As he drives along the interstate listening to music, he thinks about his math assignment and what he wants to accomplish with foreign language. He doesn’t have a typical math class though, and the foreign language isn’t Spanish.

Josh Klapperick, sophomore, is traveling to Rochester for his calculus class at the University of Minnesota-Rochester branch. As part of an independent study, he’s teaching himself Chinese. He also doubled up on sciences and is taking chemistry this year. Clearly he’s not your typical student.

“I wanted to challenge myself in math and I wasn’t finding that here,” Klapperick said, “Mrs. (Gale) Nelson introduced me to the program in Rochester and it took off from there.”

Now Klapperick travels to Rochester every Thursday from 3:45-5:45 p.m. for calculus with regular college students. He likes the advanced math and the challenges it brings with it.

“I like doing the college level math and being able to slack off in class,” Klapperick said.

Although taking the advanced math course has many bonuses, it also has a few downfalls.

“Not being able to have a social life or be fully committed to sports isn’t fun,” Klapperick said. “I only was able to be in four cross country meets this past year.”

All other school days, during his independent study period, Klapperick teaches himself the Chinese language. He does this with the help of Kingsoft Powerword and Rosetta Stone machines that speak in human monotone.

“It’s boring being alone and trying to learn another language by yourself,” Klapperick commented, “but it’s cool to be able to speak three languages.”

Knowing an uncommon language has more than a couple small benefits. Klapperick has traveled with his dad on business, twice to China and once to Taiwan. These trips provide ample motivation to learn the language. Both he and his dad can’t wait until future trips.

“My dad is looking forward to being able to have me as a translator instead of someone else,” Klapperick said. “He really pushes me to do well in my classes.”

His teachers also appreciate the fact that Klapperick takes the initiative to take on the higher classes.

“He contributes a lot to the class and asks good questions,” said Mr. Blatti, science teacher.

Students don’t seem to look at him differently either. In fact many appear to look up to him.

“Many are impressed at Josh’s ability in math and his dedication in driving to Rochester for class,” Mrs. Ruble said.

At the end of the day, Klapperick doesn’t have worries about what others think of him. It’s just another day he’s lived and learned in.

“I’m not all that smart,” Klapperick said. “Hey, there’s a 12-year-old 10th grader in my Calculus class with an IQ of 167. I’m really nowhere near that.”