SA's own Einstein, Hjalmar Rall, has two degrees and he's only 18!
While most teenagers don't even know what they want to do with the rest of their lives, Hjalmar already has his eyes on the prize.
At 18 years of age, most students are partying, skipping the early morning classes, and drinking too many energy drinks.
(Or that's what we assume kids these days are getting up to..)
But Hjalmar Rall is not your average university student!
He's South Africa's very own 'Young Sheldon'.
What does that mean?
Well, at the incredibly young age of 14, Hjalmar enrolled at the Univerity Of Pretoria (UP) and began his physics studies.
Now a mere four years later, Hjalmar has nabbed his second degree and is the university's youngest two-time graduate EVER.
Now he's on his way to completing a master's degree in physics at Stellenbosch University as he just graduated cum laude with a BSc Honours in physics.
He's from a small town called Riebeek Kasteel in the Western Cape where he was homeschooled after he had been easily cruising through school, and his parents realised that he was an exceptionally gifted kid.
It’s something you had to do, sit through all the years of it. At first it wasn’t so bad, but in Grade 5 it just got so boring. I got 90s for all my maths things, and the rest was pretty much the same – it was too easy.
He moved to Pretoria with his parents and started his studies.
But what was it like being a kid at university and having to interact with so many people that are quite older than you?
University was busy – lots of studying but it was fun. I never felt like I was overwhelmed or anything and I never felt out of place. At that stage I had grown up a bit quicker and I’d always had friends who were older. I fitted in quite well, we were all writing the same exams, and we all had the same woes about how we hated the same subjects and so on. I would have lunch with them in the cafeteria in the afternoon and we’d study together. I’d have coffee with some friends from maths every now and then so I was part of the social scene, but I would never go out at night or anything like that.
And what does Hjalmar want to be when he grows up?
A physics lecturer like his biggest inspiration - American physicist Richard Feynman.
Next up he'll be starting his PhD and he'll be specialising in quantum information theory, which isn't explored in South Africa so he's making his way overseas.
Despite being an incredibly gifted kid, he does not describe himself as a whizz-kid or genius and remains humble, all thanks to physics, which he deems to de a very humbling field.
And just in case you are now curious to see what the series 'Young Sheldon' is about, here's the trailer:
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Main image courtesy of @UPTuks/Twitter