Student earns 2 degrees from A&M-CC at age 18

By Jaime Powell Caller-Times
December 15, 2002

When Paul Drees was six months old, his mother handed him a shape-sorting ball. He turned it over and over in his hands and in seconds had put all of the correct shapes into place. Catherine Drees said she knew then that Paul was different.

What she did not realize then was that her son's early brilliance would translate into his graduating from college at age 18.

Paul was among 500 who earned degrees from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi on Saturday. He graduated with a double major in mathematics and computer science, a minor in physics and a 3.5 grade point average. He said his studies came easy, but a rare neurological disorder presented him with some challenges.

"I don't meet many people I have a lot in common with," Paul said, and shrugged like it didn't matter much.

He does have a group of friends that he talks to online. They have never met face to face, but he is unconcerned. "Online, my friends are different, like me," he said.

When Paul was younger he often had problems socializing. He did not talk until he was 3 and did not have much to do with anybody but his family, which includes his father, Alexander, and his sister, Leila. Though he met with the school district's speech therapist regularly, he would not look people in the eye. By the seventh grade, his mother said she and people with the school district thought he had a severe case of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

After dragging him to doctor after doctor, the family finally got a diagnosis - Asperger's Syndrome. The syndrome, which is often compared to autism, is characterized by severe and sustained impairment in social interaction, development of restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. These characteristics result in significant impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.

In contrast to autism, there are no problems with cognition or self-help skills or in adaptive behavior, other than social interaction. Another difference is, Asperger's Syndrome can come with a genius component. Paul's did.

Lightbulb moment

Once the diagnosis came in, it became easier to understand what makes Paul tick, said Catherine Drees, who compares her son to an "absent minded professor." Paul is tall and gangly with dark, tousled curls and bright green eyes. When he smiles, it almost lights up the room. But when he is focussed on something, it is his whole world. If he is reading an interesting book, he forgets to eat. Though homework is a breeze, remembering to turn it in is not.

People with Asperger's Syndrome tend to have a circumscribed area of interest that usually leaves no space for more age appropriate, common interests. Paul said for him, that area of interest is computers.

When he talks about computers there is excitement in his voice.

"I like the way I can tell a computer what to do and that it pretty much does it," he said.

Paul breezed through Baker Middle School and went on to Ray High School, where he graduated at age 15. Then it was on to A&M-Corpus Christi. He said that came pretty easy too. Making friends has been rough, though. He was teased mercilessly in grade school for being different.

After one particularly bad day, he came home to cry on his mother's shoulder. She asked him if he would rather be "normal" if it meant he would be popular, or to be himself, which is obviously special.

"It's kind of like being diagonally parked in a parallel universe, but I would still rather be me," he said.

High school better

By the time he got to high school, things got a little easier because he could help the slower students with their homework. He was also involved in UIL competitions with peers who could sometimes match his intellect.

"Pretty much everyone liked me," he said. "I was not after their girlfriends. I was studying and taking tests. The only reason they might have had to not like me was that I blew the curves for tests."

He admits that when he is older, he wants to meet princess charming and settle down.

"Someday, if it happens, I want her to be smart and funny," he said. "I really don't care much about looks."

Paul knows that finding the right girl might be tough, because he thinks and acts a little differently. In the meantime, he plans to start back to school in January and pick up dual master's degrees in mathematics and computer science. After that he wants to work for an organization like NASA.

Catherine Drees has all the confidence in the world in Paul's abilities. She said brains like Paul's mean that he will make a good living. He will be able to hire a secretary and a maid to take care of day-to-day life, while he takes on the world.

Contact Jaime Powell at 886-3716 or by email at powellj@caller.com