Instagram Laurent Simons.
Laurent Simons is scheduled to graduate from university in a few weeks with a degree in electrical engineering. What is unusual is that he is 9 years old, making him one of the youngest people in the world to graduate from a university, according to The Independent. Laurent will receive a Bachelor’s Degree in December from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands.
As Laurent says on his Instagram, it has been a “Busy Week With Interviews!! Building Up The Pressure!” And he adds, “Soon Gigantic News!!” Could this be a hint that he will soon disclose which academic institution he will be attending next?
Laurent started high school at the age of six, according to Interesting Engineering, and “…he led a research project at the Academic Medical Center (AMC) in Amsterdam because he was ‘bored’ with how easy the school was,” says the site. He received his high school diploma when he was only 7 years old. Interesting Engineering goes on to say that he has an IQ of 145 and has a photographic memory.
Laurent is very focused on his education and has plans for his future academic life and career path ahead. But he still takes time to enjoy life.
Here’s what you need to know about Laurent Simons:
1. Laurent’s Teacher Says He Is ‘Hyper Intelligent, but Also a Very Sympathetic Boy’
Laurent seems to be eager to learn and posted on his Instagram page that he listens to lectures even in the car. “Lectures On The Go!! Whatever, Whenever! ❤️Tech!!” He is also grateful to his teachers as he says on Instagram, “My First Designed Printed Circuit Board! So Exciting! ? Thanks To My Brilliant Mentor, Prof Baltus, I Learned So Much From Him!”
His teachers are impressed not only by his intelligence but by his personality. Sjoerd Hulshof is the education director of Eindhoven University of Technology’s bachelor’s degree program in electrical engineering. He says, according to CNN, “Laurent is the fastest student we have ever had here,” he said. “Not only is he hyper intelligent but also a very sympathetic boy.”
2. Laurent’s Grandparents Discovered He Was Extraordinarily Gifted
While there are doctors in Laurent’s family, there doesn’t seem to be an easy explanation for his exceptional intelligence. It was Laurent’s grandparents who found that he was gifted, as reported in CNN.
According to Interesting Engineering, “Because of his fast advancing educational life, his friends are mostly older. He doesn’t like scouting and sports, and his father states that he never had any interest in playing with his peers. He didn’t like playing with toys either, the only thing that interested him was how the toys worked.”
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3. Laurent Isn’t All About School, He Is Also a Big Fan of Minecraft, Fortnite & Netflix
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- While he isn’t that interested in sports and he doesn’t play chess, says the Independent, he really likes Fortnite and Minecraft. He also is a fan of Netflix. He loves animals and is very fond of his German Shepherd dog Joe and celebrated the pup’s birthday on Instagram.
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He posted about wanting to try “Real ‘Brabants Worstenbroodje’!” [traditional Dutch sausage rolls] to see what all the fuss was about and deemed them tasty on his Instagram page. He seems like an energetic and enthusiastic boy who happens to be a genius.
4. He Plans to Continue His Education & Pursue a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Along With a Medical Degree
- Laurent wants to continue his education and get a Ph.D. in electrical engineering while at the same time working toward a degree in medicine. The New York Post reports that Laurent is being sought after by quite a few top universities but no word from his parents yet about where he will go for the next steps with his education.
The prodigy intends to be involved with creating artificial organs, including hearts. As he posted on his Instagram page this past summer, “Many People Keep Asking Me: What Is Your Aim?’ ‘What Do You Study?’…I feel Now The Time Has Come To Reveal…To Be Continued Soon!! Kept It Secret For 2 Long, Can’t Wait 2 Share!!!! The More I Learn, The More I Realize It Is Not An Illusion, Not JUST A Dream!! I Can Do It!!! Yes We Can!!”
5. Child Prodigies Have Fascinated Us Through the Ages
Portrait of Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 13. Getty
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- Child Prodigies have long fascinated the rest of us. More famous ones like Amadeus Mozart, who showed his musical genius when he was about 3 years old, are well known but others have been somewhat eclipsed over the years.
- Clara Schumann may not have spoken until she was 4 years old , according to History.com, but by the age of 7 she had mastered the piano and by the time she was 10 years old she was writing her own music.
circa 1840: Clara Schumann (nee Wieck) (1819 – 1896), pianist and composer. Getty
- Judit Polgár, from Hungary, one of three young sisters who came onto the chess scene with the force of a blitz game, became the youngest international Chess grandmaster when she was 15, as her website says.
The father of Blaise Pascal, 17th century mathematician, physicist, and theologian, was a mathematician and wanted his son to study classical subjects and not become focused on geometry, according to Biography.com. But Blaise would not be deterred and not being allowed to study math only drove him to find out more about geometry and by the time he was 16 he was presenting theorems to the most important mathematical minds of his era.
The youngest chess grand master, 17-year-old Hungarian Judit Polgar during the final match with Russian-born chess champion Boris Spassky 16 February 1993. Getty
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, according to Science, How Stuff Works, was a teenager when “she first gained fame as a self-taught prodigy when she faced a 40-person panel of Mexico City’s foremost scholars and aced an oral exam in mathematics, philosophy, theology and literature.” She led a rich life of reading, studying and writing.
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