At age 14, William Warren is doing big things at Baldwin Wallace University (2024)

BEREA, Ohio – Although only 14 years old, William Warren already has his mind set on doing big things.

He is not sure exactly what yet, but he knows it will involve problem solving, and physics, and wants to find answers that change the world or unlock the universe.

“Ultimately, I’d really, really like to solve a problem,” he said in an interview with cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.

And while that may sound a bit pie-in-the sky for a 14-year-old, William already has done big things.

At an age when his middle-schooler friends are working their way through the eighth grade, William just finished his first term as a full-time student at Baldwin Wallace University, as a member of the class of 2026. He is the youngest full-time student in the school’s history, the university says.

And he excelled.

Physics Professor Edwin Meyer was so impressed that he is considering using William as a tutor for first-year physics students.

William always has been inquisitive. Meyer believes that curiosity -- a desire to understand why things are and how things work, as opposed to being told an answer -- is what sets him apart.

“Warren doesn’t really accept things on face value, which is great for a scientist,” Meyer said in an interview. “He’s just relentless. He has a relentless drive to understand things fundamentally.”

That kind of drive is important to building up what Meyer calls mental stamina. Working the brain and learning how to solve complex problems builds that capacity.

The key, Meyer said, is being able to handle stress from challenges.

“Developing the mind isn’t easy, and you can have stress,” Meyer said. “William doesn’t have stress. When he gets a hard problem, he knows it.”

His derives joy and satisfaction when, after a long struggle, he finds the solution, Meyer said.

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you,” Meyer said. “He’s building the foundation of understanding and then he’s going up.”

William’s path to early college began with the pandemic. Until then, he was in a school with programs for gifted students, but that was unfulfilling. When the pandemic hit, he switched to home schooling.

He took some online open courses in physics and chemistry from Harvard University. But he kept coming up with questions about physics. That prompted his mother, C.J. Warren, to seek out Meyer at Baldwin Wallace.

“It’s really remarkable that this happened,” William said. “From being in 8th grade and moving to all of this came from my mother looking for someone who could answer my physics questions.”

After auditing Meyer’s spring physics classes, Meyer suggested he enroll for fall semester, according to the university.

William took the SAT to show he was ready. He tested out of some English classes. And at age 13, he was ready to take on a full-time load.

“This semester was very physics and math heavy,” he said. He also took a basketball class to help fulfill his physical education requirement.

Next term, which starts Jan. 9, will involve more physics and some English.

Meyer said he is interested in seeing how William tackles the physics class.

“I like to say it’s the hardest class at the university,” Meyer said. “That’s going to be an interesting class. … He knows the material.”

Although several years younger than his classmates, William finds he works well with them as a team.

“At BW I learned that maybe I don’t have to do it by myself,” William said.

Meyer, too, noticed that when put at a table with other like-minded students, they naturally figure things out together.

“It’s delightful,” he said.

But William acknowledges there is a whole different vibe on a campus than in a middle school or high school – one he said he really likes.

“There’s a lot of freedom,” he said. “But with that freedom comes a lot of responsibility. In college, no one’s going to hunt you down for an assignment. They’re just going to give you a zero.”

Outside of campus, William still hangs out with his friends. Prior to the pandemic he was part of a swim team. And he bikes.

Living in Berea allows him to bike to campus.

But traditional grade school is probably a thing of the past.

“I don’t think there’s any plans to do any more middle school or high school classes,” Williams said.

After he gets his degree, Wiilliam expects to go to graduate school for physics. Where he lands after that is unknown – perhaps working with a team in a lab, he said.

And that is where his plans to do something big – individually or as part of a team -- come into play.

“I’d really like to solve a problem so I can say I did something good, just by figuring something out.”