Love of learning leads Texas scholar to MSU

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When David Crouse was a child, he loved playing with Legos.

The home-schooled mechanical engineering freshman said that no matter what his mood was, he was content to be constructing intricate structures with thousands of pieces.

When he discovered the field of engineering, Crouse fell in love with what he said seemed to be an expanded version of his treasured plastic bricks.

“The lab is like Legos on steroids,” Crouse said. “When I’m stressed, I go to the lab. When I’m bored, I go to the lab. When I’m tired, I take a nap and then go to the lab.”

Crouse said being home-schooled by his parents for the entirety of grade school, as well as his inquisitive personality and high school achievements led to him to be chosen as one of three MSU’s University Distinguished Scholars for 2010. He will receive a four-year tuition scholarship that covers room and board, books and a stipend for up to eight semesters of research, said Honors College Dean Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore in an e-mail.

“(Crouse’s) academic accomplishments in high school were outstanding,” Jackson-Elmoore said. “Everyone in the Honors College that has had a chance to interact with him comments about his high level of enthusiasm and energy — it is almost infectious.”

Although he has never attended a public school, Crouse said he imagines he already is somewhat accustomed to college living since he has been attending summer camps at colleges, such as Davidson College, Baylor University and MSU since he was in middle school.

His most recent experience was being part of MSU’s High School Honors Science, Mathematics & Engineering Program last summer, which is when he began working in a lab with Ranjan Mukherjee, a professor in MSU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, on research involving robotics. Crouse will continue to work with Mukherjee for what he said he hopes is the rest of his undergraduate and eventually graduate degrees.

“He believes he can do everything, which is a good thing because as we age, we become cynical,” Mukherjee said. “Young people are not so cynical and they are bold and solve new problems.”

Crouse’s accomplishments last summer were beyond what he expected of a high school student, Mukherjee said.

“(Crouse) showed up in the lab (and was) very enthusiastic to solve the problems we had,” Mukherjee said. “What is amazing is that he has been home-schooled all his life.”

As a former educator, Crouse’s mother, Stacy, of Ponder, Texas, said her son’s desire to learn and find out about the world always has been present.

“He was spelling at (age) 2 and reading at 3, so I knew his educational needs would be different,” Stacy Crouse said.

Although some parents might give a simple answer to a child who asked why the sky is blue, David Crouse said that his parents handed him an encyclopedia.

“Reading is not just an end in itself,” David Crouse said. “It basically empowers your creativity.”

Being home-schooled allowed him to move at a faster pace in his classes and flexibility in the subjects he studied, David Crouse said.

He was studying computer programming by the time he was 8 years old and had finished high school calculus by the end of eighth grade.

“It was just his dream to attend (MSU),” Stacy Crouse said. “Words can’t describe how happy we were. It’s just a wonderful opportunity for him to get to choose his first choice school and revisit the school that he did research at.”

David Crouse’s accumulation of Advanced Placement classes and college courses technically give him the status of a second-semester junior, but he said he will not graduate early.

“I have a four-year scholarship and I plan to use all of it,” he said.

Crouse said he will be looking into getting credit for masters-level courses or even triple majoring, depending on his course progression.

The University Distinguished Scholars are not typically home-schooled, but Jackson-Elmoore said it is not for any particular reason.

“They’re students to whom we think a competitive early offer is merited and that’s why the timing is a little different than the Alumni Distinguished Scholars,” said Bess German, director of admissions and students affairs in the Honors College. “Typically, those students are outside of Michigan.”

However, there are few differences among the students chosen as Alumni Distinguished Scholars, or ADS, versus the University Distinguished Scholars, or UDS, when they are presented as a group, German said.

“They’re not the only incredible set of incoming students, but they are a set of students that we’re thrilled that they chose MSU,” German said.

The ADS were chosen after taking a general knowledge exam and UDS were chosen based on high school achievements and test scores. Finalists of both underwent an interviewing process.

The entire experience of receiving the full-ride scholarship to his first choice school and even being in the humid Michigan weather has been exciting, Crouse said.

“It’s just been amazing,” Crouse said. “It’s like everything has been falling into place lately for me to come to MSU.”

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