Trumbull teen is ahead of her class
SUSAN SILVERS ssilvers@ctpost.com
Connecticut Post,
10/22/2006
At a time when fellow 17-year-olds are pondering where they should
apply for college, Hannah Redamonti isn't concerned about that.
She's already considering where she'd like to go to graduate school.
The Trumbull teenager already has a good start on earning an undergraduate bachelor's degree, thanks to home-schooling through correspondence courses and an early start at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, where she took her first class at 15.
"She came because she was interested and she wanted to be a writer," said Anson C. Smith, the public relations director who taught the course.
Like another home-schooled student in the same class, Smith recalled, Hannah stood out because she was bright and articulate. But he had no idea how young Hannah was until he ran into her at school this semester, after she finished her requirements for high school graduation and enrolled at HCC full time.
Getting a head start on her college career wasn't exactly what Hannah had in mind when an unexpected illness forced her to leave the private school she was attending in ninth grade.
But as she grappled with health issues, her mother was there to see that Hannah didn't have to abandon her studies.
Though Hannah was undergoing regular treatment to deal with her condition — it's something she prefers not to talk about — education provided another kind of therapy and helped her keep her mind off her illness.
"I just really like to learn a lot," said Hannah, a slightly built teen who hopes to become a naturopathic physician. "I was really glad I could do my studies."
The oldest of three children of Linda, a teacher, and Edward, an accountant, Hannah spent her first educational years at Christian Heritage School in Trumbull. But after seventh grade, her mother wanted to try educating her at home.
Hannah said it was her seventh-grade experience with home-schooling that truly made her appreciate education. Her mother home-schooled her so well in seventh grade that Hannah skipped the eighth grade.
"It fed my love of learning," she said. "I could ask why are things like that and what do I like."
Hannah said she enjoyed reading voraciously and particularly relished reading biographies of figures like Marie Antoinette and Frank Sinatra. She said she loved reading fiction — O. Henry is a favorite — and enjoyed writing her own stories.
When Hannah was forced to leave school during 10th grade, her mother lined up an appropriate correspondence course, and Hannah again thrived educationally.
Linda Redamonti found an accredited school in Florida, A Beka Academy, that provided the appropriate course materials. Hannah would follow the courses, do regular homework and other projects, and send them in to be graded.
But Linda Redamonti said she didn't have to do much to oversee her oldest child, who she described as very curious about the world around her.
"She's a very self-motivated person," Linda Redamonti said. And when Hannah expressed an interest in journalism, she ultimately found a noncredit course at HCC last year.
As someone who performed well in English, she was able to take a test through the College Level Examination Program that brought her credit for a first-semester course.
She also took other courses in math and psychology that brought her the credit she needed to earn her high school diploma and college credit.
This semester, she's taking courses in human biology, history, and psychology.
A 32-year-old classmate, Melissa Agosti, said she couldn't believe the articulate teenager in her child psychology class wasn't a bit older.
"It's impressive," Agosti said, explaining that as a mother of three and licensed practical nurse, she found Hannah's reasoning in class discussions perceptive. "I thought she was 23 or 24."
Despite the wide range of people she deals with at HCC, Hannah said her college life hasn't interfered with her life as a normal teenager.
She's participated in extra-curricular activities such as art classes, particularly enjoying acrylics and painting. She's also held part-time jobs.
But she said she's always gotten together with her friends after school hours to go to the mall or football games, and that she's held jobs such as being a concession stand cashier.
Still, Hannah said, her unusual background has enabled her to travel more and work the kind of adult hours most of her peers haven't.
"You can't have it all ways," she said.
Anson C. Smith, Public Relations Coordinator
Housatonic Community College
900 Lafayette Blvd.
Bridgeport, CT 06604
Tel: 203-332-5229, Fax: 203-332-5247
E-mail: asmith@hcc.commnet.edu