8yr old starts university

[nrs421]

Song Yoo-geun, 8, wants to build flying cars, defying Newton's law of gravity, and the physics genius which has made him Korea's youngest university student may very well drive him to that dream.

Amid scholastic achievements that have confounded experts, the public spotlight is squarely on the child prodigy and his parents, both 46 and both former teachers. What has made Yoo-geun - born late November 1997 and actually just shy of 8 years old - so special?

His parents differ from the vast majority of Korean parents who show a passion approaching zeal for their children's education.

"No fixed daily routines for our boy," said Yoo-geun's parents. "Yoo-geun has a monthly schedule only. Rather than being confined by a rigid timetable, Yoo-geun has the freedom to explore every field he wants to."

While other children his age are first graders at elementary school, he is a freshman at the Physics Department of Inha University in Incheon, west of Seoul.

Song Yoo-geun

He set a record by completing elementary, junior-high and high school curricula in just nine months - a progression that normally takes Koreans 12 years - before being admitted to university.

With no school record to rely on for screening Yoo-geun's qualifications, the university tested him through an interview in October. He surprised professors by explaining the Schroedinger equation, which is of central importance to the theory of quantum mechanics.

Experts say the equation, proposed by the Austrian physicist Erwin Schroedinger in 1925, plays a role analogous to Newton's second law in classical mechanics.

It's no wonder then that Yoo-geun is now a national figure and the focus of media attention. People are curious about his mental capabilities and how he will be taught at university. They also want to know how he is different from ordinary children and how he has been brought up.

"Once we took Yoo-geun to a zoo. There he was looking at animals for four and a half hours straight. It was when he was three or four years old. We thought then that he was either a prodigy or the opposite," his father Song Soo-jin said in an interview with The Korea Herald at his apartment in Guri, Gyeonggi Province.

The interview was conducted mainly with the senior Song since Yoo-geun is lacking in his ability to communicate with adults.

"I think it's good to let my son do whatever he wants," the father said. According to him, when Yoo-geun is engrossed in solving math problems or doing games, he often concentrates on them for up to 14 or 15 hours. "He likes to reach conclusions, even it takes a long time."

He said his son wants his to undertake research at CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory near Geneva.

Yoo-geun's dream is to make flying cars, based on the superstring theory - an attempt by science to explain all particles and forces of nature by representing them as vibrations of tiny strings.

"It goes against Newton's law. Everything on earth gets drawn to the surface by gravity, but in the case of flying cars, it's different," Song said. "There should exist the same opposite magnitude of power as the earth's gravity-pull. So, a balance is formed between gravity and reaction, which makes flying cars float in the atmosphere," he explained.

"To study more on flying cars and the super-string theory, Yoo-geun wants to join CERN," the father said.

Yoo-geun first made headlines in March last year when he received a certificate for information-processing, normally given to professional engineers in their 20s or 30s. A KBS-TV program introduced his extraordinary talent in physics last November.

In March this year, he went to an elementary school but after a few days said he didn't feel suited to the school system. He took a test to obtain a diploma certifying graduation from elementary school, and passed it.

But the Song family became embroiled in legal disputes with the school authorities after they refused to approve the exam result and issue a diploma.

In April, the Song family won the case. Afterwards, on April 5, Yoo-geun passed the middle school-level entrance exam, followed on Aug. 3 by the high school-level entrance exam. In October he was admitted to the Physics Department of Inha University.

Then Science and Technology Minister Oh Myung labeled Yoo-geun as "the first prodigy in science" and promised to offer him scholarships for five years. Oh said the government will provide support for him to be able to experiment at state-run research institutes and study at universities abroad.

Yoo-geun's father is basically against prodigy schools because, he says, their institutional methods prevent children from growing creatively. Plus, he added, it's absurd to produce the same number of gifted students every year.

Nationwide there are currently 23 such schools, which accept a set number of students. What about other gifted students who, unfortunately, weren't allowed to enter? The standards to determine genius become unclear, the senior Song said.

Asked if media attention is burdensome, he said "proper attention" is desirable because proper media attention can enable encouragement to be passed on. Furthermore, it will generate more interest in physics, an area which is declining but fundamental to advancing science.

Song also said he hopes media attention can help Yoo-geun become the Park Se-ri of physics. By winning many LPGA golf championships, Park became a model for young, aspiring golfers. After Park, plenty of female Korean golfers such as Kim Mi-hyun and Grace Park and Michelle Wie have figured prominently on the women's golf circuit.

"Public attention on Yoo-geun shouldn't stop here. I'd like to see more kids go along the same path, shoulder to shoulder with Yoo-geun," said Song.

Yoo-geun has received his share of criticism, along with the hype. When he appeared on television with signs of atopic skin reactions on his face, the gossip, although lacking legitimate grounds, was that the rash was caused by severe stress. Critics said his mother should be held responsible for making her kid study excessively.

Educators in the mainstream found fault with his father's decision to enroll Yoo-geun at Inha University after rejecting offers from top-notch and prestigious national universities like Pohang University of Science and Technology or Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Techonology.

"I believe, above all, the first priority in education is to make every child happy, said Song.

"The single most important thing in education is to find a favorable, encouraging environment for a kid - in other words, let him be," he concluded.

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/da...0511050024.asp


elementary through Grade 12 in 9mths....wow!

[Tygerwoody]

NEXT on the 10 o clock news....

8 year old nerd kid gets beat up and stuffed in locker at local College.... Stay tuned

[evilghost]

Not fair, he used the aznmode cheat.

[|JuiceZ|]

Originally Posted by Tygerwoody

NEXT on the 10 o clock news....

8 year old nerd kid gets beat up and stuffed in locker at local College.... Stay tuned

hahaha!

[1337_Like_ThaT]

Eessh that's carazy!

I have found out recently that there is a 15 year old girl in my english 1A class at University. Good thing I didn't try asking her out afterall

[Elvin Presler]

Originally Posted by Tygerwoody

NEXT on the 10 o clock news....

8 year old nerd kid gets beat up and stuffed in locker at local College.... Stay tuned

...and the follow up the next day...

8 yr old builds micro-nuclear bomb, mounts it on a paper airplane and sails it into the ear of classmate. 14 Die.

North Korean Government abducts 8 yr old...

[Tuork]

Originally Posted by Elvin Presler

...and the follow up the next day...

8 yr old builds micro-nuclear bomb, mounts it on a paper airplane and sails it into the ear of classmate. 14 Die.

North Korean Government abducts 8 yr old...

Bwuahahahaha

[TierMann]

8 years from now...
16 year old Korean kid steps out into the real world and dies of shock because for the past 8 years he wasn't able to develop any sort of emotional balance. Apparently he was raised in a lab where his parents forced him to watch Mr. Wizard and gave him nothing but old copies of Physics Monthly and Popular Mechanics to wear. Later signs of the childs inability to deal with anything on an adult level included reports that he would push fellow coworkers down on the ground when they attempted to touch his microscope. On a happier note, the parents just signed a movie deal and stand to make twice as much off of their child than when he was alive.
Film at 11.

[NightFire]

Whoa, that is a smart kid. His geniosity amazes me!

[nVidi0t]

lol, I'd love to see him at frosh week. He's going to drown in a beer pitcher.

[Tygerwoody]

Originally Posted by TierMann

8 years from now...
16 year old Korean kid steps out into the real world and dies of shock because for the past 8 years he wasn't able to develop any sort of emotional balance. Apparently he was raised in a lab where his parents forced him to watch Mr. Wizard and gave him nothing but old copies of Physics Monthly and Popular Mechanics to wear. Later signs of the childs inability to deal with anything on an adult level included reports that he would push fellow coworkers down on the ground when they attempted to touch his microscope. On a happier note, the parents just signed a movie deal and stand to make twice as much off of their child than when he was alive.
Film at 11.

NEWSFLASH! NEWSFLASH! NEWSFLASH!

The 16 year old Korean kid who supposively died from shock apparently was only his clone twin. Now 32 years of age, this "Einstein" wonder boy has been living in his parents basement the entire time. The neighbors saw him wondering through the neighborhood in what looks to be a "Yu-Gi-Oh" halloween costume. There are no clear motives as to why this boy decided to come out into the open so recently, but they think it has something to do with his "manastone".

Neighbor: "Yea one day while me and me wife were doing some yard work we heard this aweful SHREEL. It sounded like a Mutant Eagle or something like you would hear on the Jurasic Park. We looked around to find out what the sound was and we see this grown man in the middle of the street in some rediculously small purple costume."

Reporter: "What did you do when you saw him?"

Neighbor's Wife: "Well we though he was dieing!!! It looked almost as if his face was MELTING. We ran towards him as fast as we could, but upon closer inspection we noticed it was just Sun Tan Lotion"

Reporter: "Sun Tan lotion?"

Neighbor: "Yea woman, can't you hear? That weird critter of a man had bathed himself in sun tan lotion before he came outside. Still we didn't know what to think. He wouldn't stop SCREAMING. The shreel sound he was making was UNBAREABLE."

Reporter: "Was he..."

Neighbor: "Then he started screaming for a some damn 'Manastone'. He would shout 'pain too great, must heal, mana low, must... have... manastone!!!!' He wouldn't shutup! Everytime we told him we didn't know what a Manastone was, much less knew where to get one, he would shout 'ICE COMET!!! ICE COMET!!!' He would then wave his arms around like a lunatic. He then....."

Reporter: "Wow that is some story"

Neighbor: "I'm not done. He then started to...."

Reporter: "Sorry thats all the time we have... Back to you John"

[Tygerwoody]

I got nothing else... someone else add to the story