OPRAH WINFREY: Well, this is so interesting. He was just a baby in diapers when he started correcting other people's grammar. Sounds hard to believe. I thought it was hard to believe, too. But by 18 months, this child could add and subtract--18 months. And by the time he was six, he was smarter than his own parents and his parents knew it. And in one year, he went from second grade to eighth grade, and he flew through high school in just 22 months. But that's just the beginning. This genius child started college. He just did, and he's only 10 years old. Take a look. He knew the alphabet by the time he could walk. Unidentified Woman #1: What comes after H? GREG SMITH: I. WINFREY: He could tell you the history of the dinosaurs before he was two. G. SMITH: This is the Jurassic period. WINFREY: Greg Smith has been on the fast track to college from a very early age. He graduated from high school at 9, after completing grades 9 through 11 in just months, and he did that with honors. G. SMITH: This is for participating in the National Honor Society. This is for being in the top 10 percent of the class. WINFREY: At the tender age of 10, Greg is now the youngest freshman ever at Randolph-Macon College in Virginia. His application was a shock. Dr. JOHN CONKRIGHT: Our reaction actually, to be honest, was, `This must be a joke.’ WINFREY: But this is no joke. G. SMITH: I'm taking 5 courses, 17 credits. WINFREY: There's physics… G. SMITH: Stronger angle up. WINFREY: …French... G. SMITH: (Speaking French) Je manger cereal. WINFREY: ...and calculus for starters. Unidentified Man #1: A-1 times X, plus A-0. G. SMITH: There's a number of books--my warfare and antiquity course. I use a couple other literature books and French, as well as Western civilization. WINFREY: Teachers are impressed with what they see. Mr. BRUCE FRANZ: It's wonderful to combine the intellectual ability of an adult with the sheer unbridled curiosity, joy and enthusiasm of a 10-year-old. Mr. BRUCE TORRENCE: A typical student will say, `Well, I really like this class and I'll do this class.' Greg just wants it all, and he wants it all now. WINFREY: Greg's classmates are nearly twice his age. Ms. KASSY MIES: I think he might have a difficult time because there's times in class when people are talking about things that aren't appropriate for a 10-year-old to hear. Ms. SUZANNE TETRAULT: So far he has all my respect. Mr. BRANDON McTAVISH: So I'm gonna ask him for study help if I can. We'll see. WINFREY: With 28 books to carry, this boy wonder is getting a little help from his mom. Mrs. JANET SMITH: Bye, sweetheart. Have a great class. G. SMITH: Bye. I will. Mrs. SMITH: I love you. G. SMITH: I love you. WINFREY: Wow. So if you were wondering what this 10-year-old genius does at home, so were we. Take a look. Greg at home. Greg looks like a typical 10-year-old. G. SMITH: I love sports. I love basketball, football, soccer, tennis, track. WINFREY: He even gets an allowance like other kids. Mrs. SMITH: He gets $5 a week. WINFREY: But how many children do you know buy oriental china for their mom? Mrs. SMITH: Greg used his Christmas money to buy gifts for me. WINFREY: And get this. He likes browsing for antiques. G. SMITH: It's Chip 'N' Dale. WINFREY: His favorite toy? G. SMITH: Hmm, my favorite toy in this whole room--let's see, I don't call it that, but I would say my favorite thing to play with is my computer. It's hard to decide between my computer and my Civil War figurines. This is a battle that mimics Fredericksburg. WINFREY: Don't even think about punishing Greg by sending him to his room to study. G. SMITH: That's a reward for me. I love to study. WINFREY: Greg's idea of a good time is to curl up with a book. G. SMITH: One of the books I'm reading is ca--is by Plato. Right now, I'm in the "Apology" section. WINFREY: Oh, yeah. Well, Greg has big dreams, so he's getting an early start. G. SMITH: I want to get three PhDs--a PhD in biomedical research, a PhD in aerospace engineering and a PhD in political science. Hopefully, I'll become our president somewhere between 40 and 50. WINFREY: Greg, we believe you. We believe. We believe. So when did you know that you were somewhat different than other kids? G. SMITH: Well, I always had a feeling that I was--was--people that I was--that I knew that I was--had a little more intellectual ability, but I didn't really--I couldn't really tell until I was around a larger environment in kindergarten where I could realize what level everyone else was on. WINFREY: So you--did you actually ever go to kindergarten? G. SMITH: Yes, I did. I went to kindergarten… WINFREY: For an hour or what? So, really, how long did you stay there? G. SMITH: I stayed half a year. WINFREY: You did? G. SMITH: Yes. And then I moved up to first grade. WINFREY: Uh-huh. So when you moved to the first grade, was that more stimulating for you? G. SMITH: It was. It was a good adjustment for that time and… WINFREY: Uh-huh. Yeah. G. SMITH: ...and that helped me test to get a little bit, but I knew I needed more. WINFREY: OK. And so then did you go--you went to second grade? G. SMITH: Yes. I went to second grade the next year, but the school that I was at wouldn't allow me to--to move any fa--faster, so we--that's why we moved to Florida. WINFREY: Well, you moved to Florida, and then you went from second to eighth? G. SMITH: That is correct. WINFREY: That is correct. So were you doing anything in between? What were you doing? Were you at home reading? Did you--we--did you--were you using flash cards? G. SMITH: No, my mom and dad didn't believe in flash cards. So that in that respect, when I was interested in something, they would get books on it. They would get toys on it. We would go to the museums to learn about it. They facilitated my needs. WINFREY: They did? G. SMITH: Mm-hmm. WINFREY: I know. People are la--are--are--are somewhat laughing. They're not laughing at you. You know that. G. SMITH: I know. WINFREY: Because it's just kind of amazing. Yes. Now I understand you like discussing philosophical a--what I want to know is how does this work with your other--do you have friends your age? G. SMITH: Yes, I do. I--with the friends my own age, I like to play sports such as basketball, football, soccer, tennis, rack… WINFREY: Like we saw on the tape. G. SMITH: That is correct. WINFREY: Now--and you have friends who are 10, 9, 8, 12. G. SMITH: That--that is correct. I--and that's what I do with them. I--we play board games. We go to the movies. We--I do lots of things with them that normal 10-year-olds do. WINFREY: You do? G. SMITH: Mm-hmm. WINFREY: Now what do you like to talk about, though, with them? You ta--talk about regular 10-year-old stuff? G. SMITH: That is correct. I ta--I try to bend to what they like as long as it doesn't break my beliefs. WINFREY: OK. And your beliefs being? G. SMITH: I--I am very passionate about non-violence, having high morals and a good education. WINFREY: I understand--I've read that you like, you know, philosophical conversations. Why do you think that you are the way you are, so smart? G. SMITH: I think I've been given a special gift from God. I don't know why or how I've been given this gift, but I want to use this gift to the best of my abilities to help mankind. WINFREY: Oh. Janet and Bob, say they knew the time would come when their son's intellectual ability would surpass theirs. They just didn't dream it would be when he was six years old. When did you first know he was different? This is your only child. Mrs. SMITH: Yes. WINFREY: Yeah. Mrs. SMITH: And every day is a learning experience. But from infancy, he was just developing so rapidly, and I was buying the books that you could find in the stores about what they're supposed to do at three months and six months and, `boy, he can already do this.' You know, what do we do now? And--so we've tried to ad lib the best we could. WINFREY: Was there a moment when you said to Bob, `I think--I think he's, you know, more advanced or something's going on here' or you--that--that you said to her? Mr. BOB SMITH: We knew that--from the time that he was a baby because of his focus on things. He just seemed to be able to concentrate and focus more than the average infant. WINFREY: Really? Mr. SMITH: We knew there was something else there. But I think probably when he f--learned to read so young and he went through a reading program, teaching reading skills for an afternoon… WINFREY: How old was he when he actually learned to read? Mr. SMITH: Two. He was around two. Mrs. SMITH: Two. By two… Mr. SMITH: Yeah, I think so. Mrs. SMITH: ...he was reading… Mr. SMITH: Yeah. Mrs. SMITH: ...regular children's books, and by three and four, he was reading children's classics, such as "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "The Last Mohicans" and "Around the World in Eighty Days.” WINFREY: Was there something you did or didn't do that caused this, do you think? Mrs. SMITH: I think that we have an environment of--we love to read as a family and I've always made reading fun. We--he would sit on our lap and we would do creative ways of reading. We'd play with puppets. We'd make the story characters come alive. Mr. SMITH: And when we did read to him, we pointed to each word as we read it so he would very quickly associate with those words, and before long, he knew what they meant. Mrs. SMITH: Before he was a year old, he could go and get a book and bring it to us and open to a page and start saying what was on that page and… Mr. SMITH: He would hear it once and be able to recite it back to us, so we knew that he had extraordinary learning abilities. We just didn't know how much. WINFREY: And then is there the issue of how you then handle this? Mr. SMITH: Constantly. WINFREY: Yes, constantly. Mrs. SMITH: Every day. Mr. SMITH: Even today. WINFREY: Yes. Mrs. SMITH: It's a constant worry, a constant concern. Are we making the right choices? Are we doing the right things as a parent to--to make him have a happy life? And--and we worry about it because… WINFREY: Because were you worried about the college decision? Obviously, he had the--the mind, the intellectual ability to… Mr. SMITH: That was a major--a--as late as probably April, we weren't certain that he'd be able to go to college because we could not find the appropriate environment. We lucked out in finding Randolph-Macon College, which is a small college which has a policy of nurturing each student. And we needed that for a 10-year-old with special needs in college. WINFREY: Small in terms of population? Mr. SMITH: Small in population. Very small per… WINFREY: Like how much--how many students? Mr. SMITH: El—1,100. WINFREY: Eleven hundred. Mr. SMITH: Small pro--student-to-professor ratio. WINFREY: Mm-hmm. Were you worried, as I imagine a lot of parents that we're talking to, about the socialization--about his socialization, and as one of the students said, you know, kids in college talking about things that might be inappropriate for a 10-year-old? Mr. SMITH: Sure. And he knows more than the average 10-year-old about areas that we perhaps would not expose him to at this point but, luckily, he has more wisdom than the average 10-year-old, too, and I think he's been handling it pretty well. WINFREY: Yeah, not just knowledge but wisdom. Mr. SMITH: Right. WINFREY: So you had to have the birds and bees conversation early? Mr. SMITH: A few weeks ago. And i… Mrs. SMITH: We--but, you know, we--we really haven’t... WINFREY: But did you use birds and bees or you use the… Mr. SMITH: No, no, no. Mrs. SMITH: No. WINFREY: I would think you would need… Mr. SMITH: And--and very--very quickly, he was answering for me as I was… Mrs. SMITH: Right. Mr. SMITH: …describing... WINFREY: OK. Mr. SMITH: ...and so I knew that, you know, if I—anything... WINFREY: Did you have any anxiety about that birds and bees conversation? Mr. SMITH: Oh--oh, yeah. Sure. WINFREY: Yeah. Mrs. SMITH: And I would say, `It's your job to tell him about it.' I would pass it. But it--we've had--it's been a real struggle for us as a family because we want the best for our child, as all parents do. And when they would come--when he'd come home from school and we'd say, `How was your day at school?' and he'd say, `Well, I sat in the closet and read my work by myself while the other children were working on different things,' or `I sat out in the hall because I'm working on fifth-grade work and they're still doing the first letter of the alphabet.' We knew that that wouldn't work. And we did not want him to feel embarrassed because he had this special gift. We wanted him to be proud of who he was. WINFREY: Yeah, as you should be. I was saying to Greg during the commercial break, those of you who saw the beginning of the show and that--what we all heard here, really profound statement that you want to use your talents, you understand that this is a gift, you don't know why, but use it to the best of your ability to help mankind. I think you have the power to do that. G. SMITH: Thank you. WINFREY: Do you feel that yourself, that you can really make a big difference in the world? G. SMITH: Yes, I believe that you can make a big difference in the world, and I believe that the way to make this difference is through education, and especially because the first step to peace is through education, because education breeds understanding, and understanding leads to alternative solutions. WINFREY: Wow. I think you're right about that. I think you're really right. Tell me why you came up with the idea for your IEM non-violence program??? and how does that work? G. SMITH: Well, you look around and you hear about all of the sad things, the bombings that go on and all the hate crimes and it's all because someone doesn't like another for a certain reason. And I'm--I'm starting this program so I can--so I can figure out why they do this, why do they want to hurt these people, and figure out a way to reverse this. WINFREY: Mm-hmm. And so your program will do what, specifically? G. SMITH: For right--first, I believe that the--that peace will also start with the children, and that if we can get the children to lose the hate… WINFREY: Right. G. SMITH: ...we can get the world to stop hating. And with that, we can make the world a much better place. WINFREY: Congratulations. G. SMITH: Thank you. WINFREY: That's a big goal. But I begin its--I believe, too, that it starts with each individual. It starts with each… G. SMITH: That's correct. WINFREY: What's your favorite period in history? G. SMITH: It's hard to say. There are two very--there are two periods that I really like. The--the city states of ancient Greece and the Roman age--the Greco-Roman age for--of how much civilization and how much technology they thought up, and we don't know much of it today. Unfortunately, the libraries were burned, and the books were burned, but they had such a very wonderful civilization of how they could make those monolithic sculptures and had all that technology. And the second period I would say is the Renaissance for how they revived this perio--that period of--of wonder in the Mediterranean world and brought back the splendor of what the world was. WINFREY: What do you think is the best invention of this century? A lot of people are talking about that. G. SMITH: Hmm. This century--probably the--the prep--preparations for colonization of space because that's where we're going to lead. We have to go out to find--because the resources of Earth will some day be very low, and--and in space, the resources are ti--may be in infinite amounts. And there's so much to know and so much to explore. WINFREY: Thank you. G. SMITH: Thank you. WINFREY: Yes. How do your other classmates in college relate to you? G. SMITH: The--they're very nice. They're very sociable. WINFREY: Do they ever ask to see your homework? G. SMITH: No. WINFREY: No. G. SMITH: No. WINFREY: No. What are your fears for him? Mr. SMITH: Well, we've always been afraid that--we look back over the years and find that there's been gaps in--you know, in a normal child's experience, and we've constantly debated wi--amongst ourselves about that, and even--and talked to Greg about it. As--as late as a few weeks ago, we were trying to talk him out of going to college because we just weren't sure it was appropriate, but … WINFREY: But why did you want to go so much--so badly? G. SMITH: I have a passion for learning, and I believe that every moment that I spend to the pursuit of knowledge is time worth spent to help mankind. WINFREY: And so you'd already outgrown high school and you knew it? G. SMITH: Yes. WINFREY: Mm-hmm. And you want three different PhDs? G. SMITH: That is correct. I would like a PhD in biomedical research, a PhD in aerospace engineering and a PhD in political science. WINFREY: Because? G. SMITH: With my first PhD in bi--in aerospace engineering, I'd like to design space stations, as well as colonize other planets and mine asteroids. With my second PhD in biomedical research, I would like to find cures for diseases such as cancer and AIDS, as well as figure out a way for the regeneration of cells in humans and the reduction of the aging process. With my third PhD in political science, I would like to become the president of the United States, as well as maybe our appointee to the United Nations and try to find a way for world peace and to stop world poverty. WINFREY: I hope I'm still around to vote for you. I really do. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. G. SMITH: Thank you.
