Soaring Sequoyah : 15-Year-Old Math, Physics Whiz Aims High, Is Admitted 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 sophomore at San Pasqual High School in Escondido was notified that he will be allowed to enroll in September’s freshman class at Caltech in Pasadena.

“He’s not the youngest but he’s certainly younger than most,” said Hall Daily, a Caltech spokesman.

Daily says that in the last four years, he is aware of one 13-year-old student who enrolled at Caltech and a handful of 15-year-olds. Caltech officials say one-quarter of their freshman classes are 16 or under.

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. San Diego State University, UC 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.

Sequoyah--son of a Cherokee mother and a father who was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War--was named after his great-grandfather, Sequoyah Trottingwolf.

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 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.”

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 Cs, one B and three A’s in calculus and analytical geometry.

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

“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.

“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.

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.

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.

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,” said. “He’s determined to win one first.”