Last week, 14-year-old Carson Huey-You became Texas Christian University's youngest graduate, earning a bachelor of science degree in physics and minors in math and Chinese.
His mother, Claretta Kimp, said he started learning calculus when he was 3, and she credits her availability as a stay-at-home mother, as well as TCU’s community of faculty and teachers, to her oldest son’s achievements.
“It feels like it was meant to be he would come here,” senior associate dean Dr. Magnus Rittby said of Carson. “There are a lot of reasons why it was successful, and I think it’s very hard not to love Carson and the person he is. He’s not some abrasive kid who think he’s smarter than everyone else, but actually, he is smarter than everyone else.”
Carson enrolled at TCU when he was 11.
"When I used to get bad test scores or something like that, I would go home and be disappointed and think about, 'Oh, I should have known this, I should have done way better,'" he told the Star-Telegram.
Now, he’s learned how to react to an unexpected result.
“I know better how to deal with that disappointment, knowing that I will bounce back,” he said.
Carson’s aptitude for subatomic particles and learning will continue this fall, when he will return to TCU to pursue his master’s degree. The young scholar hopes to eventually earn a Ph.D. and teach in the field.
Genius seems to be a family affair: His 11-year-old brother, Cannan, is set to join Carson at TCU this fall, studying for a degree in astronomy.
While the curriculum and environment of college can be quite adult, the boys’ advisers and mother are dedicated to providing the boys with opportunities to be young.
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“This is where they can continue to learn and grow physically, spiritually, emotionally in every aspect of which your child needs to grow,” Kimp said of TCU’s investment in hers sons. “They don’t feel like, ‘Oh, I’m in a school with a bunch of grown-ups,’ and everything. They feel more like, ‘Hey, this is my family. This is my team. These are the people who really care about me.’”
“TCU is where I’ve grown up,” Carson said. “It’s home.”
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