It wasn't the first time they had made such sacrifices to pursue an education for Greg, and they knew it wouldn't be the last, either. His parents put the house in Florida on the market, sold Janet's dance studio and derailed Bob's career as a microbiologist to indulge the relentless passion of their special son. R-MC promised something even more important to Greg's parents: that on the small campus, under the protective eye of college security, Greg would be safe. It wasn't just the full, $70,000 scholarship offered by Randolph-Macon College, or the lure of tiny classes taught by PhDs instead of graduate assistants. So they visited campuses, sat in on classes and sorted through the tantalizing scholarship offers, finally deciding on a Methodist college in sleepy Ashland, Va., just north of Richmond. 'I've dreamed of this day since I was 4 years old,' he would insist. But Greg was adamant: He wanted to go to college.

Or, if he preferred, they could find him a private mentor. What if they traveled? Greg could see some of the places he envisioned on his bedroom floor when reenacting the Crusades or Caesar's campaigns with his toy soldiers. His parents, Bob and Janet Smith, lobbied hard for their only child to take a year off. While other members of the Class of '99 partied at the beach, Greg hosted a reception to thank all the teachers, counselors, administrators and school district officials for their support. Plainclothes police, mindful of the recurring threats against Greg, also were in attendance. A television crew from '60 Minutes' filmed his speech to the graduating class, and he lost a baby tooth onstage. Greg finished high school in two years, with an A-plus average.

Sing it softly as ever you can-Lest the song get out of hand. Adults walked him to class, where he made himself count silently to 25 before raising his hand, so others might have a chance to answer, so he might have a treasured half a minute of seeming like the rest. Teachers took Greg off the grading curve to quell the resentment. The gifted students were the worst, seething with jealousy over the little boy who had suddenly infiltrated their elite ranks, merrily hopscotching from second grade to ninth in a single year. Gregory Smith recognized the Langston Hughes verse from his honors high school English class the sender was almost certainly a classmate. Sing it softly, for the song is wild, it began. The first death threat, veiled in a poem, came when he was 8 years old.

Greg smith genius wikipedia