Soaring Sequoyah : Astute 15-Year-Old Aims High, Wins Admission to Caltech

Sequoyah Aldridge mapped out his life when he was still in elementary school. Unlike most children who set their sights on becoming doctors or firefighters, young Sequoyah aimed even higher.

Sure, there were problems with incomplete homework assignments and frequent detentions during recess, but they were inconsequential and more of a nuisance. In between such minor troubles and after-school cartoon shows, Sequoyah, at age 11, told his parents he was going to unlock the mysteries of nuclear fusion and win a Nobel Prize by the time he was 25.

But, as is often the case with the zealousness of youth, that Nobel Prize may have to wait a little longer.

“Yeah, I was little then. It was kind of a greedy thing to want so soon,” he said matter-of-factly.

However, the additional wait “is no big deal,” because Sequoyah, 15, is well on his way to achieving his goal.

Last month, the San Pasqual High School sophomore, who lives in Escondido, was notified that he will be allowed to enroll in September’s freshman class at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Like other things in his life, going to Caltech was a given for the whiz in mathematics and physics.

An older sister, Michelin, 18, is a freshman there, and an uncle graduated from the prestigious institution. Cal State San Marcos, San Diego State University, Cal Berkeley and other universities were never a consideration.

“Well, maybe MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). I could have gone there, but I really had my mind set on Caltech,” said Sequoyah.

Enrolling in college at 15, especially at Caltech, is a phenomenal achievement. But Sequoyah--son of a Cherokee mother and a father who was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War--is unassuming, almost embarrassed, by his attainment. The young man was named after his great-grandfather, Sequoyah Trottingwolf, who, along with his parents, Lincoln Trottingwolf and Sally Dirtpot, were original enrollees in the Cherokee Tribe.

Caltech is the next, natural step in the life of a young man who began taking college calculus and analytical geometry at Palomar College when he was 11, mastering those courses with an A grade. But attending college is a fact Sequoyah would rather keep under wraps.

“He’s not one to go and toot his horn,” said Phill Vanderschaegen, coach of the high school’s academic league team. “He’s on the shyer end. He would just as soon keep it a little quieter. You don’t hear him bragging.”

Although Sequoyah has excelled in the classroom, “he doesn’t run around with a herd of nerds and certainly isn’t one,” said Vanderschaegen. Indeed, the youngster is on the varsity wrestling squad and earned a letter as a member of the junior varsity team in his freshman year.

His taste in music runs the gamut from the heavy metal sounds of AC/DC to Mozart. But, an embarrassed Sequoyah admitted that he listens to classical music only in the privacy of his bedroom “because it’s not popular with kids my age.”

Academic excellence did not always come easy for him. His progress in elementary school was a disappointment for his parents, John and Pamela Aldridge.

“When I was in elementary school, I wasn’t a good student. I was smart, but I had trouble with my homework; mainly because I wouldn’t do it. I also watched too much television,” Sequoyah said. “I was always in trouble with the teacher for not doing my homework. I was bored. . . . When I was in the sixth grade, my parents realized that they had to do something.”

The fact is that public schools have yet to offer any academic challenges to Sequoyah. Like many gifted students, he viewed school as a boring routine, and, in his case, boredom led to problems in the classroom and at home.

So, four years ago, John Aldridge took a chance and encouraged his son to enroll in a night algebra course at Palomar College.

“That’s how it started, when I was only 11. My dad thought this was a good way for me to get my act together. . . . It was kind of strange. I walked into the classroom, and all the people in the class were like in their 30s and 40s. I made friends with many of them, but they weren’t exactly my peers,” Sequoyah said.

He earned a B in that class, and ended up taking six other math courses, earning two C’s, one B and three A’s in calculus and analytical geometry.

“In the meantime, I still had to go to elementary school. I was kind of a split personality. During the day I’d go to elementary school and ride bicycles with my friends and go to the movies, but two nights a week I was a college student, going to class with people who were old enough to be my parents,” he said.

David Lowenkron, a Palomar College math teacher who had Sequoyah in several classes, cannot praise his star pupil enough.

“The night I met him, I walked into the classroom, and here was this young elementary school student, sitting in class, like it was the most natural thing to do. I’ve taught math for 21 years, and I never had anyone that young in a calculus class,” Lowenkron said.

“His expression of mathematical rigor is rarely seen in students of any chronological age,” Lowenkron said. “He out-performed everybody. . . . My most memorable moment occurred when an older student was questioning my insistence on proving the results of a problem, rather than just stating them. During the discussion, (Sequoyah) interjected that it was necessary that you know the how of a problem, not just the why. That settled the issue.”

As for Caltech itself, Sequoyah thinks the university is “strange and weird.”

“Well, you’ve got to admit that a school like that is weird. It’s a strange school. It’s one of the best schools in the country, but who else would accept someone who is 15 years old and hasn’t finished high school? I mean, I’m going to graduate from Caltech, but I’m also going to have to take an equivalency test to get my high school diploma,” Sequoyah said.

He admits to being a little frightened by the thought of attending college. However, he takes that apprehension in stride.

“Caltech is a tough school. I’m afraid to fail, but so is everyone else. So, it’s not that big of a deal,” he said.

After college, Sequoyah hopes to do research in nuclear fusion, but he vowed never to work on a nuclear weapons project.

“I know that physics also deals with building nuclear weapons, but I wouldn’t do anything that would help produce them. That (building nuclear weapons) is wrong. I want to help people through nuclear energy. I don’t want to destroy people with its power,” he said.

Besides missing his brother, David, 10, and sister, Kristin, 9, Sequoyah said he will also miss his best friend, Hoang Le, 16, a student at Orange Glen High School, when he goes away to college.

“He’s my best friend and kind of like my big brother. Hoang is kind and considerate. I spend a lot of time at his house. We go fishing together and prowl around town in his truck. He’s been a good influence,” Sequoyah said.

His sister, Michelin, is studying molecular biology at Caltech and plans to become a doctor, specializing in genetic engineering. The two are close, and it was she who first notified Sequoyah about his admission to Caltech, when she elicited the good news from “a source” in the admissions office.

“Michelin has always been a good friend and sister to me. We’re pretty close and competitive,” he said.

However, Michelin also poses a threat to Sequoyah, according to their mother, Pamela Aldridge.

“Sequoyah won’t tell you, but he’s afraid that Michelin will win a Nobel Prize before he does. He’s determined to win one first,” said the mother.