Polite Stewart Jr. began his first day on campus in early June. The 14-year-old from Baton Rouge is believed to be youngest student to enroll at Southern University.

Polite Stewart Jr. didn't have a usual first day as a college student. There were new faces and new experiences, but he also had to negotiate camera crews and broadcast interviews between classes. He stands out because, at 14-years-old, he is the youngest freshman at Southern University, Baton Rouge.

His credentials do not reflect his age. He scored a 30 on the ACT when he was 13 years old, and he has been taking high school level courses for the past three years.

Stewart said some classmates did double takes while he was in class, but for the most part, the note taking and other aspects of school went well.

Three Baton Rouge television stations came to interview him in between classes. Stewart graciously answered their questions as he traversed the campus from one building to the next.

He was the centerpiece of the front page of The Advocate newspaper on June 8. He smiled when he saw the size of the photograph on the page.

The previous week, as more people discovered that he would be enrolling at Southern, Stewart hag been answering questions about whether he would be nervous, was he ready and how did he get so smart?

"I love to read. I love to study and it has helped me to excel,' he said, attributing his focus to father and mother. He has read as many as 100 books in a year.

"They have taught me how important it is to study and to do what it takes to succeed," he said. "But, I am a regular kid. I play video games, have friends and I like basketball." Stewart is the product of home schooling by his parents Stewart and Ava Stewart, both educators.

"He could read by the time he was three years old," said Stewart Sr., a retired public school teacher. "We found that he could do math, too, at an early age.

Stewart Sr. retired from teaching in 1998, after 20 years in the classroom to devote full time instruction for his son.

"I took care of most of the math and science and stuff for him. His mother did his English and writing," Stewart Sr. said. "By the time he was 10 there was little else we could do for him."

The father said he enrolled his son in Southern's nationally honored Timbuktu Academy. The program offers rigorous academic mentoring for kindergarten through college undergraduates in physics, math and the sciences.

Stewart Sr. said he has enjoyed every minute of teaching his son. "You think about it. Most fathers don't get the chance to spend the kind of time I have spent with my son," he said.

He says it won't be tough to turn his son over to Southern. "Southern has done so much for me. I graduated from Southern and my wife graduated from Southern. And, they have done so much for Stewart. This is the place for him. I feel comfortable that they will take care of him."

The younger Stewart also speaks highly of Southern. "I learned so much in the Timbuktu Academy. They challenged me and pushed me to excel," he said. "I know I will be able to accomplish all of the things I want at Southern University."

"Besides," he said, "being at Southern I will get to know my professors personally. They will work with me. I'm just happy to be a part of the Jaguar Nation."

He plans to major in biology pre-med. "I am going to be a doctor," he said.

Distinguish Professor of Physics Diola Bagayoko, the founder and head of the Timbuktu Academy, said Stewart is the shining example of the success students can have when there is strong parental involvement.

"He worked hard and his parents worked hard and Timbuktu gave him the tools he needed," said Bagayoko, whose academy has won two U.S. Presidential awards for excellence.

Stewart stresses to anyone who will listen that he has a variety of interests, many of which take him away from the classroom. He works with the youth ministry and sings in the choir at his church. He tutors and he is learning to play the piano.

"I am a normal kid," he says with his familiar wide smile.

There's also something very different about Stewart and it has nothing to do with his intellect. He may be the only Southern student whose father has to bring him to school in the morning and pick him up in afternoon.

"I don't have a problem with it," Stewart said. "I can use the time to study."