Experiencing 4 Degrees of Graduation

Think back to the last few weeks of college. Remember the all-night cram sessions? The paper-writing marathons? The 11th-hour scramble to wrap up that final research project?

Now multiply that by four. That is what Keith Copsey’s life is like these days. In two weeks, the 23-year-old from Camarillo will become the first UC Santa Barbara student to graduate with four bachelor’s degrees simultaneously.

Throughout the UC system in recent years, only a handful of students have completed such a feat, officials said.

When the university’s graduation ceremonies are complete--Copsey would have to attend two events to pick up all four diplomas--he will hold degrees in physics, literature, mathematics and history.

He has taken 96 college classes and checked out as many as 100 books at a time from the campus library. He gets less than four hours of sleep each night. Nearly every waking moment has been spent studying, researching or working in the physics lab.

But Copsey shrugs off his achievement.

“My philosophical viewpoint is that pushing yourself and seeing how far you can go is all part of the human experience,” he said.

Copsey is used to standing apart from the crowd. He never fit in with other kids while growing up in Camarillo and felt unchallenged at Rio Mesa High School, he said.

As a sophomore he enrolled at Moorpark College, where his mother, Ceil Copsey, is a history professor. He graduated from high school the same day he earned an associate of arts degree.

By the time he arrived at UC Santa Barbara as a physics major, Copsey had completed at least two years of college. But because the Santa Barbara physics program requires classes to be taken sequentially, he knew he would be at the university for at least four years.

He fell in love with the school’s College of Creative Studies, from which he is earning two of his degrees. The school’s unconventional approach allows students a great deal of flexibility and emphasizes interaction and learning as opposed to testing and grades.

That contributed to the decision to go for four degrees.

“I thought I might as well try for something unusual,” he said.

Ceil Copsey said she never doubted her son would do something extraordinary. She and her husband, Reese, knew he was special as early as kindergarten, where he sat bored because he had already learned everything in preschool.

“It’s typical Keith,” she said. “He really can do anything he sets his mind to.”

And because she was a history major and her husband has a degree in electrical engineering, her son’s multiple degrees bring the family together, she said.

Copsey said the four disciplines also reflect sides of his personality. He likes to figure out how the world around him works, as in physics, but also relishes the more abstract world of literature.

“It’s nice when you’ve been cranking on some serious math calculation to then read some poetry,” he said.

In the final stretch of his undergraduate work, Copsey is wrapping up his five classes: one math, one physics, one history and two literature courses, as well as two research projects.

“There’s certainly a feeling of fatigue--it’s been a long haul,” he said. “I think it’ll feel good when I’m done.”

Although Copsey isn’t a fan of grades or any standardized judging of students, he has never earned less than an A.

Associate professor Luke Roberts said he awarded Copsey an A+ in Japanese history, something he has done only a few times in his 10 years at the school.

“He’s a remarkable student and any teacher’s dream,” Roberts said. “If he were only doing history, he would be a dream, so the fact that he’s doing four at the same time is just amazing.”

The math and physics departments have named Copsey most outstanding graduating senior.

He plans to become a physicist, which requires up to six years in graduate school. Not surprisingly, he already has begun.

He would someday like to use his cross-disciplinary resume to open a school for unorthodox students.

“I think secondary education leaves a lot to be desired, especially for kids who don’t fit inside the box,” he said.

Now, for the topic on everyone’s mind: graduation gifts. Does this mean four cars?

Copsey said he isn’t even thinking about it.

“I’m an internally motivated guy,” he said. “I’m not doing this for any kind of external reward.”