A nine-year-old Nigerian boy, David Balogun resident of Pennsylvania, in the United States has graduated from an American high school as one of the youngest students to achieve this feat in the world.
Balogun, who has a passion for science and computer programming also received his high school diploma from Reach Cyber Charter School, Harrisburg, after taking classes remotely from his family home.
According to UK Guardian, the boy has already commenced gathering some credits toward his college degree
The record has made him one of the youngest known children to ever graduate high school, according to a list compiled by the history and culture website oldest.org.
The only kid younger than Balogun on this feat is Michael Kearney, who still holds the Guinness world record for youngest high school graduate set when he was six in 1990.
Kearney then obtained master’s degrees at ages 14 and 18 and then won more than $1m on gameshows.
Balogun would come in higher on that list than the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow, who was 11 when he finished high school.
According to an interview he granted, Balogun revealed that his aspiration is to be an astrophysicist.
“I want to be an astrophysicist, and I want to study black holes and supernovas,” Balogun said.
His parents admitted it is challenging to nurture a child with such extraordinary intelligence, he is already advancing in academic degrees.
“I had to get outside of the box,” David’s mother, Ronya said. “Playing pillow fights when you’re not supposed to, throwing the balls in the house. He’s a nine-year-old with a brain that has the capacity to understand and comprehend a lot of concepts beyond his years and sometimes beyond my understanding.”
Balogun disclosed that one of his favourite teachers helped keep him engaged with his studies and pushed him to keep progressing.“They didn’t bog me down,” he said. “They…advocated for me, saying, ‘He can do this. He can do that.’”
“Am I going to throw my nine-year-old into Harvard while I’m living in [Pennsylvania]?” David’s father, Henry, said of the family’s college search. “No.”