Theres a clear distinction between being rebellious (a desire to resist authority) and simply being inquisitive (unusually curious; eager to learn).
So even though Jon Millers natural inclination is to never accept things at face value to usually ask why, and if hes not satisfied with the explanation, follow it up with a why not? hes the least likely rebel youll meet walking the halls at Iola High School.
After all, hes an honors student who wrote a letter to himself as a freshman, imploring himself to graduate with a 4.0 grade-point average. Hes a standout athlete, starring on the court for the Mustang tennis squad. And hes got a hankering for civic engagement to come up with ways to make life a little better for others.
Hes exceedingly polite; holding doors open, firm handshakes, eye contact with others while conversing.
But, oh, is he curious.
Its kind of why Im interested in philosophy, Miller said. Ill question everything.
I dont know if Ive met a kid, a student, who has that personality like Jon, said Dana Daugharthy, a chemistry and robotics instructor at Iola High. There are times were talking about something in class. Hes asking deep, deep questions about things that are theoretical, and hes coming up with some of the deepest questions Ive heard. Certainly there are kids who think theoretically, but not to the depth Jon does.
But curiosity only tells half of Millers story.
For somebody so quiet and otherwise unassuming, young Jon Miller, son of Iolans Paul and Kari Miller, is fearless.
His most difficult classes, calculus, chemistry or engineering, are his favorites.
Mr. Daugharthys classes are always difficult conceptually, he said, which is why I think I like them. These classes excited me, to the point Im willing to work harder.
That unquenchable thirst for learning is about to pay off for Miller in a big way.
Hes been accepted to attend Maines Bowdoin College, one of the pre-eminent liberal arts universities in the nation. Its also one of the oldest, having been chartered in 1794. Bowdoin (pronounced BOH-din) annually ranks among the top such schools in the nation, and sports a list of distinguished alumni that have led all three branches of the federal government. President Franklin Pierce earned his degree in 1824; poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a year later. Robert Peary, the first explorer to reach the North Pole, exited Bowdoin in 1877. Contemporary alums include Netflix founder Reed Hastings (1983), U.S. Senator and Secretary of Defense William Cohen (1962) and Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson (1979).
As a small, private college, tuition for students such as Miller would run in the $70,000-per-year range well beyond the budgetary limits of most Kansas families including Millers.
So how can Jon Miller, whose father, Paul, serves as a pastor at Iolas First Assembly of God and IHS teacher, and whose mother, Kari, works as a therapist, afford such an educational opportunity?
Well, let him explain the QuestBridge program.
QUESTBRIDGE is a non-profit program that links students from modest economic backgrounds with educational and scholarship opportunities at 40 leading schools of higher education across the United States.
Essentially, it gives you a bunch of resources to apply to elite colleges, Miller said.
