Paul Vernacchia is a sophomore at Wichita State University with big ambition.

At age 15 he has already completed high school at Central Home-School Family Ministries in 2006, and is the youngest known student at WSU. His pace may seem a bit rushed, but he believes life is too short to grow up slowly.

Vernacchia, who is working toward a degree in accounting, wants to be thought of equally, only different in the sense that he can’t drive yet. He’s in the same classes doing the same work, and wants to be treated like anybody else.

Vernacchia lives with his two brothers, Mark, 17, and John, 12, and parents Frank and Patricia in a home in the country. His parents have a great deal to do with his ideals and outlook on life, and his father is confident in his son’s success.

“Paul embraces life and jumps wholeheartedly into everything he does,” he said. “He’s everything I’ve ever wanted to be.”

One of Vernacchia’s goals stems from his passion for riding horses, and from his younger brother, John, who is autistic. One of the therapies John has practiced is called hippotherapy. The treatment, named for the Greek word for horse, “hippos,” uses the movement of a horse as therapy for clients who have movement dysfunction.

Paul and his older brother, Mark - who is studying exercise science at WSU - have been inspired by how much the treatment has helped John, and are interested in opening their own hippotherapy facility. The two hope to combine their efforts in bringing their vision to life. Paul believes his brother’s autism has a blessing.

“My education is important to me because I’m going to have to look after my little brother,” he said. “My family is important to me; it’s how I was raised.”

Although he has strong determination, Vernacchia still knows how to have fun. He rides a unicycle and plays guitar in his free time. He balances his interests and priorities well, and realizes it’s going to take work to get where he wants to go. He thinks of WSU as a school that provides him with the tools he needs to reach those goals.

“You can dream a lot about what you want to be but it doesn’t matter what you want to be, it’s about how hard you’re willing to work to become that,” he said.

The idea of having the chance to get a head start on life inspires Vernacchia. He sees the completion of his degree as the light at the end of the tunnel. He plans to graduate in the next few years, proving that age places few restrictions on what a person is capable of.