Real-life Young Sheldon: 14-yr-old graduates as engineer, set to join Elon Musk's SpaceX

In a tale that seems ripped straight from the pages of a science fiction novel, 14-year-old Kairan Quazi is about to achieve what most of us can only dream of. While his peers are preparing for the joys of high school, Kairan will be donning a cap and gown to receive his bachelor's degree from Santa Clara University, making him the youngest graduate in the history of the institution. But Kairan's ambitions don't stop there; he's already set to join Elon Musk's SpaceX as a software engineer. The trajectory of Kairan is reminiscent of the fictional character Young Sheldon Cooper, a character that gained popularity due to the show 'Big Bang Theory' and a dedicated show 'Young Sheldon'.

Kairan recently shared his achievement on his LinkedIn page stating, "Next stop: SpaceX! I will be joining the coolest company on the planet as a Software Engineer on the Starlink engineering team. One of the rare companies that did not use my age as an arbitrary and outdated proxy for maturity and ability."

He even thanked SpaceX engineers for conducting a 'fun' process for his selection. Quazi said, "A huge thank you to my team at SpaceX for the most transparent, technically challenging, and FUN interview process."

Kairan's Story 

From the very beginning, it was clear that Kairan was no ordinary child. According to report by The Seattle Times, his mother, Jullia claimed that his intense temperament manifested early on. By the age of two, he was already stringing together full sentences, leaving his parents astounded. It was quickly apparent that Kairan possessed intellectual and emotional intelligence that far surpassed his peers.

As Kairan grew older, it became clear that mainstream education couldn't keep up with his exponential learning abilities. By the time he reached third grade, both teachers and parents knew something had to change. This led the Quazi family on a journey to find an academic environment that could accommodate Kairan's extraordinary talents.

Also read: 'Much more difficult to get into SpaceX, Tesla than Harvard,' says Elon Musk

Quazi managed to qualify for a community college at age 10 and also bagged an internship at Intel Labs as an AI research co-op fellow.

Kairan then transferred to Santa Clara University at the age of 11 to study computer science and engineering. Now, at the age of 14, Kairan is looking back on a college experience that he describes as the happiest years of his life. 

He also became a member of the prestigious Association for Computer Machinery, serving as a senior senator in the Associated Student Government. His academic advisor, Ahmed Amer, couldn't help but marvel at Kairan's insatiable thirst for knowledge. Not only was he constantly ready to dive deep into the course material, but he also asked insightful questions that impressed even the most seasoned professors.

Also read: Elon Musk plans AI startup to rival OpenAI