#28 The 12-Year-Old Studying Aerospace Engineering at a Top US College

While 12-year-olds often dream about being an astronaut, Caleb Anderson is dreaming about working at SpaceX and he's well on his way after being accepted to Georgia Tech to study aerospace engineering.

An academic phenom with a deep love of learning, Caleb's mum helped him to read from an early age and he has only continued to accelerate.

Caleb chats with Crimson Education CEO and podcast co-host, Jamie Beaton, about what he did differently growing up, why he's aiming for SpaceX and what motivates him to continue to learn.

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Transcript

Jamie Beaton  00:00

 Welcome to the Top of the Class. I'm really excited today to be here with Caleb, Caleb is making headlines all around the world for his incredible academic ability. Alrighty, let's get started, Caleb. So to begin with, why don't you bring me back to your younger days? So, um, what were some things that were quite unique about your upbringing compared to you know, your average student?

Caleb Anderson  01:06

I really think that, you know, my mom drove to teach me younger than a lot of other kids. I really think that, you know, she, she tried to teach me at a really early age. And I think that's one of the things that really brought me to where I am.

Jamie Beaton  01:21

Yeah, I think that's a really consistent trait that I see in many high achieving young people that parents are really heavily involved early in their education. And was there a particular subject that you guys did a lot of teaching together? And she's like, math or something? Or was it across all the subjects? What was the focus area?

Caleb Anderson  01:38

It was really all subjects. But I think that, you know, she really started with reading because, you know, that really helped us to communicate with each other. And then, you know, she went on to science, math, history and things like that.

Jamie Beaton  01:52

Why don't you give everybody a bit of an update as to what you're up to now? So I was recently watching an interview did with CBS, where you, I think, just been admitted to Georgia Tech. So what does the world look like for you today? How your studies, you know, where are you at in those various programs?

Caleb Anderson  02:08

Yeah, I did just get admitted to Georgia Tech, you know, I'm going there and fall 2021. But I think right now, I'm just trying to manage all my classes, especially during COVID, I take my first all science classes, um, this semester, so I have labs and things like that. And a lot of my classes are a bit late at night. And we have to wear masks when we walk in. So I think that's really you know, what everything looks like for me. But I think you know, that I can do this. And you know, even though it's a bit awkward, I think I can manage.

Jamie Beaton  02:38

I'm very confident you can, I'm actually calling you today from New Zealand, which is one of the few places in the world that's currently quite COVID, free, as our Prime Minister has done quite a good job of locking down the borders. And we're quite a remote island. But I do miss the us quite a bit. I was there in both Boston and California for college and Business School. And I do miss it quite a bit. Now, if you think about your your academic journey and your age, what years would you say you had the kind of peak acceleration in terms of years of content you got through, you know, for a given year level. So for example, maybe from age into 11, you got through three years of high school content or something like this. So where would you say your fastest acceleration was?

Caleb Anderson  03:20

Really thing is beginning in the end, you know, when I started college, I think that's, you know, I'm one of my periods of acceleration, you know, one of the greatest because college semesters cause one high school, you know, on full year, so, I'm doing High School, you know, I'm twice as fast. So I'm already you know, in my senior year, with this goal enrollment program, I'm doing high school and college at the same time. So, you know, I'm, if I'm doing full time I call it I'm doing High School twice as fast. And, you know, the early years, babies, you know, they make 3 million, I think it was 3 million neural neural connections a minute, um, you know, until there's the age of three, I really think that on my mom's, you know, saw this and she also saw, you know, my extreme, you know, aptitude for intellect. So, I think she, you know, I'm fed that an early age, and, you know, I was doing communication in fractions, you know, when I was two, so, um, you know, that's third grade things for that's for people, you know, four times my age. So that is another period, you know, when I was learning the quickest.

Jamie Beaton  04:20

Okay, that makes a lot of sense. One kind of piece of my, I guess, academic philosophy that I really believed in is this idea of competency learning where you move based on your ability, you know, not your age. So, you know, I think to students like Tristan Pang, who was a student of mine a little while ago, who finished high school when he was 13, and then finished his first degree when he was 16. And now he's in Oxford doing his PhD when he's 17. And when I spoke to him, one of the key breakthrough insights he had was really, in school, if you just move at the pace, you'll teach the teaching you, you know, you're just going to be very arbitrarily constrained. But you know, he just chose to go super deep and math and just You know, keep digging and digging and digging and taking more and more advanced coursework. What's your view on competency learning? Do you think that there are many students who could systematically accelerate a little bit? Or do you think that this is, you know, this is something that is highly anomalous, and actually can't easily be replicated around the world.

Caleb Anderson  05:20

I think that, you know, everybody has the aptitude to do this. But you know, I really think that, you know, that that one class that, you know, you're, it's really boring to you, and, you know, you don't feel like they were learning anything in that class, I think that's the class that, you know, you should be accelerated, and, you know, um, our modern, you know, our system, the whole path doesn't move on into the last student understands the subject. And, you know, there might be classes where you're bad at, and, you know, there might be classes where you're extremely good at, and, you know, there might be classes, we're just average out. And, you know, I think a good kind of learning would be accelerating at your own pace, you know, being slower at some classes and faster at other classes, you know, um, I have a friend, he goes to a hybrid homeschool, and, you know, he's doing sixth grade math, but he's doing 12th grade history, and things like that. And, you know, I think that, you know, that's a really good philosophy, you know, for the classroom. And I think it's a really good philosophy overall.

Jamie Beaton  06:19

Yeah, I totally agree. Because I think, you know, people do have different expertise levels in various subjects. And so it's very arbitrary that you would go through all your subjects at the same speed. I totally agree. I also think there's like some subjects that are so content based, like, say biology or history and other subjects that require, you know, some really solid like quantitative reasoning, like math and physics. So your ability to process those two types of subjects can be quite different depending on what age you are, how did you find those more content based subjects, like the histories and the biologies compared to those subjects? like math, for example, where it's a lot more about calculations and quantitative reasoning? What was your strength initially? And how do you feel?

Caleb Anderson  07:01

I'm definitely stronger, and you know, I'm verbal academics or academia, um, you know, I'm gonna history I know, I read extremely fast, I read a 12th grade level, I've been reading on 12th grade level, actually, for quite a while. And, you know, I really think that, you know, those are my strong suits. I'm not really too good at math, and I've never been good at math, but I still count on my fingers every once in a while. Um, so no, I don't think math is my strong sheet. But once you start doing it, and, you know, once you get to the fun parts of math, I think, you know, I am accelerating know, in my math, you know, I don't, I don't have to think as long for the know, the short calculations. And I really think that, you know, I'm becoming, you know, my grade level in that.

Jamie Beaton  07:46

Now, I read the, you're interested in a lot of different career pathways, one being space, space exploration, aeronautical engineering, etc. And the second being law. And this is very close to home, as in my undergrad degree at Harvard, I did applied math, and that was quite an engineering focused topic, and then recently, actually began at law school. And so I have seen both of these worlds quite closely. And I'm very curious to hear from you, you know, what attracts you to these two different schools of thought? And where do you see your future life?

Caleb Anderson  08:17

Well, I think the reason, you know, I'm really attracted to science and things like that, you know, I math is because, you know, it's harder for me, it's more of a challenge for me, you know, I think that it's not something that I would necessarily excel at, but you know, it's something that, you know, I'm gonna have to work for, I'm gonna have to, you know, strive to complete. And, you know, I, I like challenges. So, you know, I think, and I've always been fascinated with space anyways. So, you know, I don't want to have some easy, you know, some easy goal, you know, I want to push myself, and I think, the law, I think, you know, again, I I'm better at, you know, verbal things. So, I'm reading, talking, debating, things like that. So I think that, you know, if anything happens to, you know, my dream of helping people get up to space, you know, I think that I do have a fallback plan, something that, you know, I'm good at, and, you know, I'm, you know, I can make money, and you know, I can support myself until you know, I can get back up again.

Jamie Beaton  09:12

One of our alumni actually a boy called Zong he was from New Zealand, actually. Then he went to Caltech. And now he's working for Tesla, which is quite cool, which I guess is one step removed from SpaceX. But, you know, these are really exciting companies that are attracting lots of young talent, what particular excites you about companies like SpaceX?

Caleb Anderson  09:34

I think the difference between NASA and SpaceX is SpaceX is doing things that haven't been done before. And NASA is sticking to the formula that they already know, and trying to, you know, make it better. And I honestly think both of those things are good, you know, pushing, you know, the boundaries of reality, pushing the boundaries of, you know, the impossible and the impossible. You know, I think that's really important, but you know, playing it safe And trying to, you know, having a sort of primitive technology, trying to make it better, you know, trying to evolve it, I think that's, you know, and also a really good thing that you can do to, you know, I guess change humanity for the better. And people have to push the boundaries, say, the light bulb on Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, or more Nikola Tesla, but he really had to, you know, push the boundaries, you know, say candles, you know, we don't use candles anymore. We're gonna use lights, this is better. But now we have, you know, these LED lights, we have these. We have these chandeliers. Now we have all enemies have all these kinds of, you know, lights, and, you know, they're all better than, you know, just a simple light bulb. And, you know, um, they're all more useful than just a simple white ball. I think that, you know, that really differentiates between what you know, companies like SpaceX, and what companies know, like NASA are doing.

Jamie Beaton  10:53

I think watching this from afar, it does seem like basics has both the resourcing and the ambition to Yeah, push the boundaries, like you've said, and they've been able to attract many talented young people like yourself, you know, aspiring to go there who normally wouldn't enter the space sector, but you know, are entering it because of the level of innovation that we're seeing from Ilan and the team at SpaceX, which is, you know, quite powerful. The other thing is, it seems to be quite a phenomenon now that private space companies are driving innovation, whether it be, you know, Blue Origin from Jeff Bezos, or, you know, Musk's SpaceX, as opposed to the government organizations like NASA. So I think there hasn't been a time in human history before where private space entrepreneurs have driven so much of the innovation. What do you think is the role of the entrepreneur in the world? Do you think that government should be solving a lot of our big challenges? Or do you think that it should be folks like the Musk's of the world that go out there and try and deal with things like climate change and sustainability?

Caleb Anderson  11:51

I really think people will, you know, like, Musk, you know, these people should start it. But I do think, you know, the government is going to be the one that ends it, you know, I think someone has to speak up, and, you know, tell people that, you know, this is a problem, or, you know, we have to do this. And, you know, I think, you know, people who step up like that, you know, people like Elon Musk, who are stepping up like that, you know, trying to, you know, change the world. You know, I think people like that, you know, are the people who are going to start these movements, but ultimately, you know, the government has more money, it has more, it has more power and more authority. And I think that, you know, if if, you know, the government says, hey, that's a good idea, let's try to uplift this, you know, it'll make the people feel better, we'll make the environment better in so you know, if they catch on to these ideas, and, you know, I really think that they're going to be the one, you know, I'm finishing off.

Jamie Beaton  12:40

Yeah, I think that's very smart. In the case of, for example, here's where I know, they've received more than a billion in grants from the government to subsidize them on the basis of their, you know, renewable, sustainable efforts. So I think you're right, that the government does definitely enable some of these new technologies that might not be so cost effective. On a standalone basis, a lot of companies, a lot of countries, I should say, have been announcing his commitments to going to electric cars, when you're about 20. When you're about 25, what do you think the world is going to look like? You know, do you think there's going to be still a ton of kind of petrol cars in the road? Where do you think space travel will be? Give me some of your predictions? 10 years ahead.

Caleb Anderson  13:21

10 years ahead, I really think that, you know, this decade, and you know, possibly even the next decade, someone will, you know, have gone to Mars, and you know, I'm really hoping for that. But you know, I don't think cars are gonna go away, they're cheaper, you know, then a little bit better for, you know, the economy, because, you know, there are a lot of these gas companies, and know, what are we going to do with all of these, you know, these 1000s of these millions of cars, that are, you know, are just sitting in people's backyards, you know, they're all gas, if we start making these electric cars cheaper, you know, people might start buying them, you know, the newer generation, and, you know, I don't think people you know, I don't really think cars will go away. But you know, I think the emission, you know, are going to, you know, slowly but surely, you know, I think they're gonna go down.

Jamie Beaton  14:10

And I get some truly interesting speaking to a student as motivated as you What do you think motivates you? What, what gets you up every day to attend these classes at midnight? Or to, you know, get into college early? You know, where does the drive come from? And what keeps you going?

Caleb Anderson  14:24

I think a lot of people are counting on me, you know, especially, you know, since, you know, the story broke and things like that, you know, a lot of people have their attention on me. I think that and, you know, a lot of my friends and a lot of my family, you know, they're looking at me, as well. So I think that's, you know, one of the things that motivates you, or me, and I think, you know, the other thing is, you know, it's fun, it's a little bit hard to explain, you know, I don't particularly you know, like like doing the work, but I do like learning and I think, you know, work is part of learning and you know, that's just a step that I have to take. And, you know, it is fun, you know, just learning new things, you know, having information, you know, in my brain that I can use, you know, help the world and know, I'm, everyone's gonna want to talk to my friends, you know, I think that, um, you know, just being able to learn, you know, being able to see, oh, this is how this works or, you know, this is how the world works, that's one of the things that really motivates me.

Jamie Beaton  15:21

And that's the end, I guess, reflecting back on your journey, so far, it's, you know, gone quite incredibly, anything that you would go back and change, like, anything you wish you learned that you haven't learned yet, etc, or you feel like it's been pretty solid.

Caleb Anderson  15:35

I think that, you know, there are a lot of paths that it could have taken that, you know, might have been easier. But no, I could have, um, you know, actually gone to college a year before. So, you know, I might have been in Georgia Tech now. So I think that's one of the things that, you know, I would have done, but, um, I didn't, you know, there are a lot, there are some schools that, you know, I didn't really I didn't like, and I really feel like I wasted some of my time there. So I think that, you know, I if, you know, going to, you know, a better more stem focused school, I think that, you know, would have been, you know, better spent time. Other than that, I don't really think there's a lot I could have changed, there's some stuff that you know, that I would have changed, but you know, it's outside of my control, like the pandemic. But, you know, other than that, you know, there's really nothing, I'm really glad you know, where I am. And, you know, it's not perfect, but, you know, it's the way life goes. And, you know, I personally like my wife,

Jamie Beaton  16:32

yeah, no, it's, it's incredible. I think I'm reflecting back on my high school journey, probably, I would have switched French for Mandarin, because I guess there will be a lot more useful probably, in modern careers, given the rise of China, and then I would have proceeded to take in computer science, but apart from that, you know, I was also quite content. How do you like languages? You know, do you put much focus on languages, or not, not too much of an interesting to you,

Caleb Anderson  16:55

I don't think languages are, I've learned six languages in the past, but I only remember a little bit of like, middle school, high school Spanish. So I think that, you know, I should have put a little bit more focus into languages, but Americans are lazy, and, you know, everybody's learning English now. So I don't think it's going to be too much of a problem. But, you know, I do wish that, you know, I could have communicated with people in the native language, you know, I think it's much more polite.

Jamie Beaton  17:27

What's really interesting, now thinking forward to your role models, so who are some of the people that you know, you're just really inspired by, you follow, you're excited by who some of those role models, both in your immediate community and then in the wider world,

Caleb Anderson  17:41

immediate community, definitely, my parents, the reason they work is for us, though, sometimes they don't really realize it. Um, you know, and sometimes, you know, I don't care, but, um, you know, they're trying to do the best they can. And, you know, I, you know, I really want to, you know, imitate that. And I really respect that. And, you know, in more of the wider world, I have three, you know, I'm really big role models, Eleanor Roosevelt, you know, as a black person, you know, I really respect what she did for this Husky airman, and, you know, for the entire civil rights movement, you know, as a whole, she, you know, she pushed the boundaries, you know, she tried, she tried to, you know, change America. And, you know, even she even changed, you know, some of the whole world, you know, by, you know, being a white lady, you know, trying trying to respect black people, and Native Americans and, and, you know, things like that, um, Nikola Tesla, he, you know, Thomas Edison, kind of, you know, stole his idea, but he didn't care, you know, he kept on working, even though he knew it would happen. And Thomas Edison literally made a bet for $50,000 if you could, you know, invent the basic idea for the light bulb. And, you know, Nikola Tesla did it. And, you know, Thomas Edison was like, No, I'm gonna pay you, like, $10 an hour. I think that was horrible what he did to him, but you know, um, you know, he kept on going, and, you know, he invented, you know, other things. And, you know, he did change the world. And lastly, I think Neil Neil deGrasse Tyson, um, you know, again, as a black person, you know, he made it, and, you know, it really shows me that I can make it incredible.

Jamie Beaton  19:20

And what do you think of Kamala Harris becoming the VP in the US? You know, her being the first

Caleb Anderson  19:26

woman Vice President, the first woman, I know, the first black Vice President, the first vice president, as a daughter of immigrants, and, you know, I'm all of those except a woman, you know. So, you know, I think that, you know, again, it also shows that, you know, you can be whoever you want to be regardless of the amount of melanin in your skin, regardless of you know, your gender, you know, regardless of your disabilities, regardless of your, you know, your sexuality, you know, regardless of anything you you can be who you want to be.

Jamie Beaton  19:58

I think it's a very inspiring message and And yeah, I think people all around the world are, you know, watching the US fascination obviously, I've never, for example seen in New Zealand, so many people are fascinated by the US elections as they are now, you know, for obvious reasons. And I think this new era will, you know, hopefully see a return to a normal us presidency, what do you think? You know, we're

Caleb Anderson  20:19

still gonna feel a little bit of backlash, but, you know, especially since you know, the attack on the Capitol, there might be more of these terrorism acts. And, you know, I live pretty close to Atlanta. So I'm a bit worried. But I really think that once you know, our new president comes in, I think that you know, um, things will start changing, and hopefully for the better, nothing's gonna be perfect. President Biden and vice president Harris are not going to be perfect. But you know, I think that they're gonna start, you know, distribute the Coronavirus, Coronavirus vaccine, and they're gonna try to, you know, change, like, minorities. And you know, I'm in the US. And I think that we're going to try to make, you know, the US as an example for other countries,

Jamie Beaton  21:01

while sit will sit Okay, and then taking, I guess, a final little detour. How do you think about extracurriculars? So when you're going through school, to all these great academics, you know, how relevant were things like sports or like community service or other things to you? Was that a big focus? And I asked this, because, you know, many of our students around the world apply to the US for college, and a big part of the application process is typically, extracurriculars, leadership, you know, personal statements, that kind of thing. So how have you waited kind of those don't academic things? Is that been a focus for you? Or have you been just so busy with all of his academic?

Caleb Anderson  21:37

Yes, COVID, I haven't really been able to do a lot of extra clicks here activities, but, um, I put in semi competitively, you know, in my neighborhood, and, you know, I dance, um, you know, which is really fun, but I don't think extracurricular activities are too much of a focus for me, I, you know, try to I try to help out my local church. Again, since COVID. I haven't really been able to do any community service, any meal, sports, anything like that. But um, you know, previously, I think that I have been able to, you know, help my baby.

Jamie Beaton  22:08

Got it. Got it. Okay. Now, since you're really in a great place, you've accelerated nicely, you're starting in Georgia Tech shortly. I'm sure you'll get a strong GPA. What are some of your goal? graduate schools, you would want to go to graduate school something you're excited by? what particular degree programs? You know, are you interested? I guess law school is one of them. But yeah, any any particular degrees you're kind of excited to do in the future.

Caleb Anderson  22:32

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I think that's my dream school. I know that MIT, you know, Georgia Tech is one of the best schools for aerospace engineering in the country. But I know MIT is just a little bit better. Um, you know, they have more money, you know, they have better technology, you know, um, you know, they have better students. And, you know, it's okay, if you graduated from Georgia Tech, you know, on this MIT this route, I mean, I'm just gonna go on to Georgia Tech. But I really, you know, I really hoped to, you know, go to MIT and get my PhD. They're amazing.

Jamie Beaton  23:01

It's a fantastic goal. And, you know, recently your story has been really inspiring many young people around the world as they hear about your, you know, really amazing acceleration. So how have you been handling this kind of media? attention? Has it been quite fun? Has it been challenging? Has it been annoying? Tell me a bit about that experience.

Caleb Anderson  23:18

It's definitely been fun talking to people from around the world to new perspectives on you know, just someone like me, you know, I'm just a little 12 year old from Georgia. Um, you know, you know, it's, it's been fun, it's been interesting, you know, I'm seeing people's takes on me. And, you know, people say to my parents, and, you know, my learning, every once in a while, can get annoying. If I have three or four interviews in one day. That's, that's not fun. I can't really do my work. I can't really, you know, watch TV or play any games or anything like that. But, you know, it's not really too much of a hindrance. And yeah, I think that's, you know, we are mostly, you know, really fun, and I do really enjoy this.

Jamie Beaton  24:00

That's great. And lastly, you know, it's easy to look at a student as incredibly gifted as you and assume that, you know, you don't do much for fun, you know, you cranked academics, but you know, talking to you, it's clear that you probably have, you know, but a balance as well. So, what kind of things do you do for fun? You know, do you play any particular video games you like, or any movies you like, you know, what do you do when you just want to relax?

Caleb Anderson  24:21

I like anime. I love Marvel movies. I like these Japanese toys called beyblades, nerf, transformers. My dad introduced me to the old like 1980s Transformers when I was six. And I actually since i think that you know, on most of my arm, things I do for fun. I really like hanging out with my friends. You know, it's been it's gotten a bit harder during COVID we quarantine ourselves and then we we hang out. But I don't really think that I know a lot of people see me as you know, this nerd who solves Rubik's Cubes when I'm nervous. or something like that. Um, that's, you know, a lot of my friends is here as like, you know, go to a different school. And you know, a lot of people don't tell me that I'm emotionally mature as well, especially for my age, you know, I can sit in the classroom with people, you know, twice my age, and not be bothered by it. And you know, they're not really bothered by me know, a lot of people know who I see, you know, actually don't know my age, and they're really surprised to know my age, they just think I'm sure. So I don't think I'm really nerdy. I just think I have good grades.

Jamie Beaton  25:37

Yeah, no, no, I can attest, you know, you're very mature for your age, I don't think I've spoken about, you know, US presidential elections with many 12, 13, 14 year old before in my life. So this is very exciting to me. In any final advice you'd give to our listeners around the world.

Caleb Anderson  25:55

Definitely believe in yourself. I know, it's real. It's pretty cheesy. But I think that's very important. Because a lot of people tell you that you're not allowed to do this, or you can't do this. But you know, you don't know something's possible. Until you know, someone does it. People think back hundreds of years ago, people thought that, you know, we wouldn't have these flying missiles. But you know, we do we know people who invented this kind of stuff. And a lot of people told, you know, these people like Henry Ford, you know, this is impossible, but he did it, you know, he created cars, you know, people told Nikola Tesla, hey, you can't make a electricity candle, but he did it, we have light bulbs. So you know, I think that, you know, that's believing in yourself. And you know, not listening to what other people tell you. And you know, really important. Another thing is not being afraid to fail, you will learn more from failure than from success. Everyone has failed at least once every famous actor, every famous engineer, every famous entrepreneur, they've all you know, hit the downward spiral, you know, they've all hit rock bottom. But you know, they got back up, and they learn from their mistakes. So I think that's, you know, another really important thing, you know, to success.

Jamie Beaton  27:07

Incredible. Thanks, Caleb. Well, that’s been a real blast. That's everything for today. But yeah, I just want to say, you know, it's very inspiring your story. I do meet many students around the world over ambitious, but I think what you've achieved so far is incredible. And you should keep it up. The momentum is so strong, and I'm sure you're going to achieve some wild things I look forward to following the story. Also, I have many of my alumni that place that MIT, etc. So let me know if I can be useful to connect from you to any of them. And, you know, more than happy to help, but yeah, keep it up. Keep it up. I'll be cheering you on.

Caleb Anderson  27:37

All right. Thank you.

Podcast Host  27:38

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