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Most 13-year-olds are thinking about graduating from middle school and starting high school.

This thought is child’s play to Jaidyn Conner, as she started her first semester at CSU Bakersfield.

According to Conner, Enrollment Management Associate Vice President Jacqueline Mimms is working with her to help her ease into the university.

Conner is only taking two classes this semester under the advice of Mimms.

Not only is she 13, she chose to major in one of the most intimidating subjects in the science field — physics.

Conner attended school in Bakersfield until she finished fifth grade.

Her father then decided to move to Florida so that Conner could spend time with her mother’s side of the family.

After settling in, Connor began attending Florida Virtual School, an online school that focuses on the learning habits of the individual.

“My teachers recommended it to me,” said Conner. “They thought I was being held back in public school because when you are in a public school, you go at the pace of the slowest person. So they recommended I go to virtual school so that I could go at my own pace and go faster than the others.”

Conner agreed with her teachers and was willing to find an alternative to meet her educational needs.

“I would always daydream in class because the information they were teaching, I already knew. When I was younger, I used to do math workbooks. I think I went up to sixth grade when I was in second grade,” she said.

Her ferocious appetite for learning fueled her to focus even harder, and she ultimately finished grades 6 through 12 in only 2 1/2 years.

“I got to go at my own pace,” she said. “I’m also a speed- [typist] and a speed-reader, so all I had to do is read the information or take a test or write a paper on it. I went at my own pace, so it did go a lot faster.”

According to Conner, her father has been a huge inspiration to her. She admires his dedication to his career in marketing.

Dylan Conner is very proud of his daughter.

According to Dylan Conner, he was always aware of his daughter’s aptitude to process information at a fast rate.

“She was very young, and we were determined to put the right information in front of her,” said Dylan Conner.

Jaidyn Conner’s ability was not easily attained, according to her father.

“It was not a gift that just happened,” he said. “She worked on it to develop it. She worked and learned. It helps that she is an extreme speed-reader. It is not unusual for her to check out eight or nine books at a time.”

During her time in virtual schooling, she devoted parts of her days to focusing on her classes, but this did not mean Jaidyn Conner did not have time to be a kid.

“After that I’d be free, go play games, be with my friends or do homework and extra work,” said Jaidyn Conner.

Now that she is in college, she has befriended people from all over campus. She likes to hang out with her friends in Associated Students Inc., and the Student Recreation Center.

Conner understands that there is a time to have fun and there is a time to take care of business.

Her father has always been adamant about making that clear to her.

According to Dylan Conner, from a young age, he would make work and school fun for Jaidyn Conner in hopes that she would have fun while she learned.

According to Dylan Conner, he would keep score and say they would earn points for the work they would do.

She keeps true to this philosophy by making sure she is always on time with her schoolwork.

Dylan Conner was never hesitant to let his daughter start college because it was the next natural step in her life, and he did not want to stop her from following her path.

“Every individual is on a path and should take the path that unfolds before them,” said Dylan Conner.

   This is exactly what Jaidyn Conner is doing, and she doesn’t think that her age is a disadvantage when it comes to her education.

“I think, overall, it’s an advantage because I can be done quicker,” she said. “It does affect some things but not much because the academics is really what I am here for. It doesn’t interfere with that at all.”    

Jaidyn Conner has visualized her life after college, and she is eager to continue her education, receive her doctorate from Harvard and become a physicist.