High school student gets head start at UCLA

Courtney Ellis is able to attend a botany class at UCLA by
commuting from Palmdale and Mission Hills, but unlike every other
UCLA student she will never have to worry about parking because she
can’t drive.

She is 15.

Ellis also volunteers at the University Elementary School, takes
a home schooling class online, and is enrolled in five classes at
Moorpark College.

By the time she is finished with high school in a couple of
years she will have an associate degree in education and be able to
apply to UCLA.

Instead of attending a regular high school, Ellis is receiving
her high school and college credits concurrently through Laurel
Springs Home Schooling, a private school based in Ojai,
California.

Even though she does not go to a regular high school, Ellis does
not really feel like she is missing out on anything.

“I miss my old friends from Simi Valley, where I used to
live, but I hang out with my new friends almost every day,”
she said.

Ellis plans on attending a regular high school for her senior
year so that she will get to experience traditional high school
activities, such as prom and graduation.

In the meantime, Ellis is auditing a botany class, taught by Ann
Hirsch, at UCLA.

Her father, John Ellis, works at the UCLA sheet metal shop, and
helped her get into the class by approaching Hirsch and explaining
that his daughter was an accelerated learner and needed high school
science credits.

Although Ellis will not be receiving an official UCLA grade for
the botany class, Hirsch will write a recommendation letter for
her, as if she were to receive a grade.

“Because she is putting in the time and effort, (writing
the letter) is the least I can do,” said Hirsch.

Her schedule is such that she could only attend Wednesday lab,
said Hirsch. She gets the notes for her Tuesday and Thursday
lectures online, she continued.

Ellis does not mind being the youngest student in her classes at
Moorpark College and UCLA.

“It’s cool, getting to do something not everyone
else gets to do,” she said. “Everyone is fascinated by
it.”

Ellis first began taking classes through Laurel Springs at the
age of 14 because of a possible move across the country.

Classes at Laurel Springs are taken by using text based-packets
or the Internet, like the science class Ellis is currently
taking.

Ellis and her family have found home schooling to be
advantageous.

“You can go at your own pace, and you have everything in
front of you,” she said. “If you need help, you can
always contact the teacher (that has been assigned to each
student).”

“You can get a lot more done in a shorter amount of
time,” her father said.

Ellis is volunteering at the University Elementary School so she
could get community service hours to put on her college and
scholarship applications.

Although Ellis has not thought extensively about her future at
UCLA, she does have some idea of what she wants to do when she gets
here.

She is looking toward possibly being a lawyer, a photographer,
or soccer player.

Ellis has been playing soccer for 10 years and wants to try out
for the UCLA soccer team.

In the meantime, Ellis is considering taking more classes at
UCLA after she sees what will be available.

“We don’t want to overwhelm her,” her father
said. “She is taking a full load and is sticking to the task
at hand.”

“I do not want to see her grow up too fast,” he
continued. “She is still my little girl.”

Ellis has a full schedule on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
every week.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays Ellis attends classes at Moorpark
College from around noon to nine o’clock at night, with a
break between classes to do homework.

On Wednesdays, Ellis wakes up before dawn to come to UCLA to
volunteer, study, and attend her botany lab.

She uses Mondays, Fridays, and the weekends to do homework for
her seven classes.

Ellis said that with her schedule, she does not have the
pressure of going to high school, five days a week for six
hours.

Even with all of her classes at three schools, Ellis is still
like any other fifteen-year-old girl.

She enjoys playing soccer, hanging out with friends, and likes
Winnie the Pooh. She is also a Lakers’ and Raiders’
fan.

Like many teens her age, she listens to pop music, including the
Backstreet Boys, Eminem, and Ashanti.

Her new hobby is golf, which she plays in a physical education
class at Moorpark College.

Ellis is looking forward to getting her license when she turns
sixteen in September. She and her father are looking for her dream
car, a 1964-1965 Mustang, to restore.