Professor of Art History and Literature at Drexel University
For as long as he could remember, Micah Thatch was meant for something else. Maybe he was born in the wrong era or maybe he was born in the wrong country, or maybe even on the wrong planet but he always felt like he was meant for something else. Of course, that didn't exactly work out well for him, with his father so set in what Micah needed to do with his life, and his mother so determined that she was going to grow old with lots of children and grandchildren surrounding her. Not everyone got what they wanted: Micah was the only child to the Thatches, and neither of the elder Thatches would grow old - they would both die in a car accident when Micah turned 16.
But let's back track a little. Raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Micah was raised around those who knew that the best way to raise a child was to indulge in their sense of wonder. But in this case, it meant that Micah would be home schooled, first to see what his potential was. Turns out, little Micah was a bit of a genius, but it ran in the Thatch family. Schooled by his father, who was a Professor at Drexel University, and his grandfather who was an archaeologist, Micah's childhood consisted of learning of the great travels of discoverers and learned about ancient civilizations. Along the way, Micah started to search out information himself, and soon he was surprising his parents and grandfather with what he learned. The Thatches did their best to trust Micah to make his own choices, so when he asked to go to a public middle school, his parents agreed to see where he'd test so they could figure out the grade. Little Micah tested out of middle school and found himself participating at a high school level.
After some consideration, Micah was allowed to enter high school, but was still schooled at home - his father would teach him the lesson of each teacher if he had gone to classes, and Micah got to avoid the social awkwardness of being not even a teen in high school. By the time Micah turned 11, he was more than a child genius; he was going to Harvard University for undergrad. He attended the university in Cambridge, MA with his father renting out an apartment in the city, so that Micah could attend the classes. His father also helped him and went to the classes himself, telling fellow students that it was him taking the classes, and that the professors were nice enough to let his son in with him. By the time Micah was awarded his first Bachelors degree, people had figured out that it was Micah that was the student.
Graduation came for Micah, now age 16, and he was eagerly waiting at the university for his parents to show up. He didn't want to go into the ceremony with out them, he didn't want to walk that stage without knowing they were in the audience. But, his parents never showed. Hit by a drunk driver on their way to the ceremony, the Thatches never got to see their only son get his first degree.
Micah was struck with depression, not knowing any world outside that of schooling and his parents, and he did what he knew: he went back to school, winning a scholarship for another bachelors, this time in Linguistics, also from Harvard. His grandfather came to Cambridge to help raise him, and to be a moral support, and by the time Micah was 20, he was out of Harvard and on to his Masters degree. He had decided he needed to live on his own, and get a job, so it was off to New York and to Yale University, where he started towards two Masters at one time: in Archaeological Studies and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. School and learning was all that Micah knew, and he was trying his best to fill a void in him, a hole that couldn't be fixed no matter how hard he tried. Yale proved to be a good experience, as he met others almost like him, who cared more about learning than anything else, and he found himself with a small group of friends and even a girlfriend. But as with anything good in Micah's life, all of this was short lived: his friends started to hate just how intelligent he was, and his girlfriend ended up cheating on him because he was too 'stuck up'.
Starting his Doctorate, he opted for online classes, and headed back home to Philadelphia, where he applied for a job at the Philadelphia History Museum. Soon he started working full time at the Museum, and studying and taking classes at night. He did his best to make friends, and actually started to succeed in doing so - some of the people he has met at the museum are the nicest and brightest people that he knows.
By the age of 29, Micah finished his Doctorate from Yale and got a job at Drexel University -- where his father used to work -- teaching Art History and Literature to undergraduate students. And since the university would be paying for it...he decided to get a second doctorate. At age 33, he finished his second doctorate, and finally decided that would be enough schooling for him; he needed to see what else was out there. He realized that school was a bit of a crutch that he used to hold himself back, and now he had to force himself out into the world.
Now at age 35, Micah can't exactly say his plan of getting himself out there has worked all that well, but he's trying and that's what counts. But there is still this weird void in him that he just can't place, and he knows he needs to fix it. If only he knew how.
But let's back track a little. Raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Micah was raised around those who knew that the best way to raise a child was to indulge in their sense of wonder. But in this case, it meant that Micah would be home schooled, first to see what his potential was. Turns out, little Micah was a bit of a genius, but it ran in the Thatch family. Schooled by his father, who was a Professor at Drexel University, and his grandfather who was an archaeologist, Micah's childhood consisted of learning of the great travels of discoverers and learned about ancient civilizations. Along the way, Micah started to search out information himself, and soon he was surprising his parents and grandfather with what he learned. The Thatches did their best to trust Micah to make his own choices, so when he asked to go to a public middle school, his parents agreed to see where he'd test so they could figure out the grade. Little Micah tested out of middle school and found himself participating at a high school level.
After some consideration, Micah was allowed to enter high school, but was still schooled at home - his father would teach him the lesson of each teacher if he had gone to classes, and Micah got to avoid the social awkwardness of being not even a teen in high school. By the time Micah turned 11, he was more than a child genius; he was going to Harvard University for undergrad. He attended the university in Cambridge, MA with his father renting out an apartment in the city, so that Micah could attend the classes. His father also helped him and went to the classes himself, telling fellow students that it was him taking the classes, and that the professors were nice enough to let his son in with him. By the time Micah was awarded his first Bachelors degree, people had figured out that it was Micah that was the student.
Graduation came for Micah, now age 16, and he was eagerly waiting at the university for his parents to show up. He didn't want to go into the ceremony with out them, he didn't want to walk that stage without knowing they were in the audience. But, his parents never showed. Hit by a drunk driver on their way to the ceremony, the Thatches never got to see their only son get his first degree.
Micah was struck with depression, not knowing any world outside that of schooling and his parents, and he did what he knew: he went back to school, winning a scholarship for another bachelors, this time in Linguistics, also from Harvard. His grandfather came to Cambridge to help raise him, and to be a moral support, and by the time Micah was 20, he was out of Harvard and on to his Masters degree. He had decided he needed to live on his own, and get a job, so it was off to New York and to Yale University, where he started towards two Masters at one time: in Archaeological Studies and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. School and learning was all that Micah knew, and he was trying his best to fill a void in him, a hole that couldn't be fixed no matter how hard he tried. Yale proved to be a good experience, as he met others almost like him, who cared more about learning than anything else, and he found himself with a small group of friends and even a girlfriend. But as with anything good in Micah's life, all of this was short lived: his friends started to hate just how intelligent he was, and his girlfriend ended up cheating on him because he was too 'stuck up'.
Starting his Doctorate, he opted for online classes, and headed back home to Philadelphia, where he applied for a job at the Philadelphia History Museum. Soon he started working full time at the Museum, and studying and taking classes at night. He did his best to make friends, and actually started to succeed in doing so - some of the people he has met at the museum are the nicest and brightest people that he knows.
By the age of 29, Micah finished his Doctorate from Yale and got a job at Drexel University -- where his father used to work -- teaching Art History and Literature to undergraduate students. And since the university would be paying for it...he decided to get a second doctorate. At age 33, he finished his second doctorate, and finally decided that would be enough schooling for him; he needed to see what else was out there. He realized that school was a bit of a crutch that he used to hold himself back, and now he had to force himself out into the world.
Now at age 35, Micah can't exactly say his plan of getting himself out there has worked all that well, but he's trying and that's what counts. But there is still this weird void in him that he just can't place, and he knows he needs to fix it. If only he knew how.