Did you know that you can study at a university even while still in secondary school? We have one such exceptional student at Jaderka. His name is Mikuláš Jandík, and alongside his studies at a grammar school he is already in his second year at FNSPE. Here is his story.
Hi, I’m Mikuláš. My interests are mathematics, physics and astronomy. They take up so much of my time that I often don’t think about anything else for the whole week. In the little free time I have left, I like to travel, which sometimes lets me escape everyday worries and relax mentally.
In the sixth year of my eight-year grammar school, I started getting so bored in lessons that it was really getting me down. I couldn’t think of a better solution than hiding out at a university, so in October 2023 I wrote to Jaderka asking whether I could try a few first-year bachelor’s courses. In the end, I was given the opportunity to attend mechanics and linear algebra classes and even unofficially try taking the course credits and exams at the end of the semester. I applied for an individual study plan at my grammar school and alternated between the two schools week by week. My boredom problem was solved almost immediately—and very effectively.
My first lecture at Jaderka was Linear Algebra. Unfortunately, it was already about the fourth week of the semester, so I didn’t really understand anything at first. Even so, with the help of helpful lecturers and instructors, I managed to meet the requirements for the course credits in both subjects, and I passed the Linear Algebra exam with a C. These successes opened up the possibility for me to continue studying in a similar way.
By the second semester, I already understood how university works, and I was able to keep up much better in lectures and seminars. I passed all my exams on the first attempt, and in June I even completed Mechanics from the winter semester. I therefore decided to continue in the same way until my graduation from secondary school. So far, I’ve managed to complete the first year of the bachelor’s programme (even though it took me two years), and I hope to finish a large part of the second year by the time I graduate.
At first, I chose Jaderka more or less at random. Looking back, though, I think I ended up at the best faculty possible. Compared to the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University, FNSPE doesn’t push students to specialise so early, and in the first two years the schedules look the same across all programmes. At fifteen, I would have had a hard time choosing the right specialisation, and even now I’m still not sure what I’d like to focus on in the future. So a schedule made up of many mathematics and physics courses suits me perfectly.
Studying at a university even before graduating from secondary school is, in my opinion, a great opportunity that many secondary school students could take advantage of—but unfortunately many of them simply don’t know about it. In the last two years, however, more and more of them have started doing it—not only at Jaderka, but also at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics and at the University of Chemistry and Technology.