| by Manjula Fernando
Courtesy: Sunday Observer
( April 25, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) "Gifted I wouldn't call myself. It is all a matter of hard work,"
Eugenie de Silva would refute if you try to equate her achievements thus
far to her 'cross-genes'.
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| Eugenie and Prof. Eugene de Silva |
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| Baby Eugenie with her father |
But how can you not do so, when she had accomplished so much, even
almost a Masters Degree from Harvard University. Her batchmates were in
their twenties and thirties. She will be completing her Masters at
Harvard by the end of August this year, two months after she turns 16.
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 Eugenie touching the foot of John Harvard’s statue, which is a tradition at Harvard for good luck. |
Eugenie, a daughter of a Sri Lankan father and a British mother,
graduated from high school at the age of 11, completed 'Summa Cum Laude'
a basic degree and a Masters in Intelligence Analysis from the American
Military University when she was just 14 and 15 and is about to complete
a second Masters in Legal Studies at Harvard University.
She has now been offered a place at the University of Leicester, UK
to do a PhD in Politics. Eugenie is expected to commence her course work
next month.
A 14- year- old minor, how did she get into Harvard? She breezed
through the entrance examination. The only hitch though, she was too
young to receive a scholarship despite passing the entrance examination
with flying colours.
"I will end my Harvard course in May but the research will be
completed in August," she says ecstatically. The Sunday Observer met the
braces clad teenager with her father briefly in Colombo a few days ago.
A trip to Sri Lanka every year is a ritual that they have not missed
and carried out since she was just four- months-old. Mt. Lavinia Hotel,
near the beach where Prof. Eugene spent his carefree days during his
early life would be their home during every visit.
Eugenie is from a single parent household and her father, Prof.
Eugene de Silva brought her up as a baby devoting his time shared as a
teacher of Physics and Chemistry and a single parent.
"I remember waking up several times in the night to feed her. I made
sure not to let her feel the absence of one parent."
She is a role model for children who grapple with family issues and
fail subjects as a result. Maybe the father's love and affectionate care
would have shielded her from all other worries.
"We lived in England with her mum but when I decided to migrate to
the US in 2004, after I was granted residence there, her mother declined
to join us," Prof. Eugene says.
The little Eugenie did not waste her time thinking about her broken
family, in fact she was more engrossed in her future ambition at a very
early age - to set up her own Law firm to help those wrongly accused and
work for the US government as an intelligence analyst. Her ultimate
dream is to rise to the position of US Secretary of Defence.
Her father being a university lecturer built up a conducive
environment for his only child to be what she is today. A child prodigy!
She had excelled in her studies thus far, won first place for the
nine oral presentations she had given in the fields ranging from
Psychology to Intelligence. She has written two children's books and
co-authored a textbook with her father for college students on research
work which is now being used in college courses.
She topped the batch among 2014 graduates in an examination held by
the American Military University. The little genius was featured this
month as one of top thirty thinkers under thirty by the American
research magazine Pacific Standard.
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We queried from her, a question that has been niggling us all the
while. " You are obviously too good to be true, if you are as studious
as you seem to be, weren't you labelled as a nerd"? She says this was
never the case with her. If you stand up for yourself and if you do what
you believe, you will have plenty of friends who will believe in you.
"I was active in other areas, soccer, gymnastics at a younger age and
I was not anti social due to my obsession with education and research".
She says her interest in intelligence analysis may have been influenced
by her father's research work in the filed when she was a youngster.
"But I had an inherent interest in intelligence analysis and the field
of government in general. That is something I've always wanted to be
involved in."
She refutes in plain terms that she is gifted.
"I don't think of my self as special. I believe I am hard working and
dedicated to my studies." Her aspirations are above average but her
record so far proves that she is indeed capable of things above average.
Needless to say her crave for research and education has been shaped
by her father's work.
Her father is a professor of Chemistry and Physics. But his interests
expands to research which covers intelligence, martial arts and
analytical Chemistry. "I cover a full range."
But Prof. Eugene says he did not force her to tread a particular path
that he preferred. She was free to choose her future.
She too endorses his comment that she was never forced into doing
anything. However, he promoted education in the home front which made
her develop a liking to it. "We go for conferences, we travel a lot and
have fun together.
In between we complete our tasks individually," says Prof. Eugene.
He has set up an institute in the US which is into multidisciplinary
research, a new method of teaching that he is trying to introduce in the
state of Tennessee and the US eventually.
"Eugenie is gifted and talented from her small days. I noticed this
when she was three years. But anybody could achieve things at a faster
pace and in a meaningful way."
He says the novel teaching method - multidisciplinary research - had
an impact on her fast tracked education. "It is my belief that science
should not be taught just as science but it should be combined with
other subjects." That was a concept developed by him and presented in
2003.
Prof. Eugene says Asians including Sri Lankans tend to focus on
memory. As a result when they try to do research and independent work,
they have to rely on other people to direct them, hence they mostly
become followers not leaders. Even the PhD students he works with show
these traits.
Another flaw he sees in the Sri Lankan system is the unwarranted
struggle to enter traditional universities. He says rather than getting
stuck in traditional degree courses, students must get involved in
studies that are relevant to their future careers.
The father daughter duo are here this time because Eugenie presented
a paper at the Institute of Chemistry of Sri Lanka where her father
received an award for his work in the past. Her paper titled 'Is a
chemist a better Intelligence Agent?' discussed application of chemistry
in the intelligence field, it was a blend of chemistry and intelligence
analysis.
Eugenie is working with the National Credit Commission for Martial
Arts and Virginia Research Institute in the US to develop on-line 'job
specific' study courses to help vocational students. The two
institutions have been backing her education since she is too young to
apply for scholarships or student loans. Her message for Sri Lankan
youth, "They should understand many people and go through difficult
times. I was raised by my dad who was a single parent and I had to give
up things such as partying or going out on weekends." But she says such
things did not hinder her ultimate goal. She says regardless of one's
environmental circumstances, anything is possible if you put your mind
to it, and convert it into something that you enjoy.
"I hope that Sri Lankan youth would set their goals early and then
focus on achieving them, regardless of their excesses."
