At first look, Sarah Nie looks like an ordinary student. Dressed in khakis and a shirt with her backpack on, she is not different than any other student entering Alderman. A closer look at Nie, however, shows that she is anything but ordinary. At 18 years old, Nie is one of the members of the class of 2006 getting ready to graduate at the end of this semester.
An Early Start
Nie said her unusual journey to college started when she was in middle school.
"In North Carolina, they have this program where seventh and eighth graders can take the SATs," Nie said. "So I guess because I scored well, I started receiving all these brochures from colleges."
Nie started her university career when she was 14 at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, where she was enrolled in the Program for the Exceptionally Gifted along with approximately 30 female students her age.
"Mary Baldwin was a good transition experience to university [life], I think," Nie said. "We had a special orientation for us PEG students. And we had to take courses in math and history and such to make up for what we missed in high school."
According to Nie, her parents had differing opinions about her jumpstart but remained supportive all along.
"My father was all for it, my mother, being a mother, was more worried of course," Nie said. "She wanted me to stay at home, but I felt ready. I was always raised as an independent person. The main effect of [starting university] this early was that I matured earlier."
Nie said that she did not feel she missed out on a high school experience.
"At the time when [the opportunity to attend Mary Baldwin] came up, we had just moved to a new location in Germantown, Md., and I didn't have that friend connection to hold me back," Nie said. "So to me, it's all an experience -- a journey. I don't feel like I missed anything by not going to high school. Instead I gained a lot."
Coming to the University
Nie transferred to the University in her second year due to the opportunities provided by the University's science department.
"I transferred here to U.Va. from Mary Baldwin, because I wanted to pursue a science major -- biology," Nie said. "Mary Baldwin is an excellent school, but it is a small liberal arts college. Their science department is not as rich, whereas U.Va. has great professors and a great curriculum."
Nie said the change from the small campus of Mary Baldwin to the much larger setting at the University was not without difficulties.
"My first year here I lived in the IRC dorms," Nie said. "It was different than Mary Baldwin -- with PEG you get very close with one another. It was much more sisterly. At IRC, it was more difficult to make friends, with your neighbors who are not around that much because of their schedules. But, in the end, I made good friends with transfer students and people in my classes."
Nie also said she did not feel any different than any other college student, despite her age difference with most University undergraduates.
"First semester there were some difficulties, of course, but all transfer students have that adjustment period," Nie said. "But after that period, everything went a lot more smoothly. Doing well in class and such. And my age was never an issue."
Teenager on Grounds
When asked how she was affected by certain aspects of college culture such as drinking and partying, Nie said she didn't feel her age made a difference.
"I guess I made friends with people who were not too much the party type," Nie said. "But I was never the type of person who would like to party too much. I never felt the urge to do that, I much prefer going downtown for a dinner or a movie. So it didn't matter whether I was younger."
Nie also said she didn't feel that skipping high school for a college experience affected her studies to a large extent.
"Courses such as physics, which I hadn't taken before coming here, was of course challenging," Nie said. "Other students had taken it in high school, so I had to work harder to grasp the material which was all new to me. But, overall, I look at classes in terms of your learning ability. Your learning ability is your learning ability. Most of the material in college courses is new to everyone, so they are in the same situation as me."
Nie also said that her age has not come up as often as people think.
"Professors and most of the people here don't know about it," Nie said. "It is not publicized or anything. My age only comes up occasionally. If the person doesn't know me, they feel threatened perhaps. But once they get to know me and become my friend, it doesn't enter their minds anymore."
Past, Present and Future
Pursuing a distinguished major in biology, Nie is also involved in various activities around Grounds such as Inkstone Magazine, volunteering at the University Hospital's intensive care unit and kidney center as well as conducting an independent research at the pharmacology department of the University.
"It does seem like a lot of activities, but I feel that I have time to dedicate to each one of them," Nie said. "I really enjoy each of them. For example, I have been involved with Inkstone in different positions since I got to U.Va., and this year I am in the production/layout section and putting the art with the literary submissions is very interesting and fulfilling."
Ultimately, Nie said, she sees herself in the career of medicine, having taken the MCATs and planning to attend medical school after spending a year as a medical scribe at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
"I just think being a doctor is very appropriate for me," Nie said. "It is a good balance of science and humanity -- very good for me. Also, I've seen how important health is through my activities here. Healing someone is so noble, so humbling."
Nie also said her experiences in her family have also caused her to understand the role medicine plays in society.
"Both of my parents are artists," Nie said. "Part of my mom's decision to become an artist was due to her profound hearing disability, which came about when she was prescribed ototoxic medicine, a class of antibiotics that are known to cause hearing impairment, in China. So I've seen her struggle with that and understand the important effect medicine had in her life. Also, my grandmother is a researcher in China, which sparked my interest in science."
According to Nie, it was again her family who instilled in her the importance of being committed.
"Both of my parents were immigrants from China -- we had to work really hard to get here," Nie said. "Our financial situation was not good at many points when I was growing up. They were not able to help me with schoolwork that much, but otherwise they have always been great examples for me to be hardworking."
As for the future, Nie said her plans to attend medical school give her a sense of comfort, but she feels a sense of anxiety about joining the real world."
"I think, like everyone else, I am a little scared and a little excited," Nie said. "You've been at school all your life and now what awaits you is much different."
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