By Ron Recinto
The Lookout
Sho Yano can now add a historic academic claim to his long list of accomplishments.
At 21, Yano is the youngest student to earn a medical degree from the University of Chicago, theChicago Tribune reports. That feat should come as no surprise to those familiar with his story.
Yano was reading at age 2, writing by 3 and composing music by his fifth birthday, according the Tribune story. He entered Loyola University in Chicago at age 9 and graduated summa cum laude in three years.
At age 12, he enrolled in the University of Chicago’s prestigious Pritzker School of Medicine, where students earn both a Ph.D. and a medical degree, according to the Tribune.
“I came to college to study, not to hang out or date,” he said in 2000 when he entered Loyola, WLS-TV in Chicago reported. Yano told the television station that he did face some discrimination for being a very young university student.
“I ran into things like people shouting ‘go back to elementary school’ on campus,” Yano told WLS-TV.
The Tribune story also pointed out that several medical schools passed on him because of maturity questions. On campus, he was a target for wisecracks, the Tribune reported, with some classmates questioning whether his mother was pushing him into college too early.
“I never understood that,” Yano said in the Tribune piece. “Why would being allowed to challenge yourself be considered more damaging than being totally bored?”
The newspaper called Pritzker’s decision to admit Yano a success, also revealing that he hopes his graduation quiets those who said he’d be stunted socially and emotionally for daring to tackle an accelerated track.
He’s also inspired his sister, Sayuri. At 15, she is at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore studying violin performance, the newspaper reported.
Sho Yano’s next challenge is an upcoming residency in pediatric neurology, which is expected to take five years, according to the Tribune.
But with Sho Yano, you never know. He could finish sooner than that.