As a young genius from Russia entered the American College in 13 years

Ilya Brodsky. Photos from the personal archive of the family

Ilya Brodsky, an immigrant from Russia, became a student at a prestigious American college at the age of 13, and studied two specialties at once - mathematics and programming. Now the guy is 15 and he is preparing an application to transfer to Harvard or Stanford. At the same time, the boy practically did not go to school. Parents of a brilliant child told ForumDailyhow they managed to raise such a son.

Ilya was born in 2002 in Novosibirsk into a very ordinary family. His mother Victoria studied at the philology department, and his father Arkady was in sales. Ilya is the eldest child, his younger sister is 8 years old and she is also very talented.

Ilya began to speak sentences as early as a year and a half. A year later, the parents learned that he can read.

“We didn’t specifically develop it in any way,” says Victoria. — Moreover, I’m even against early development. He was only 2,5 years old when he saw the magazine “Around the World” and joyfully said: “Like our grandmother Sveta!” Even then, of course, he was noticeably ahead of his peers, but he was different in behavior - he literally did not see children, he was withdrawn and closed. As a mother, this worried me. And I took him to Moscow, to the Socratic school for gifted children. There he was tested and found that he was gifted in many ways. Here we have absolute pitch, innate literacy, and artistic abilities... We were given a specific recommendation then - to teach the child to relax. It was for this reason that music appeared in Ilya’s life. They also asked not to send him to a regular school or kindergarten.”

Ilya Brodsky in childhood. Photos from the personal archive of the family

Victoria did try to take the boy to school. Ilya was 6 then, and he already knew the elementary school curriculum. His parents wanted only one thing - for the boy to take exams, check his level of knowledge, but not teach him. However, the teacher to whom Ilya was brought for such a test did not consider the child’s talent. Having tested it, she said: “Which school? Run and beg to at least be accepted into kindergarten!” The word “down” was even spoken to the child, which Ilya also heard and, of course, understood...

Then Victoria decided that she would take care of her son. I developed it in all directions, hoping that the boy will choose the most interesting for himself.

“Chess, music, mathematics... At first I studied on my own, additional subjects were taught by teachers. For example, we hired a teacher who taught him mathematics, physics, and chemistry... Ilya quickly realized that it was mathematics that attracted him most. He never studied the humanities - there was no need, he coped with them without difficulty. I studied everything else quite deeply and with enthusiasm. From the age of ten, he actually switched to self-education,” says Victoria.

Ilya Brodsky with his mother. Photos from the personal archive of the family

Soon, instead of school teachers, his parents began to hire graduate students of universities for him as tutors. The speed with which Ilya acquires information cannot but amaze. His parents compare it with an episode from the movie “The Matrix”.

— Remember, Keanu Reeves’ character, Neo, lies on a chair and they ask him – do you know hand-to-hand combat? Karate? And in a minute he receives an incredible amount of information and skills. Our son is about the same - he learns everything new very quickly.

- And he starts to get bored? — I clarify.

- Yes! This is perhaps the biggest problem - he quickly grasps everything and begins to get bored. And our task, as parents, is not to let him get bored. Boredom is a problem for any gifted child.

The incredible speed of learning new material does not affect the quality of its assimilation. If Ilya liked the topic, he would “dig” it to the very end.

“He went through a phase where he became interested in animals. He wrote articles for Wikipedia and, of course, read everything that could be read. Then he focused on the crocodiles. I read everything I could on this topic, moreover, I corrected the scientific article! He compared the data and saw discrepancies. I found, let’s say, the main crocodile expert in Australia, wrote to him, and he answered him! But, of course, this is just interest. From the age of 7, he became interested in programming, then he became interested in business,” says his mother.

“Yes, my interests tend to change,” confirms Ilya. “And moving to the USA only contributed to this.” In America, my plans and interests, of course, changed. Although I did not have clear plans in Russia, I planned to complete the Russian school curriculum. When we moved, we had to adapt to the American style. I like living here, especially the climate and food, although sometimes I miss the snow a little.”

By the age of 12, Ilya had mastered the entire school curriculum up to and including 9th grade, while continuing to study mathematics in depth, became seriously interested in programming, and also studied music: he wrote and played, and participated in competitions. Took second place in a composition competition. By this time, his family had managed to travel a fair amount - they moved from Novosibirsk to Krasnodar, and from there to Moscow, where they learned that they had won the long-awaited green card. During this time, Victoria also created her own program for teaching children at home. She helped not only her son, but also other children. She is now doing this in the USA.

Family of Ilya Brodsky. Photos from the personal archive of the family

The Brodsky family moved to the US in January 2015, and settled near the capital of South Carolina, Colombia. There, Ilya first went to school. He was taken to the eighth grade of an ordinary American school. At the end of April, he won the school chess tournament, easily learned the curriculum. In the fall of 2015, he went to high school.

“The first three weeks in high school he naturally cried,” recalls Victoria. “We talked with the teachers about the fact that the load was too small, that he was not interested, that the subjects were very, very easy for him. Ilya felt as if we had sent him to kindergarten. Teachers suggested increasing the workload through clubs. We decided that this was not enough, and Ilya left. In the spring of 2016, he took the SAT like only 1% of students in the country, scoring 710, and scoring 800 out of a possible 800 in math. At the same time, he came to the USA with fairly simple English, no, he studied it in Russia, but, of course, the level was not the same. Ilya learned English, like many other things, on his own.”

In May 2016, Ilya applied to the University of Charleston (Charleston Southern University). The choice of this particular university fell by chance - only there were free places; the deadline for admission to all other colleges in the city had long passed. The family did not want to let Ilya study alone, so they looked for a university nearby. And this one turned out to be small, private and with a very good rating. But, in the end, the university was not able to give the boy the workload he wanted. Ilya planned to graduate from undergraduate externs. However, in this case, he lost a scholarship that fully covered his tuition costs. In order not to get bored, he decided to take more classes than he should. Despite his busy schedule, Ilya always finds time for something else besides studies.

“MMy day goes differently depending on whether I have classes at the university that day. If there is, then before classes I sometimes do my homework, and after that I mostly relax. If there are no classes, then I work on my homework, taking rest breaks. I spend my free time in different ways: programming, playing the piano, having fun, communicating,” he says.

Ilya Brodsky with dad. Photos from the personal archive of the family

Teachers speak very warmly of a talented student.

“Ilya’s presence in my class gives me real pleasure,” he shares his impressions with ForumDaily Professor of Mathematics Jamie Probyn. “It’s amazing that such a young man demonstrates not just intelligence, but a maturity that is not characteristic of many college students older than him. Last semester he actually taught himself the material. I connected already at the final, final stage. I just had to make sure that he thoroughly analyzed the entire test to the highest level. Ilya made only a small mistake, but overall the questions were executed not just elegantly, but with a certain style that is extremely rare. This was probably the best answer on the exam Calculus III have ever seen. ”

This semester, Ilya is again engaged in the course of Professor Probin and again surprises the teacher and fellow students with answers, ideas and very insightful questions. In addition, he is an active member of the math club at the university, where he fits so well that everyone forget that he is much younger than other students, says the teacher.

“What I especially notice about Ilya (aside from his exceptional mental abilities, of course) is that his ego is not inflated,” says Professor Probyn. I also met other talented mathematicians, including those who studied in college, being even younger than Ilya, but, unfortunately, very often they behaved arrogantly and did not hide their superiority over other students, and sometimes even teachers... Not only that, Ilya that he is more talented than them, but he is not arrogant. Moreover, he is humble, and his thirst for learning makes even me discover something new every day.”

Besides studying, Ilya is already interested in business and makes money on his own computer game. He worked on it for a year, attracted artists and musicians to his creation.

Now Ilya is in his third semester at the university. The load is again exorbitant, but not for him. After that, he decided to try himself at one of the best educational institutions in the world - Harvard or Stanford. His transfer there is almost a done deal. Ilya must submit documents by March 15

“Programming is my main interest and, most likely, my future profession. In my free time, I am currently interested in game development, and I already have serious projects, although, of course, there is room for growth. I already make a little money by freelancing, but for me it’s better to make money on my own project, so I will strive to make at least one of them successful,” says Ilya.

In the same year, Victoria plans to pick up her younger daughter from school, who is not at all different from her talents, and plans to train her just as she had once taught her son. And it is quite possible that in the very near future Harvard, Stanford or another prestigious university of the world replenished with another talent from the Brodsky family.

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