It’s no secret that college is a challenge. It’s even less of a secret that some majors are more difficult than others. I know we’ve all heard horror stories of the work and crazy hours that nursing students have to put in to succeed. Well imagine being a nursing major, dealing with the stresses and new experiences of college, being a part of a UT athletic team, and doing it all before you are even old enough to get your drivers license. Not possible, right? Well meet the UT collegiette who has managed to do the impossible: Evelyn Gaddis. She entered UT at age 15. Now at age 17, she’s just as mature (if not more) than all the “normal college aged” students and is on track to achieving her admirable and exciting life goals.
How old are you? 17
At what age did you enter college? 15. I only had my permit so my dad would ride with me to campus then take my car and go to work.
How many kids are in your family? 14, including me, and 4 of those siblings are adopted.
How did you manage to graduate so early and are your other siblings on track to graduate early? Well every kid is homeschooled through the Maryville Christian Independent Study program so that lets us go through faster. But so far my two younger sisters, Jacqueline, 14, and Maddie, 16, are both graduating this semester and going to UT in the fall.
What is your major? Nursing. I like kids, but I did not want to be a pediatrician because of how long I would be in school and then having to pay off the loans. I connected to medicine through my family, my dad is an internal medicine technician and my mom was a medical technician before she became a stay at home mom.
How many hours a week do you spend studying? 12 to 15 probably.
After you graduate what are your plans? I would like to do medical missions and, hopefully, work on a mercy ship that travels around the world helping people. I definitely want to travel. I also would love to be a stay at home mom someday.
I know that you row for UT, how did you get started doing that? I swam my whole life. I knew that I always wanted to do athletics in college, but my swimming times were not there. The summer before my freshmen year I got this letter telling me about becoming a part of the novice squad, and it seemed very interesting. I had never heard of it before and then at orientation I saw the novice coach, and he helped convince me to try out.
Do you have any other fun hobbies? I like to read and play piano which I have played for 6 years. My family and I like to do family sing alongs, as well.
What is the one thing you could change about your family life? I wish we could spend more time together. But with my schedule it is very hard.
Who is the biggest influence in your life? My mom. We spent a lot of time together growing up. She pretty much taught me everything I know. She made me very disciplined. The biggest lesson she taught me was that family is very important, and if you work hard enough you can achieve anything.