9-year-old Belgian genius Laurent Simons has dropped out of university due to a graduation date dispute.
Laurent's story was widely commented in the world media after being told he would pursue studies in electrical engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology (TUE) in the Netherlands. Now, Laurent's family and TUE have had a disagreement over completing their Bachelor studies. TUE said they had planned for the 9-year-old to complete his studies there by mid-2020, due to the exams he has to take.
Laurent's family suggested to the university that the boy complete his Bachelor's degree within ten months, when in fact the study normally lasts three years. The Simons couple decided to remove the youngster from TUE after allegedly receiving a doctorate from a 9-year-old at a US university. His father told CNN that TUE's move to extend his studies is one way to prevent the 9-year-old from moving to another university. "The way they are treated is not correct," said the genius father. "Laurent is not their property."
In response, a TUE spokesman said: "We never try to keep students to themselves."
In terms of his talent, Laurent's parents, Lydia and Alexander Simons, thought Laurent's grandparents exaggerated when they said the boy was too smart. Fortunately, his talent was also noticed by the teachers. "They noticed something special about Laurent," Lydia told CNN in mid-November.
Laurent did an exam after exam to help teachers understand how far his intelligence went, "We were told it was like a sponge," Alexander added.
Laurent comes from a family of doctors, but parents, however, cannot explain the boy's ability to learn everything quickly. His progress has been noticed by universities around the world who are proposing a place of study for the next phase of his academic life. His family prefers not to make the names of these institutions public.
"Information retrieval is not a problem for Laurent," his father said. "I think the focus will be on research and applying knowledge to discover new things."
Because Laurent can learn faster than others, his parents do their best to make the 9-year-old have fun.
"We don't want to get too serious. Do whatever you want, ?Alexander said. "We have to find the balance between being a kid and being a genius."
Laurent said he enjoys playing with the dog and the phone, as well as other children. Unlike other 9-year-olds, he has decided what he will do in life: develop artificial organs.
Source: CNN
