In his much quoted epic "The Aeneid," Virgil said, "Fortune favors the brave." Although there is no doubt Virgil meant for the line to define the heroic deeds of the Trojan exiles, the notion of "brave" could easily be applied to first-year College student David Banh, who is graduating from the University this year.
An Early Bird
Banh said one major reason for his desire to graduate from the University in one year was financial.
"A lot of it was financial motivations," Banh said. "It would have helped if I had been a Jefferson Scholar but I was not nominated from my high school. I went to [Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology] so that was understandable. I have some scholarships this year but they expire at the end of this year. And I had always planned to graduate a year or a year and a half earlier anyways, so it just made sense."
Banh said his relationship with his parents was another factor in his decision to graduate early.
"I guess my parents have always been supportive in the way they raised me," Banh said. "They would always make me feel like I wasn't working hard enough. Now doing this, they can't really say anything. Because you can't question if I am doing my best, if not pretty close to it. They definitely don't call me as much as to how I am doing, because I think they pretty much realize that I am very busy."
Banh said he finds his reasons for graduating with only one year of university under his belt to be quite reasonable.
"The roots of me wanting to do this is pretty normal and understandable," Banh said. "I am not a megalomaniac. I am doing this because of financial reasons and because I am getting a reward out of it."
A Crash Course
Banh is able to graduate this year due to the combination of numerous credits he received from his Advanced Placement classes in high school and an exhaustive schedule during his time at the University.
"I came to U.Va. with 72 hours of AP credit, which really helped out," Banh said. "In order to graduate I needed 60 credits at U.Va. so I cancelled the credits I received for Calc I and Calc II and took 23 credits last semester and I am taking 37 credits this semester."
Banh said being an Echols scholar helped very much in achieving the 120 credits for graduation since he was exempt from area requirements. Banh, who is majoring in math and physics, also said the context of his majors made it easier to accomplish his goal.
"I don't think social sciences majors are the type of people who would want to graduate early," Banh said. "Those are subject areas where you learn from experience. Graduate work is based on your undergraduate work whereas math is straightforward. It is not environmentally controlled, so you can finish up your studies fast."
Banh said the administration and the faculty were very helpful in arranging his rigorous schedule.
"Professor [Donald] Ramirez who is also the associate chair of the Math department was really helpful in getting all of my classes sorted out since I needed a lot of changes and special permissions," Banh said.
One step at a time
According to Banh, the support from the administration was not without reservations.
"Before I came here, I talked to Echols Dean [William] Wilson and told him I would go to U.Va. if I can graduate in a year, and, after changing my mind, a year and a half," Banh said. "He was completely happy with letting me take 23 credits in the fall but when I changed my mind again and decided to graduate in a year, he was concerned about letting me take 37 to 40 credits."
Banh said he found Wilson's concerns to be well-founded.
"In the end, Dean [Richard] Handler stepped in and said, 'Just let him do it,'" Banh said. "It was all very supportive. They gave me their reservations, because they had to. I might have slipped up. And I am still not out of the woods. I won't be until I am done with exams."
Banh said he has seen some negative effects of his heavy course load.
"My grades have definitely suffered," Banh said. "They are not at as good as they could be. I still have a 3.7, but if I was taking four or five classes, I can't see myself getting less than a 3.95. I am rather banking on this strange story of graduating in one year to explain as to why my grades are not higher."
Although Banh said he recognizes the difficulties of the amount of work he has to deal with, he doesn't find it interferes with his social life as much as people think.
"There are times I wish I hadn't done this," Banh said. "A few weeks ago I thought, 'I am doing two problem sets a night and that's all I am doing with my life.' But in the end I did make very good friends with my suitemates. I felt like I could have done whatever last semester. It is only this semester with more credits that I made the conscious effort not to join anything. Like I knew I couldn't pledge -- that I couldn't rush."
Despite his heavy course load, Banh finds time for one extracurricular activity -- bridge.
"This semester in addition to all of this, I am on the National Youth Bridge Team," Banh said. "We have six- to eight-hour practices online and that's just the official time. So I do put in a lot of time into it. In fact, we had a tournament in Tennessee last week."
Banh said he prefers bridge over other card and board games.
"First of all my parents would hate it if I played poker," Banh said. "I used to play chess in high school but I think bridge is more complex than chess. Chess is very mathematical, but bridge is both mathematical and social. Bridge has so many more angles to it."
The near future
According to Banh, his positive experiences at the University caused him to want to stay more than the one year he will spend as an undergraduate.
"Last December I realized that I wanted to stay for longer, but I still did not want to pay for it," Banh said. "Also I would have been taking all graduate level classes anyways, so I decided I would want to stay as a graduate student."
Banh was accepted to the graduate program in the University's Math department and also was selected for a teaching assistant position.
"Planning out next year was difficult because the Math department kept me waiting for a while so I actually started job search," Banh said. "But I always preferred staying here because I made such good friends."
Banh said pay was an issue of consideration.
Being a TA "doesn't pay that much [compared] to my job applications to places where they would be paying me $70,000 a year, get me through law school and give me a raise every year," Banh said. "I decided that my friends here were too good."
Banh said he acknowledges there are challenges of being a teaching assisant, especially regarding issues with teaching.
"I am not worried about being a TA," Banh said. "It certainly will take time, since it is different than just being a student when you get your work done and you are done. With a TA job, like any teaching job, you are not done when you walk out of the classroom. Especially with classes like CALC 131 and CALC 132 some people naturally have trouble with it; you need to accommodate everybody. And I am not used to that."
Banh said being a graduate student will not hinder his ability to experience an undergraduate lifestyle.
"Yes, I am going to go to grad school next year, but I am still in a housing contract with three of my best friends who were my suitemates," Banh said. "I am still taking classes. I feel like I can do anything any undergrad can do next year. And if I stay for my Ph.D. then, I will even have longer to enjoy those things."
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