A 12-year-old California prodigy has become the youngest person to graduate from his college, doing so with five degrees and plans to achieve his pilot’s license in the next four years.
Clovis Hung started at Fullerton College in the fall of 2020 at the age of nine in a manner that is somewhat reminiscent of The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper, who graduated college at 14.
His mother, Song Choi, said she pulled him out of his traditional public school after seeing his gifts and his ability to self-motivate.
‘Clovis is super inquisitive, mature, diligent, self-disciplined, and highly motivated,’ Choi said in a statement. ‘He is also very curious and traditional public schools could not satisfy his curiosity, therefore, the best option was college.’
Hung attended the ‘Special Admit’ program at Fullerton, which allowed him to take college courses simultaneously with being homeschooled by his mother.
Clovis Hung started at Fullerton College in the fall of 2020 at the age of nine and is graduating with five degrees at the age of 12
Fullerton is a part of the state’s public community college system and is located in Orange County, about 30 miles from Los Angeles.
They had previously graduated a 13-year-old named Jack Rico, who received four associate degrees in the spring of 2020. Hung said he’d been inspired by Rico.
The school’s professors worried that the age difference and Hung’s lack of maturity might provide problems, but biology Professor Kenneth Collins came away impressed.
‘Clovis has been a great mixture of ‘kid’ and college student,’ Collins said. ‘He is mature enough that the other students take him seriously, but enough of a kid that they look after him like a younger brother and cheer him on.’
‘When I had questions, I asked them, and if they had questions, they’d ask me,’ Hung said of his peers. ‘They treated me like a little brother.’
Hung said that he ‘instantly fell in love with college life,’ despite initial nerves and soon began taking more classes as he grew up.
He eventually went as far as to be accepted into the school’s honors program.
The 12-year-old walked on May 20 with 900 fellow Fullerton graduates, receiving associate’s degrees in history, social sciences, social behavior and self development, arts and human expression, and science and mathematics, according to KABC.
Hung attended the ‘Special Admit’ program at Fullerton, which allowed him to take college courses simultaneously with being homeschooled by his mother
His trajectory is somewhat reminiscent of The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper, who graduates at 14
Hung said that he ‘instantly fell in love with college life,’ despite initial nerves and soon began taking more classes as he grew up
Hung says he plans to get his pilot’s license next, hoping to either become a pilot
The 12-year-old walked on May 20 with 900 fellow Fullerton graduates, receiving associate’s degrees in history, social sciences, social behavior and self development, arts and human expression, and science and mathematics
After becoming acclimated to college life, Hung took more classes and eventually was accepted into the Honors Program, where he was able to ‘thrive.’
Hung, who graduated on May 20 along with Fullerton’s 900 other graduates received five Associate of Arts degrees in History, Social Sciences, Social Behavior and Self-Development, Arts and Human Expression, and Science and Mathematics.
The 12-year-old decided to attend Fullerton after then-13-year-old Jack Rico graduated from the school in the spring of 2020 with four associate degrees — Rico later graduated from UNLV in December 2021.
Hung will next take STEM courses while starting to apply to more traditional universities.
Perhaps not surprisingly for a boy with sky high achievements, it’s the skies he plans to conquer next.
Hung has career goals of being a pilot, an aerospace engineer or a pediatrician. He’s already attempting to take the next step towards his first career.
‘I feel really proud of what I’ve accomplished so far,’ Hung said. ‘I also just joined the Civic Air Patrol and hope to get my pilot license at age 16.’
