Jewel and her older sister Sofia graduated this week with master’s degrees in Slavic languages and literatures from the University of Toronto. It was the culmination of a journey that began with undergraduate degrees at the University of Alberta when he was just 12 and 14 years old. The sisters hid their ages from most classmates and teachers, but spoke to CBC Toronto this week. “In a way, it didn’t make a difference to me because I just did it with my sister and we were together all the time,” said Isabel Jewel, who just turned 18. “But when we told classmates, they found it very, very strange. They were kind of shocked. So we stopped telling people.” Sophia Jewell started the adventure for the couple. Sophia Jewell at 19 and Isabel Jewell at 16 at their graduation from the University of Alberta. (Submitted by Mena Jewell) “At first, it was just because of the languages. I really wanted to learn languages, but our family doesn’t speak Polish, they don’t speak Ukrainian, so I thought we could take them to university,” she said. Sophia, who had been home-schooled up until that point, was able to enroll in a language course at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where the family lived. Once she started, she loved it, bringing her enthusiasm to her family, especially Isabel. “I had passed my first class, and then one night we were sitting up late talking about what it was like and I said, ‘Hey, I have this crazy idea,’” Sophia recalls. “What if I teach you all about my first lesson and you can participate in the second half of the language lesson?” she said to her younger sister.
It is “amazing” that the sisters are so young, says the professor
Her mom, Mena Jewell, who homeschooled her girls, says Sophia was getting top marks, “but the main thing was that she was really happy.” And when Sofia thought about bringing Isabel to school with her, Mena says she gave her blessing. Soon after, both girls earned undergraduate degrees in modern languages and cultural studies. The Jewell family at the University of Toronto for convocation week celebrates Sofia and Isabel earning master’s degrees. (Paul Borkwood/CBC) The professor who taught their Russian Thinkers course at U of T, Allan Smith, says he thought they might be a little younger than the majority of his students. He was shocked when CBC Toronto told him how much younger the sisters really are. “It’s amazing, honestly, that they were still teenagers,” he said with a laugh. He notes that both wrote interesting papers and made meaningful contributions to the classroom. Both Isabel and Sophia say they’re taking time to figure out what they’d like to do next. Isabel says people sometimes assume she and her sisters must both be geniuses. But he doesn’t necessarily think that’s how they achieved their success. “It’s not this idea of being a prodigy or anything, but being willing to do the hard work, invest in it and learn to work together,” he said. The university could not confirm whether Isabel is the youngest graduate of the master’s degree. But record or not, the success has given her some inspiration. Rosalina Jewell, 14, said, “Yeah, probably,” when CBC News asked her if she will follow in her older siblings’ academic footsteps.
