What are you doing with your life? 14 Year Old Carson Huey-You Graduates University with Physics Degree

This is maybe one of the craziest things I’ve seen all week, and there is some pretty crazy stuff going down in the world these days.  Not only is it crazy, but it’s a good news story.  Which are hard to come by, so this is actually refreshing.  A 14 year old boy in Texas received an undergraduate degree from Texas Christian University. When I say boy, I literally mean a child.  He’s only 14, and has a bachelor’s degree.  He started university when he was only 11, and graduated this year with all of his peers.  Did his Mom take him to class every day?  How does this work?  First of all, his name is Carson Huey-You, and he describes himself as “a normal dude”.

Second, I’d like to raise the stakes on this one a bit.  Not only did he graduate, but he graduated with a degree in physics AND a double minor in math and Chinese.  That is far more than I walked away with in my 20s.  There are literally no words to describe just how amazing this is.  According to the Star-Telegram, his favourite thing about university was:  “Getting to learn new things about things you never thought about, things that you never knew existed, things that you might not even think about thinking about”.  Which is also incredible.  Think about what you were doing when you were 14, and then compare it to this.  I don’t mean to sound judgmental, but this will help to put it into perspective.  Also think about what 14 year-olds are doing now.  Maybe video games come to mind.  Or any kind of time wasting activity, but not for this kid.

Is this a possibility for other kids?  I would argue that it is.  Maybe not for every kid, but certainly for some who have the drive.  Intelligence is definitely a factor, but I don’t think that’s the only thing.  There are a lot of smart kids out there.  And I mean smart.  It amazes and surprises me just how smart some kids are these days.  Far smarter than I was at their age.  And maybe even more book smart than I am now.  Some of the challenges that this kid faced included navigating a large campus.  Which is something we all encounter from time to time.  Even now, I wonder if I will be late for a meeting or an appointment just because I don’t know the physical layout of the space.  Good for him for being able to face that challenge and not letting it get him down.

I could go on and on about how he over came some really incredible challenges, but I won’t.  I think the message here is that we can all do things if we just set our mind to it.  We all have goals.  Some might be loftier than others.  Some might need more hard work and dedication, but you will get there because you can do it.  I tend to doubt myself more than anyone I know.  Deep down I want to be able to achieve the goals I’ve set out for myself, but there are so many reasons why I don’t think I will succeed.  I think that this kid graduating university at 14 is a success story for us all.  Maybe I didn’t graduate at 14.  And maybe my goals are taking me longer to achieve than I had hoped, but I’m getting there and I’m making progress.  If any of you out there are feeling like me, you should check out what this kid did, and let that be your own lesson.