By Kai-Lou Yue
Business Manager
In a class, there are many students with different personalities. There are students who wish they were playing sports instead, and those who never participate. There are others who don’t put any effort into class. However, there are also students who enjoy learning and going beyond the typical schoolwork and participation standards set in the classroom. Michael Colavita, a sophomore at Westford Academy, is one of those students.
Last year at the freshman awards ceremony, Colavita was awarded the 9th grade Biology Book Award, English, and Spanish II honors awards, as well as one of the academic awards. Many of his teachers commended him on his enthusiasm towards class, avid participation, and understanding of the subjects.
Joe Poynton, Colavita’s ninth grade Biology Honors teacher, was particularly impressed by him.
“[His attitude towards class] was exuberant […] A veritable avalanche of interest in the subject that picks up […] all surrounding lifeforms in its path. I do not mean that he was destructive; he was constructive […] we’re talking about that much energy [in class],” said Poynton.
In addition to his enthusiasm, according to Poynton, Colavita also had an extremely large amount of knowledge about the subjects he was interested in, and he put it to good use during class.
“[He had] ridiculously detailed, in-depth questions. His questions are very good. It’s so clear he does so much outside research and that he understands all of the basic concepts already. So he’s working on a level that is so beyond the other kids in the class […] His questions were four or five years ahead of everyone else. Everyone was still trying to catch up to what he knows,” said Poynton.
However, it was not only in biology that Colavita showed interest in. His ninth grade English teacher, Meghan Oelerich, also praised his eagerness for learning.
“A lot of times, if I would introduce a grammar rule, he would want to know the exceptions to it, which a lot of people aren’t ready to wrap their minds around, but he was just ready to delve into the next level […] I might know more than Michael does, but he is definitely smarter than me. He is one of the smartest kids I think I’ve ever met,” said Oelerich.
This year, Colavita is taking AP Computer Science, a course usually only for juniors and seniors, and five honors courses including Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus, Chemistry, Spanish III, U.S. History, and English 10; his elective is Concert Band. Because he took Algebra II in 8th grade, he was able to test out of taking it as a sophomore and is instead currently taking the Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus honors course.
Although he has a heavy workload at school, Colavita is currently taking an online quantum mechanics and computation class outside of school. Last year, he also took an online course in algorithms.
“Ever since I was a young kid, I had in interest in programming and computers, so as I got more exposed to the different aspects of computer science, I got interested in programming and how the stuff inside computers work […] when I was able to I went to the library and got a book on making websites,” said Colavita. “In third grade I decided to move to Java so that could start writing more complex programs.”
Now, seven years after learning Java, Colavita is attending programming competitions as part of the Programming Club at WA.
“For programming club, I started doing competitions last year. The Programming Club went to a competition in Philadelphia called the PClassic, we went to a contest at WPI and we went to one at Fitchburg State Univeristy. At the PClassic we came in first, at the WPI contest we came in first, and at Fitchburg state we came in second […] this was just with other members of the programming club who came, like Alok [Puranik] and Pat Long,” said Colavita.
In addition to that, he is part of the Math Team, which made it to the NEAML math competition last year, the App Development Club, and the WA Marching Band, where he is one of the drum majors. According to Colavita, he enjoys building computers and learning about the low level components that make them work, researching different programming languages and operating systems, and making websites. He has also created the band, math team, and the programming club websites.
However, although he is intelligent, motivated, and has a variety of interests, according to Oelerich there is more to him than just that.
“I mean, I think he’s a really nice guy too. And I think people look at how smart he is and they forget how nice he is […] even the kids in the [honors class] were intimidated by him. He is an analytical person and he’s a computer programmer, and I think he looks at everything that way; he’s very precise and scientific […] but I think it would be easy for him to make other people feel stupid, adults and students alike, and he never does that and never intends to do that. He’s just genuinely curious,” said Oelerich.
