Two one-of-a-kind students share academic ambition, success

Matthew Wheeler and Chad Raw both are 18-year-old students at the University of Missouri. They know what they want, and they took a similar path in getting there — even though their interests couldn’t be more different.

Wheeler, a sophomore engineering major, is interested in dynamic structural design, particularly in constructing bridges and buildings that can withstand an earthquake. Raw, a sophomore biochemistry major, plans to complete a combined MD/PhD program and eventually help people with genetic mutations such as Down’s syndrome.

It goes without saying that both students are ambitious and self-motivated, characteristics that served them well while they completed MU’s independent study high school diploma program. The opportunity to control their own schedules and take courses not offered at their local public high schools were the biggest advantages, they say.

Raw, whose family moved to Columbia, Mo., at the beginning of his sophomore year of high school, says studying independently was a challenge at first but that he enjoyed taking each course at his own pace once he got started. He also took several Advanced Placement courses, as well as courses for university credit, which propelled him to sophomore standing.

“It’s really easy to get the big picture and see how what you’re learning fits in,” says Wheeler, who attended public school in Moberly, Mo., until junior high, when an illness made it necessary for him to be homeschooled. “I probably spent about the same amount of time working as a traditional high school student; it was just all spent in the areas where I really needed it. I felt like it was so much more an efficient use of my time than a traditional classroom environment because I have really good skills in math and science.”

At MU High, Wheeler also was able to study King Arthur and the Middle Ages, ancient Egyptian civilization and the technology of remote sensing — studying geography using satellite images. He completed a calculus course, and like Raw, took courses for college credit.

Raw spent his junior year at Northwest Missouri State University’s Missouri Academy of Science, Mathematics and Computing, earning college credit before coming back to MU High School to complete his senior year. Raw’s father, Randy, appreciated the flexibility of scheduling, the course selection, MU High’s counselor and the ability to take courses from anywhere.

“You don’t sacrifice anything. The entire curriculum is there,” Randy Raw says. “It just gave us a lot of flexibility and a lot of choices, which is what we wanted.”

He was so pleased with Chad’s experience, in fact, that his other son, Eric, is now an MU High diploma student.

Happy to be attending the University of Missouri, Wheeler and Raw say studying independently helped smooth the transition between high school and college and prepare them for success.

“The professors here say, ‘This is the work I would recommend you do for the test coming up,’ but they don’t make you do it,” Raw says. “Now that I’m actually in college, I have to say independent study helped me out a lot.”

Wheeler agrees. “Studying independently in high school has made it so that I’m always used to being ready and used to being on top of everything and ready to go,” he says. “The way to distinguish yourself on campus is to have the motivation so that when you see an opportunity go by, you grab it.”