Young, Gifted, and Black: Nine-Year-Old David Balogun Receives High School Diploma, One of Youngest Graduates Ever

The average nine-year-old kid is worried about playing outside or figuring out basic multiplication, however, every kid isn’t average.

Meet David Balogun, who The Guardian reported received his high school diploma from Reach Cyber Charter School in Harrisburg, PA. Balogun was taking classes remotely and has already earned some college credits. “I had to get outside of the box. Playing pillow fights when you’re not supposed to, throwing the balls in the house,” David’s mother, Ronya Balogun said. “He’s a 9-year-old with a brain that just has the capacity to understand and comprehend a lot of concepts that’s beyond his years and sometimes beyond my understanding.”

Both parents of the young genius have advanced degrees, so Balogun’s intelligence is no surprise, but David’s parents say raising a young child with intellectual gifts is challenging. His accomplishment makes David one of the youngest known children to ever graduate high school, The Guardian reported. He’s on the fast track to bigger and better things, as David already knows what he wants to do with his life.

CBS News reported the nine-year-old has already completed a semester at Bucks County Community College and his parents are trying to see where he will finish his education. “I want to be an astrophysicist and I want to study black holes and supernovas,” David said. His father is doing thorough research on which school would be a good fit for his brilliant son. “Am I going to throw my nine-year-old into Harvard while I’m living in Pennsylvania?,” David’s father, Henry, said to The Guardian. “No.”

David is very mature for his age, being gifted in other areas outside of his studies. He practices the piano and is pursuing a black belt in martial arts. The genius is also a member of Mensa, a high intelligence quotient society. His teachers call him an “inspirational kid,” and told The Guardian, they are rooting for him in his endeavors. His science teacher Cody Derr said David was “definitely one who changes the way you think about teaching.”