Unleashing the Extraordinary: Stories of Inspiring Individuals

 11 year boy graduated

'I'm 11, I Have a Physics Degree And Want To Make Humans Immortal.

It's hard to remember much about when I was very little, but I know I played a lot with my cousin, Dylan. I didn't particularly remind what we played, I just liked his company. My parents worked a lot, because they had three dental practices in The Netherlands, so I lived with my grandparents in Belgium until I was 9years old. But I saw my parents during weekends and holidays. I remember, when my mom and dad came to see me, we often visited theme parks, sometimes in the U.S.—Universal Studios was my favorite.

My grandma did always tell my mom and dad that I am ahead of my age in studies, but they just thought she was exaggerating, because all grandparents think their grandchildren are special. When I got 4, I joined  elementary school in Ostend, Belgium  and finished when I was 6.  When I was 6, I took IQ test and proved me best.

In a high school I did spend first month in classroom with  all the other kids. The school was  irritating for me, We tried it, but it was irritating for me and for them. I would give the answers to each question very quickly; the other students didn't like that and I didn't like it either. I used to answer each question in the class very fast which was irritating for other students. I went through everything very quickly and I completed high school at 8 years old, but I didn't realize that it was special, I just went with the flow and what the teachers recommended.

I started at one university but I left there in late 2019 and started my physics course at the University of Antwerp in April 2020. I didn't really have much contact with the other students—most of the time I studied at home because of the pandemic. It was only for exams or lab work that I would go into the university, so I don't really know how the students would have responded to me.

But as I studied more last year, I became more interested in quantum physics. So, after summer vacation in 2020, I decided to pause all the other projects I was working on in different subjects and completely focus on physics. I finished my last undergraduate course in June and I now have my official bachelor's degree in physics. I graduated at the age of 11 with a score of 85 percent, the highest distinction (summa cum laude).

For me, it was never important to obtain the qualifications themselves, even though I am aware that I am the second youngest person in the world to complete a bachelor's degree. Acquiring the actual knowledge is much more important. Furthermore, obtaining the bachelor's degree was a condition for actually starting a master's degree.

I have already taken a few courses for a master's in physics at the University of Antwerp and I want to complete it there. In a bachelor's degree you get a basis of knowledge in physics and quantum physics, but it gets more detailed in a master's.

The main reason I chose to study physics is because my end goal is to achieve immortality. One of the areas that is important in the study of immortality is physics, but as of yet, there is no mapped out path to achieve it.

I am interested in immortality because my grandparents suffer from heart disease. I want to help them and I want to help other kids so they don't have to lose their grandparents. You could look at immortality as a very big puzzle. We have a lot of pieces of the puzzle, which are different studies and research, and it's possible that combining the knowledge from those studies will develop new insights and ideas. Something I am interested in is artificial organs; I would like to be able to replace as many parts of the body as possible with artificial organs. I plan to do a lot of studying, gather a lot of knowledge and then all the pieces will hopefully fit in together and the puzzle of immortality may be solved.

Before COVID-19 I would travel a lot to visit other academic institutions, but now, I am at home a lot more, and I like to wake up later in the morning, sometimes at 11am!

Mondays I have a group meeting with the rest of a research group I am part of that is looking into the theory of complex quantum systems. On Wednesdays I watch the TV show Loki and on Saturdays I watch The Blacklist, so I always get up early for both of those shows.

After breakfast, I do all the studying I need to do for university. But at 3 or 4pm when my friends are done with school and homework, I play with them. We play video games or watch movies together. I don't really talk to them about studying, we just hang out as kids.

Laurent Simons plans to solve the mystery of immortality. But when he isn't studying, he enjoys playing videogames and watching movies with his friends.LYDIA SIMONS

My mom says that she and my dad are very, very proud of me. They think what I do is amazing. But I just went with the flow when I was growing up, I didn't know all this would happen.

Antwerp will remain my base, but I plan to collaborate with other universities in places like Israel, the U.K. and the U.S. I already have a number of projects that I am busy with but, at this stage, I can't share who they are with! In the future, I think I will do a PhD at the University of

Antwerp and then, I would like to have a laboratory where I can do as much research as I want.

Laurent Simons lives in Antwerp, Belgium with his parents. He will begin studying for a master's degree at the University of Antwerp in October. You can follow him on 

Raj is inspiring

The fourth stage cancer student got 97.2% marks from the hospital

Raj scored 98 in English and Mass Media Studies, 97 in Home Science and Marketing and 96 in Economics and placed third in the school.

AIf there is a passion for education, then man faces the biggest difficulties, said Bibin Baldev Raj, a student from India.Baban Baldev Raj, a 17-year-old student in Dubai, battled a deadly disease like cancer and scored 97.2% in the Indian Central Board of Secondary Education's Grade 12 examinations from a hospital bed.

 Babine Baldwin Raj fought the fourth stage of Ewing's sarcoma, a type of bone cancer, and prepared for the exams from her hospital bed.

The results of the exams were announced on July 30 last month. Raj scored 98 in English and Mass Media Studies, 97 in Home Science and Marketing and 96 in Economics and placed third in the school.

Bibin Baldev Raj says that Corona made education online, which helped him prepare for his exams from his hospital bed.

It is to be noted that while preparing for the exams, Raj was initially undergoing treatment at Al-Zahra Hospital in Dubai, while now Raj is undergoing treatment at the American Oncology Institute in Jalandhar, Indian Punjab.

11-year-old Tara Sharif beats Einstein, Hawking in IQ tests

Eleven-year-old Tara has surprised the world and has  broken the record for the highest IQ with an amazing162 point score.

She has crossed the ‘genius benchmark. She is a school girl and at the age of 11, she has left behind world-genious scientists Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.

The daughter of Hussain Hamdam Iranian has exceeded all expectations. However, Tara's origins seem to be ambiguous as some believe she is Iranian while according to other news outlets Tara Sharif’s family belongs to Dasht Kocho Zareen, Balochistan which is situated in Pakistan. 

The young girl has scored a total of 162 points while Hawking’s had an IQ of 160. Although Einstein never took the test, his IQ is also estimated to be 160.

Sharing her thoughts on this achievement, the young genius said: "I was shocked when I got the result. I never expected to get such a good score."

In a non-verbal test in Oxford, `Tara focused on understanding the meaning of words and answered all the questions within a set of time.

Tara’s father also shared his sentiments on her daughter's unprecedented success: “I am extremely proud but very surprised at how well Tara scored."

Furthermore, she revealed her future plans after achieving success in Mensa IQ Test, “When I am older, I would like to do something related to mathematics.”

Currently, Tara has qualified for membership of Mensa which is known as the 'High IQ Society'.