5:29 PM
Monday, July 9, 2007
Went to JE lib ytd. A fruitful trip indeed! x)
Andrew David Hsu. A name we ought to know.
His biography is the most influential, interesting and motivating book that I’ve read this year.
Well… Andrew is a Taiwanese who lives in US. 16 this year. Yesh. Sixteen. When the book was published in 2005, he was in his forth yr in the University of Washington.
He stepped into the uni at the age of 12! o_O!! what was I doing when I was 12…?? Probably struggling with my PSLE.
okie... and here's some jaw-dropping info...
Age 2 : assembled LEGO to structures taller than himself. Started reading chapter book.
Age 3 : started doing math calculations
Age 4 : started playing golf and doing algebra
Age 5-6 : started playing piano & violin and started swimming under the coaching of professionals in a swimming team
Age 7-8 : skipped to P4, started Home School. (like what Thomas Edison did. lol ). Broke 4 swim records. (which had been kept for more than 30 years!) Started High School. (tsk tsk. I entered JC TEN years later than him.)
Age 9 : completed High Sch courses.
Age 10 : Held 8 Issaquah Swim Team records and won a Gold Medal during the King County Lake Wilderness Triathlon.
Co-founded the World Children’s Organisation with his brother Patrick (who is a genius too!)
Age 11 : Scored 99% on ACT and SAT. Won silver Grand Prize in Washington State Sci & Engineer Fair (the youngest person ever to win grand prize in WSSEF’s history. He did an in-depth research on Polymerase Chain Reaction, sth that I just came across this year…and is of the very superficial level -.-lll but HE actually started operating the machines at 11!)
Became an non-matriculated student in University of Washington (of course, again, youngest ever in history.)
Started public speaking and began a mission of helping needy children worldwide. x)
Age 12-13 : 1st place, 100m butterfly, Western Zone All-Star Swim Meet. Broke another 8 records. Ranked 4th in the entire USA for 100 yard butterfly swimming for age 12. Invited to present research result at American Association for Advancement of Sci. Entered university of Washington.
And just recently, (9th June) he graduated from the University of Washington with 3.5 degrees (B.S. in Neurobiology, B.S. in Biochemistry, B.S. in Chemistry, Minor in Mathematics). o_O It was said that others struggled like mad in order to complete just one of these.
It’s not only a book about a genius; it’s about an all-rounded genius who’s also actively involved in community works and helping children in third world countries.
Impressive huh.
I would strongly recommend this book to anyone. Coz it's not something tt one would read and forget; it really gives a purpose in life as well as the sense of urgency in daily life. Indirectly of course. Which is good!
I’ve read many other self-enriching and self-improvement kinda books that teach ppl how to handle difficulties and provide a step by step guideline on how to manage time wisely. Dont really like them… it’s always easier to learn from others’ successes and failures I think. Provides you a room for personal reflection as well.
Like I said, I would strongly recommend this bk to anyone. Parents, teachers, teenagers, schools…anyone and everyone!
The kind of parents that Andrew has, I would say, is perfect. They have never exerted any form of force onto their sons and their way of teaching…hmm…innovative and yet effective.
Hmm...A great book indeed!!
