Only 13, Carpentersville girl already a seasoned student at Elgin Community College

Chicago Tribune

08-08-2025

Antonika Shapovalova of Carpentersville is one smart, busy kid.
Just 13 years old, she has been taking classes at Elgin Community College since fall semester 2024. She's working toward an associate's degree even though she's not yet old enough to attend the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, where she said she'd like to go due to its individualized programs and reputation for getting students into prestigious universities.
'They typically don't take students until they are in the 10th grade,' she said.
Still, as it can be a factor considered for IMSA admission, Antonika already took the ACT test. She scored a composite 33, including a 36 in science and 34 in math.
Down the road, Antonika hopes to attend Princeton or another university to study astrophysics.
'My mom has told me the first books I liked were about astronomy, and when I was a little girl I wanted to be an astronaut or an architect,' she said. 'What I like about astrophysics is that the universe is so vast, unexplored and complicated. I want to be a part of the discoveries about it.'
These days, Antonika's mom, Veronika, is there helping her daughter on her journey toward reaching her goals, while her dad, Anton, runs his own HVAC business.
Veronika Shapovalova drives her daughter to and from ECC and other activities on days that would most likely exhaust many adults, and works remotely at her finance and accounting job.
Antonika's day typically includes spending four hours in the water practicing with the Barrington Swim Club. A gifted student, she is also a talented swimmer.
She placed first in the Girls 13–14 category at the Great Lakes Open Water Championships held June 26 on Lake Andrea in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, where she competed for Team Illinois.
'I love open water and long distance swimming,' Antonika said. 'I specialize in freestyle and the breaststroke, the hardest stroke. I like to grind it out, to keep going.'
Some days, when not practicing at the indoor pool at Barrington High School, she takes a bus with other swimmers to Pleasant Prairie for practice. Other days, her mother drives her to and from the Wisconsin practice facility. That's because this summer Antonika has had to scurry back to Illinois for an evening astronomy class at ECC.
Antonika said she has already completed requirements for graduating from Barrington Middle School. She tested and qualified for ECC's dual enrollment program, which requires specific permission from the Academic Dean and Dean of Students for those under the age of 16.
One of ECC's youngest students, Antonika took a college algebra class at the school in fall 2024, trigonometry and English composition courses in spring 2025 and Calculus 1 and an astronomy class this summer. That's in addition to already taking online classes from Rice University in Houston, Texas, and Delft University in the Netherlands.
The Elgin Community College instructors have been wonderful, particularly math teacher Phil Pardun and astronomy professor Rick Jesik, and the other, older students are supportive, the mother and daughter both said.
Antonika said she has not felt intimidated in classes. In turn, she has befriended older students, she said.
'Antonika's experience demonstrates how accessible, flexible programs like those at ECC can support high-achieving young learners right here in the suburbs,' Veronika Shapovalova said.
On top of all this, Antonika's growing resume includes winning a Noetic Math Contest Award from the National Honor Roll and honors from the Mathcounts Competition Series and the Barrington Mustang Math Tournament.
This summer, she also attended an astronomy camp at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and joined the Northwest Suburban Astronomers Club. In spring, she won the ECC Math Problem of the Semester Contest, she said.
'It took me a couple hours to figure it out,' Antonika said.
Moreover, this year, she finished third in a K-8th grade Chinese Speech Contest, for which she received a certificate of recognition from the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Chicago. During summer 2024, Antonika volunteered at a School District 220 Chinese Immersion Camp. In addition to Mandarin, she speaks Russian, too, she said.
With what spare time she might have, Antonika said she spends it with family, friends from the swim team and with her family's two dogs. She also likes to read sci-fi and fantasy novels and recently finished 'The Hobbit.'
Antonika didn't mention – but her mother did – that Antonika plays violin, too.
Like many a mother, Veronika Shapovalova keeps videos of her daughter to proudly show.
'Here she is from when she was much younger. She made the violin she's playing out of paper,' she said.