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Matthew Howard plays hockey. He chose the number 22 for his jersey after the F-22 Raptor fighter jet. (Courtesy image | Jacqueline Howard)<\/p>\nNorth Richland Hills resident Matthew Howard has a goal not uncommon among 12-year-olds \u2014 he wants to become a pilot when he grows up.<\/p>\n
What is uncommon? He is already enrolled in college, pursuing an aerospace engineering major to get him closer to that goal.<\/p>\n
But at the end of the day, Matthew just wants to blend in.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of my classmates in my class here, they treated me like I was a normal college student,\u201d he said of his student success course at the University of Texas at Arlington. \u201cThe only thing that stuck with me was one of my classmates called me \u2018baby genius,\u2019 and it was kind of annoying.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to his course at UTA this fall, Matthew took courses at Tarrant County College\u00a0Northeast in business and technical writing, chemistry and calculus. He began taking classes at the community college when he was 10 years old.<\/p>\n
His mother Jacqueline Howard describes his journey to college at a young age as \u201ca natural progression.\u201d She homeschooled Matthew, and although she did not plan for him to start college this young, they advanced through courses quickly without the breaks in a typical school schedule.<\/p>\n
Jacqueline said she wants Matthew\u2019s experience to be as normal as it can be, but hurdles come with his age. He cannot yet drive, and he does not have a cell phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t want to be \u2018mommy\u2019 around,\u201d she said. \u201cI always just stay far away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside of classes, Matthew is part of Aero Mavs, the student organization for aerospace engineering. He is also a committed travel hockey player.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI spend most of my day either studying, in a class or playing hockey,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Matthew Howard plays hockey. He chose the number 22 for his jersey after the F-22 Raptor fighter jet. (Courtesy image | Jacqueline Howard)<\/p>\n
Starting college early runs in the family. His mother began college at 14 and graduated from UTA in 2002. Jacqueline\u2019s sister, Jocelyn Zee, started college at 13 and graduated from UTA in 2004.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew\u2019s younger sister, 10-year-old Emma, will start college at TCC this year and wants to study architecture.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey look forward to being on campus together,\u201d Jacqueline said.<\/p>\n
Matthew is also looking forward to taking Introduction to Aerospace Engineering, the first class in his major.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’ll give me a taste of what’s to come in my degree,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m really excited about that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
McKinnon Rice is the higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Fort Worth Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.<\/p>\n