young genius
Highly talented boy graduates from school at the age of nine – and already has big plans
David Balogun managed in three years what is actually planned for twelve school years (symbol image)
© skynesher / Getty Images
David Balogun has just graduated from high school – and he’s only nine years old. The child prodigy aspired to a career as an astrophysicist.
Nine-year-old children in Germany usually go to the fourth grade and deal with units of length, area and weight, different tenses or the human body. David Balogun has done all that long ago. The young American graduated from school at the age of nine.
David is a little genius – it’s no exaggeration to say so. The Pennsylvania boy started school just before the start of the coronavirus pandemic. It quickly became apparent there that he had outstanding skills. In the first grade, his parents let him take a test for gifted students – by then David had already passed the second grade exams for math and English.
Nine-year-old boy is looking for a suitable college
Two and a half years later, he has his high school diploma in his pocket. Normally, twelve school years are estimated for this in the US education system. But David rushed through the material he was learning in online classes at breathtaking speed. This makes him one of the youngest people ever to graduate from high school. The record is held by Michael Kearney, who graduated in 1990 at the age of six.
David Balogun is particularly interested in math and science subjects, and he also loves programming. The nine-year-old already has big plans: “I want to explore astrophysicists and black holes and supernovas,” he told CBS News. Next up for him is college. Big names like Princeton and Harvard are under discussion, but his parents also want to protect their son from being overwhelmed. “We’re still wrestling with all of those things and trying to figure out what fits best,” his mother told Insider.
Sometimes he’s just a kid
His family worries that when he was a child he would not be taken seriously on campus — let alone practical issues like housing. David admits that even at school he found it difficult to find playmates. Those are the two sides of the coin when someone is so young and so intelligent, explains his mother.
But despite his extraordinary abilities, David is still a normal child in many situations, he plays with Lego and sometimes has to be admonished for pillow fights, says his mother: “Just because his mind can grasp and fathom big ideas and theories doesn’t mean that that he’s not acting like a nine-year-old.”
Watch the video: He is considered one of the brightest children in Britain. Five-year-old Haigen Oakes can say pi to more than 100 digits. This talent is due to his exceptionally good memory.