In praise of abnormal childhoods

Read this post on the Gifted Exchange.

In praise of abnormal childhood.

USA Today has a quick post today on Sho Yano’s graduation from medical school at age 21. Yano also earned a PhD in molecular genetics and cell biology, but that wasn’t in the headline — I guess people still like the image of Doogie Howser, MD, all these years after that show!

My favorite lines from the post: “The average age of students entering medical school in the U.S. is 23, and there were schools that refused Yano admittance because of his age. School officials worried that the difficulty of medical school would hurt Yano’s ability to have a normal adolescence, the Tribune reports….”I never understood that,” Yano said. “Why would being allowed to challenge yourself be considered more damaging than being totally bored?”

Exactly. There is nothing “normal” about being bored in school, or about being forced to learn certain things and not learn others solely because of your birthdate. If being able to learn to your full potential is an abnormal childhood, well, I’m all in favor of being weird.