Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Now: Allison Cartwright, 14, plays with her Nintendo Wii Fit as her father Mark (left) watches the game. Allison is home for winter break and says she's glad to be home "so I can sleep as late as I want and I don't have to do homework."

Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Then: Allison Cartwright and her dad, Mark Cartwright, move in to her residence hall room at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton in August. During her first semester at college, Allison took a post with the campus radio station, attended mixers with boarding schools in Staunton and studied.

Then: Blacksburg resident Allison Cartwright went off to college in late summer at age 13. Allison, a former Blacksburg Middle School student, and her parents, Mark and Denise Cartwright, decided that she needed an academic challenge that, so far, middle school had not afforded her.

"I couldn't see her wasting another five years acing everything," Denise Cartwright said at the time. "You have enough mental health issues as it is. What happens if then she gets to college and makes her first C? She needs to do that now."

They sent her to Mary Baldwin College's Program for the Exceptionally Gifted, where Allison joined 33 other 13- to 17-year-old girls on their way to college for the first time. The girls live in a dormitory for students in the program and are held to stricter rules, including a curfew. Otherwise, they are considered average students, taking classes with other freshmen and taking part in clubs and other activities.

Before going, people questioned both Allison and her parents' decision.

"It's not like I'm being shipped away or anything," Allison said then.

She enrolled in traditional freshman courses -- English, college algebra, introductory French and chemistry. After the first day of classes on Sept. 1, she said she was worried about her English composition class the most, which consisted solely of the younger students. The other courses were filled with a range of ages.

Now: Allison solidified her college experience once she took the step that all hardworking college kids must -- she joined the social networking site Facebook. And during a semester she describes as "fun," she also took a post with the campus radio station, attended mixers with boarding schools in Staunton and, well, studied.

Allison finished finals the week of Dec. 8, just days after she turned 14. She expects to receive a B in each of her classes and has registered for new ones, including dance, history and social science statistics.

Despite the outside concerns about her ability to adjust to being away from home, Allison said she wasn't too homesick.

"There was no crying or anything like that," her mom said.

Allison has been home a handful of times and her parents have visited her three times. Her father bought her trinkets from shops in downtown Staunton whenever he was there on business trips.

Some things were an adjustment, such as having a roommate. Allison, an only child, said she had to get used to sharing space with another person, as well as compromising on how late to keep the lights on for studying.

Like most college kids, she's glad to be home "so I can sleep as late as I want and I don't have to do homework." She doesn't return to school until Jan. 11.