Boy (9) about to set varsity record
Nine-year-old Laurent has taken just nine months to get his degree
NY student who’s stepped onto the stage to be capped and gowned on graduation day will tell you it’s a moment of pride – the culmination of years of hard work.
Unless you’re Laurent Simons, that is. He needed just nine months to do what it takes the average student three years to achieve – and making it all the more remarkable is he’s just nine years old.
Laurent has been dubbed a child genius and likened to scientists Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. He’s fluent in four languages and has an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 145 – well within the genius level.
Now this whizz kid is on course to break the world record for the youngest person to graduate from university.
In December Laurent, who was born in Ostende, Belgium, will receive his degree in electrical engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands.
The record is currently held by Michael Kearney, from Honolulu in Hawaii, who was just 10 when he was awarded his bachelor’s degree in anthropology by the University of Alabama in 1994.
Michael (now 35) is said to have spoken his first words when he was four months old and reportedly told his paediatrician when he was six months old, “I have a left-ear infection.”
He went on to obtain his first master’s degree in chemistry from Middle Tennessee State University and four years later graduated with a master’s degree in computer science. When he was 22, he received his doctorate in chemistry.
Laurent seems to possess the same astounding gift for study and achievement. His parents, Alexander (37) and Lydia (29), put it down to a photographic memory and Lydia jokes she “ate a lot of fish during the pregnancy”.
Sjoerd Hulshof, programme director for the bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Eindhoven University, describes Laurent as simply extraordinary. He says Laurent’s IQ is matched by his emotional intelligence. “Not only is he hyper-intelligent but he’s also a sympathetic boy,” he told CNN.
IT WAS Laurent’s grandparents who first noticed something unique about the boy. He was living with them while his parents were working in the Netherlands. They told Lydia and Alexander that Laurent was gifted, but his parents thought they were exaggerating. It wasn’t until his primary school confirmed Laurent’s development was far faster than that of his peers that his parents started taking note.
“They noticed something special about Laurent,” says Lydia, an office manager.
“They told us he was like a sponge,” adds Alexander, a dentist.
Laurent started primary school when he was four, and graduated from high school at the age of eight – after completing the five-year programme in just 18 months.
Then it was off to university.
Peter Baltus, a professor of integrated electronics at the university who lectures Laurent, considers him to be three times smarter than the most intelligent student he’s met in his career.
Not surprisingly Laurent, who especially enjoys maths and science, has caught the attention of prestigious British universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. But the boy has his sights set on the USA.
“I really want to go to California. The weather is nice there,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
He dreams of one day developing artificial organs and wants to revolutionise cardiac surgery because his grandparents have heart conditions.
“Laurent’s aim is to do a PhD in life extension by doing research into artificial organs and robotics,” Alexander says.
He might be a boffin but Laurent’s parents are determined to give him a normal childhood.
When he’s not working, the youngster enjoys video games Fortnite and Minecraft, watching Netflix, taking care of his puppy, Sammy, and being on his phone. “We don’t want him to get too serious,” Alexander says. “We need to find a balance between being a child and his talents.” SOURCES: CNN, DAILYMAIL.CO.UK, NYPOST.COM, NYTIMES.COM, INDEPENDENT.CO.UK