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Teen spends summer studying in China
But for 15-year-old CJ Cruz, this summer meant spending three weeks in China with about 100 other students from across the United States. As members of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth, they traveled together to Nanjing, each choosing a course to study there. CJ selected Advanced Game Theory because of his interest in business and economics. "It's a branch of economics that studies the rationality of an opponent in a game or situation," he said. Clearly, CJ is not a typical teen. The soon-to-be 10th-grader is homeschooled through the Simibased California Virtual Academy, takes classes at Moorpark College and sings with the Los Angeles Children's Chorus. He's also a member of the high school ministry at Grace Brethren Community Church. And the talented young man is currently playing a major role in the Los Angeles Opera Camp rendition of "Figaro's American Adventure." He's spent the last two weeks rehearsing for this weekend's performances. CJ's extracurricular activities afford him the social interaction he might otherwise lack from being home-schooled. "Although 200 of my friends are virtual, I still have friends here," he said. CJ has an easygoing personality. He's very close to his two younger brothers, Stephen, 12, and Nathan, 10, and makes sure not to miss out on anything when it comes to his family. He said he likes to play video games and practice sword fighting with his brothers. "We do a ton of stuff together," he said. With glee, CJ reminisced about a time years ago when he and his brothers were very young. They watched the movie "Annie" on a Friday night, and the next morning, before their parents awoke, they poured buckets of water onto the laminate floor of the house and started singing and mopping. The trip to Nanjing marked CJ's fourth year of participation in the Center for Talented Youth, a program for the young academic elite. One criterion for acceptance is a score of at least 700 out of a possible 800 on the math or verbal portion of the SAT, an exam generally taken by college-bound juniors or seniors. CJ, whose favorite subject is math, has already taken classes in calculus and analytical geometry. He's maintained a 4.0 GPA at the California Virtual Academy and plans on taking science and lab classes at Moorpark College. "CJ is a very dedicated student," said CJ's virtual homeroom teacher Sandra Wortman. "He works extremely hard. He is amazingly able to balance school with extracurricular activities." Wortman has known CJ and his family for four years. She predicts that he will be "one of those students you'll read about as he gets older." As a member of the Simi Valley Youth Council, CJ takes an active interest in the local community. "It's basically a committee where we can represent the youth of Simi Valley to the City Council," CJ said. The group regularly gives city officials input on issues concerning youth in the community. CJ said they've talked about high school dropouts and "boredom." He said they recently suggested putting together youth nights "so at least they're not stuck at home watching TV and playing video games all day." The future seems very bright for CJ. Certain that he wants to go into business, he has his sights set on getting an MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He likes to stay informed about national and world affairs and reads magazines like Fortune, The Economist, Time and Newsweek. CJ also manages the investments he's made. One thing's certain about CJ. The delicate and steady balance he maintains as both a carefree kid and a serious young man is best reflected by his choices in television programming. "I watch just the news and Saturday morning cartoons with my brothers," CJ said. |
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