Belgian Boy About To Graduate From University Aged 9

Dec 08, 2019 by apost team

What do you do for an encore if you have already achieved greatness by the age of nine? Indeed, there are children who are absolutely extraordinary. We call them prodigies and geniuses.

From Belgium comes the story of a young man, well, child, who at the age of nine is on track to graduate with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology. While other kids the same age as Laurent Simons are out playing sports and video games, Simons is finishing his four-year college degree and planning for the future.

What does the future hold for young Simons? Well, he plans on moving forward to get his PHD in electrical engineering while studying for a possible career in medicine in his spare time. Yes, you read that correctly. He plans on working his way towards being a doctor in his spare time.

apost.com

Early in his schooling, his parents, Lydia and Alexander Simons, and his teachers were perplexed by just how far his talents reached. His special gift of learning was first noticed by his grandparents who told his mother that they noticed something very special about Laurent. After much testing, teachers concurred, stating he was like a sponge when absorbing knowledge.

When asked how she thought Laurent's gift came to be, his mother offered this conjecture to CNN: "I ate a lot of fish during the pregnancy."

Thanks to the flexibility Laurent is afforded by EUT, he will be able to finish his undergraduate studies much faster than normal. As Sjoerd Hulshof, education director of the TUE bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, explained in a statement, "special students that have good reasons for doing so can arrange an adjusted schedule. In much the same way we help students who participate in top sport."

"Laurent is the fastest student we have ever had here," he said, according to CNN. "Not only is he hyper intelligent but also a very sympathetic boy."

While Laurent admits that electrical engineering is his favorite subject, he still plans to give medicine a go, beings he comes from a family of doctors. It's no surprise the kid prodigy is already getting scholarship offers from some of the top universities in the world.

This boy certainly has a tremendous gift, but in our own ways, we all do. Let us know what you think and throw this out to family and friends.