinch my cheeks and say, “Hi, King.” (My psychology professor told me Ashkan was the name of a king 2,000 years ago in the Persian empire. After that he started calling me King, and everyone else started calling me King.)

I also had a psychology class with a lot of the football players, and I was helping them with their studying and their tests. Everything was just great.

After my second year, I ran for and became the vice president of the Associated Students with 20,000 votes. I was also active in basketball, tennis, swimming; and I was working and still taking a full load every semester.

At first, people would look at me and say, ‘what is this kid doing here?’ They’d see my mom with me and they’d just think, ‘Oh, he’s just coming with his mom.’ When my mom told them she was coming with me, they couldn’t believe it. But everyone was real supportive.

Plus, when I turned 14, I grew rapidly, and now I’m over 6 feet tall. Now, when I go, no one suspects how old I am.

I’m graduating next year with a bachelor’s in law from National University, and then I’ll go another year to get my law degree. My ambition is to become the youngest judge. I want to be a real estate attorney. After 10 years of practicing law, I hope to become a judge, with God’s help.

My role models are San Diego Superior Court Judge James Malkus, who taught me business law, and Arsenio Hall. Arsenio is a role model for me because he made it against the odds. He didn’t have very much money when he was growing up, but he made it. Now he’s on top.

Ary: I went to elementary school in Oregon until the third grade, then we moved to Santa Barbara. I was getting really bad grades in the fourth grade, and I’d be falling asleep. The teacher thought I was retarded. She sent me to the office, and they called my mom. They said, ‘Mrs. Fayzy, we think your son may be retarded. We’d like you to come down and sign some forms so we can put him in remedial classes.’ They had a district psychologist come down and test me, and it turned out that, at 9 years old, I had the intelligence of a 16-year-old. When they found out the results, they called my mom and said, ‘Congratulations Mrs. Fayzy, your son is gifted.’

After that we went back to Oregon and, in the fifth grade, I started taking some computer classes at Lane Community College. In the morning I was going to elementary school, and in the afternoon, I was going to college. By the end of the sixth grade, I was carrying a full load at the college.

Then we moved down to San Diego, where I skipped the seventh grade, and went straight into the eighth grade at Correia Junior High. Then I started going to Mesa College full time after about a month and a half in the ninth grade.

A lot of people think I’m abnormally bright or a genius. But I’m not; I just work hard. Without God and without my parents and all the people who helped me, I don’t think I would have been able to do any of the things I have.

But I have to admit when I started Mesa College I was the classic nerd. I was really introverted. After a while, my mom insisted I get on the swim team. I ended up growing in a period of about four months from 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-10. Since then, my brother and I have gone on to get a green belt in karate.

In July, I’ll graduate with a bachelor’s degree in computer science from National University. I want to be an astronaut, so I hope to join the Air Force to qualify. I want to be the pilot and eventually the commander of the shuttle.

I like the fact that I’ll be finishing school early. I’ll have an edge on life. If I go through the Air Force with the full 20 years, I’ll be 38 when I get out. I’ll be able to do all the things I want to do by the time my life is over. So, when I die, I’ll say I’ve done it all, with God’s help.