At school, Heidnik did not interact with his fellow students, and refused to make eye contact. When a well-meaning, new female student asked, “Did you get the homework done, Gary?”, he yelled at her, and told her she was not “worthy enough” to talk to him. Heidnik was also teased about his oddly shaped head, which he and Terry claimed was the result of a young Heidnik falling out of a tree. Nonetheless, Heidnik performed well academically, and tested with an I.Q. of 148. With the encouragement of his father, 14-year-old Heidnik enrolled at the since-defunct Staunton Military Academy in Staunton, Virginia, for two years, leaving before graduation. After another period in public high school, he dropped out and joined the U.S. Army when he was 17.