BY JUANITA BOUSER

CATAWBA COLLEGE NEWS SERVICE

On Saturday, now 16, Goss will become the youngest person ever to graduate from Catawba College. What began as enrichment in his homeschooling experience ended with a bachelor of science degree in information systems with a programming focus.

The son of Dr. Frederick Goss and Georgellen Agner-Goss of Salisbury, Goss has grown up on the Catawba campus. ‘‘People who know me tell me I’ve grown eight years in the space of four,’’ he says. ‘‘Just being around 18- and 21-year-olds and trying to fit in and interacting with professors has caused me to mature.’’

He acknowledges that accepting responsibility and ‘‘learning to accept what you’re doing wrong and correcting it’’ have also helped.

‘‘I feel a whole lot more prepared to live my life,’’ Goss says. ‘‘The biggest thing I learned was that you need to take pride in your work, no matter what it’s for.’’

Attending class with older students has not been particularly difficult for Goss, either academically or psychologically. Before he entered Catawba, he had completed all the middle school and high school math books on his own during his one full year of independent homeschooling.

So he was ready for something more difficult. Besides, he wanted to take German, and computers fascinated him.

Psychologically, it just wasn’t a big deal either. He was almost 6 feet tall at age 12, and that seemed to help. ‘‘I still looked 12, but it helped me avoid shrinking away from all the big, tall, scary college students,’’ he says, smiling. ‘‘The people have been really friendly. I haven’t had any problems.’’

Some students just had no idea how young he was. One day, when he was eating lunch with friends at McCorkle’s, the college snack bar, a classmate walked up with wide eyes. ‘‘Did you know that we have a 14 year old going to school here?’’ she asked. He tried to keep a straight face but finally burst out laughing. She didn’t have a clue that Goss was the 14 year old.

The hardest part of the experience? ‘‘Getting here,’’ Goss says seriously.

He didn’t get his driver’s license until about a week before he completed all the requirements for his degree. So he rode his bike with a 50-pound bag of books on his back whenever family members couldn’t provide him with transportation.

‘‘It isn’t a long bike ride,’’ he says. ‘‘It just seems like it when you’ve got a 50-pound book bag on.’’

But he did it, book bag and all. And he carved out time to work anywhere from six to 20 hours a week at the Medicine Shoppe and Food Lion in addition to carrying a heavy class load.

Goss actually completed requirements for his degree in December after attending Catawba for 3*Z12 years. Since that time, he has been working full time at Food Lion headquarters in the Information Technology Department. He will enter the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the summer to pursue a master’s degree and possibly a doctorate in computer and electrical engineering. Then, if all goes well, he hopes to enter Duke University Medical School when he’s 21.

Goss’ father, uncle and aunt are doctors, as was his grandfather Dr. Roy Agner and other family members, so Goss is naturally drawn to medicine. He hopes to combine his interest in human biology and computer and electrical engineering to pursue biomedical research.

He was captivated as a child with the idea of engineering a bionic eye, so when he read recently about someone who made an artificial retina, he was energized by the prospect.

‘‘That’s one of the things I’d really love to work on,’’ he says. He wants to work with the brain, discovering ‘‘how nerves interface with the rest of the body.’’

But for now graduation is on his mind. On Saturday, Aaron Goss will celebrate as the youngest graduate in Catawba College’s 140-year history. He might also – at least quietly – celebrate the fact that he can leave that green bike in the garage. No more rides in the rain. No more 50-pound book bags on his back.

For a 16-year-old, that is indeed something to celebrate. EST