PACIFIC BEACH \u2013 Damian Toma is finishing all his course requirements at Mission Bay High School and is on schedule to graduate in May 2026.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s unusual about that is that Damian is a 16-year-old sophomore \u2014 who finished the requirements in just two years.<\/p>\n
Toma was born in San Diego and spent his elementary school years between California and Albuquerque, New Mexico. From fourth grade on in San Diego, he attended Alcott and Hawthorne Elementary in its GATE (gifted and talented) program.<\/p>\n
In sixth and seventh grade, he was introduced to Chinese Mandarin language studies at Maria Montessori School. For eighth grade, with the desire to continue his Mandarin language studies and a keen desire to expand his social opportunities, he enrolled at Pacific Beach Middle School. <\/p>\n
\u201cI spent eighth grade at Pacific Beach Middle,\u00a0which combined both Chinese Mandarin and a larger\u00a0student body. I made more friends than I\u2019d previously imagined, engaged in accelerated and seminar classes, and felt motivated to get ahead,\u201d Toma said. \u201cAnd get ahead, I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Curiosity is nurtured in the Toma family. From a young age, Toma expressed a unique interest in math, physics, and science. <\/p>\n
\u201cI recall watching Neil DeGrasse Tyson\u2019s Cosmos\u00a0series when I was young. I felt my first inkling that I wanted to study physics. I just called it \u2018learning about cool space stuff\u2019 at the time,\u201d Toma said. \u201cThe visuals were beautiful, the explanation somehow palatable for my second-grade brain.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember, early in third grade, making diagrams of celestial orbits and future solar system models and presenting them to my\u00a0class full\u00a0of fellow\u00a08-year-olds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen at Hawthorne, I recall picking up a calculus book. That first chapter was about infinite\u00a0series and sums. I delighted in the patterns on the pages,\u00a0how each sum could be represented as one compressed collection of symbols,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
By eighth grade, Toma realized that studying and understanding physics required a strong mathematics toolkit. His dad encouraged him to work ahead in math.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took his advice,\u201d Toma said. \u201cBy the time I walked to the podium at eighth-grade graduation, I had self-studied the first half of AP Calculus AB, a course usually intended for college freshmen. In my ninth-grade year, I enrolled in AP Calculus AB and AP Physics I at Mission Bay.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked at what age or grade Damian began to question whether high school really needed to last four years, his father, Paul Toma, responded: \u201cI think he saw the opportunity to graduate early, and he may have mentioned it in passing during car rides home from middle school, and I was just oblivious.\u00a0I do recall Damian regularly saying, \u2018Time should not be wasted.\u2019\u00a0I think he meant learning opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDamian\u2019s mother, Shannon, and I were not completely on board,\u201d Toma added. \u201cWe wanted him to be engaged in the most challenging academics we could find\u2026 But we also wanted him to enjoy the social experience of high school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe eventually understood that high school could only offer him so much in his field of interest (math and physics).\u00a0 Even before the ninth grade, Damian was engaging in college and even graduate-level material at home.\u00a0So we have supported his pursuit.\u201d<\/p>\n
How does someone go about telling their high school they want to graduate early?<\/p>\n