A Generation Gap?

There are a lot of amazing things about Selena Pasadyn, a newcomer to the Harvard track & cross country team.

She had a 4.77 grade-point average at Brunswick High, southwest of Cleveland. How is that even possible?

Pasadyn was also picked — from 48,000 female candidates — as the single recipient of the Wendy’s High School Heisman after earning 12 varsity letters.

But the most stunning thing about her is neither her academic nor athletic excellence, it is her age. For Pasadyn is at Harvard as a 16 year old, more than a month away from her next birthday.

“If I was in sixth grade jumping to eighth, maybe it would be a factor, but I had been boosted ahead since the time I started second grade,” she told Rich Noland of Medina Gazette. “I never thought there was a generation gap, so to speak.

“A lot of people say, ‘Aren’t you scared? You’re 16 and you’re going off to college.’ I say that I’m like an 18-year-old. I’ve had the same life experiences everyone else has had.”

Below is a look at the freshmen about to begin their careers.

2012 Cross Country Incoming

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 5th, 2012 at 10:43 am. It is filed under Athletes, Spotlight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.