Daniel Pinna
11-Year-Old in College Dreams of M.D. Degree
The desks are far too big, but other than that, Kristen Banerjee, an 11-year-old premedical student, said she felt perfectly at ease on the Lee College campus.
Kristen, who has an I.Q. of 164, was speaking in sentences before her first birthday, and at age 4 she became fluent in Norwegian after spending the summer in Norway with her father, Salil Banerjee, a research scientist in Dallas.
She lives with her mother, Carol Harrison, in nearby Crosby, northeast of Houston. The couple divorced when Kristen was a baby.
If she perseveres, Kristen could get her medical degree at age 17.
''I've been told she can't be licensed until her 21st birthday,'' her mother said. ''But I think that may have changed. We're looking into it.''
For light reading before bed, Kristen browses through the Physicians' Desk Reference, a thick volume about prescription drugs. ''I love to read it,'' she said. ''I like learning about the warnings and names of medicines.''
Kristen was 10 when she registered at college, and celebrated her 11th birthday on the day of her first English composition class a few weeks ago.
In her first essay about her collegiate experience, she wrote: ''This is going to be a fabulous year, I can tell you. I'm almost afraid to talk about it for fear I might wake up and find it was only a dream.''
As she skips across the college campus, Kristen totes a satchel with drawings of cuddly kittens on the outside and college chemistry and zoology textbooks inside.
Some of her classmates, however, were stunned to learn she was a fellow student.
''I have children her age,'' said Mary Whitehead, 34, a nursing major. ''I told my three kids about her. They couldn't believe it.''
''It makes me feel dumb since she's only 11 and it took me 17 years to return to college,'' said Sharon Svrcek, 36. ''She often has the answer to a question before we have time to look it up.''
- New York Times article published on Feb. 18, 1988
Kristen, who has an I.Q. of 164, was speaking in sentences before her first birthday, and at age 4 she became fluent in Norwegian after spending the summer in Norway with her father, Salil Banerjee, a research scientist in Dallas.
She lives with her mother, Carol Harrison, in nearby Crosby, northeast of Houston. The couple divorced when Kristen was a baby.
If she perseveres, Kristen could get her medical degree at age 17.
''I've been told she can't be licensed until her 21st birthday,'' her mother said. ''But I think that may have changed. We're looking into it.''
For light reading before bed, Kristen browses through the Physicians' Desk Reference, a thick volume about prescription drugs. ''I love to read it,'' she said. ''I like learning about the warnings and names of medicines.''
Kristen was 10 when she registered at college, and celebrated her 11th birthday on the day of her first English composition class a few weeks ago.
In her first essay about her collegiate experience, she wrote: ''This is going to be a fabulous year, I can tell you. I'm almost afraid to talk about it for fear I might wake up and find it was only a dream.''
As she skips across the college campus, Kristen totes a satchel with drawings of cuddly kittens on the outside and college chemistry and zoology textbooks inside.
Some of her classmates, however, were stunned to learn she was a fellow student.
''I have children her age,'' said Mary Whitehead, 34, a nursing major. ''I told my three kids about her. They couldn't believe it.''
''It makes me feel dumb since she's only 11 and it took me 17 years to return to college,'' said Sharon Svrcek, 36. ''She often has the answer to a question before we have time to look it up.''
- New York Times article published on Feb. 18, 1988
Kathy Pinna 
