Student finishes college in one year
By Bethany Barnett, contributing writer
Posted on September 28, 2006

Are you a freshman who thinks your course load is too heavy?

University of Virginia graduate David Banh’s story could make any student appreciate your schedule. The 19-year old graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in 2005, and just over a year later he had completed a double major in physics and math.

“I always tended to finish classes very early,” he said. “The material generally came very fast.” Having accumulated over 70 college credits in high school helped him as well.

JMU pre-med sophomore Noga Senderowitsch said he believes Banh must have been quite the dedicated student. “It’s almost impossible to do that,” she said. “To take organic chemistry, I have to take two semesters of chemistry.”

Banh was used to leaving classmates awestruck.

“Most people were astonished,” he said. “My closer friends initially made a big deal about it, but they accepted it.”

Since his graduation in August, Banh has been interviewed on ABC and FOX.

“[The interviews] took a lot of time out of last week and got me out of a lot of work,” he said. “They’re flying me to California for a talk show this week, which will take out more time.”

Banh does not regret finishing college so quickly, either.

“I’m not too much a fan of partying,” he said. “I don’t think I missed out that much.”

With two bachelor’s degrees already under his belt and an upcoming Ph.D. in math, Banh’s next move is to attend law school.