A 21-Year-Old University of Chicago Man Is One Of The Youngest Doctors Of All Time
What were you doing back when you turned 21? If the words “beers,” “shots,” or “bars” come to mind, you’re not alone. Because the legal drinking age in America is 21 years old, age 21 is a big one for most young adults in this country. Although most 21-year-olds are either working full-time at that point or in college, very few know exactly what they want to do with their lives because, well, they’re still only 21 and they’ve got a lot of life ahead of them. So, there’s really no need to rush into a job or a career. They’re all about enjoying life.
That said, we think it’s probably safe to say that Sho Yano—a 21-year-old University of Chicago student—is not like most 21-year-olds. Reason being: Yano just became one of the youngest medical doctors in the history of medicine. Nine years after he began to study medicine at the age of just 12—and 12 years after he first enrolled in college—Yano was recently awarded his degree by the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. That means that while a lot of his peers are out getting wasted at the bar over the course of the next few years, he’ll be establishing himself as a doctor.
Surprisingly, though, Yano is not the youngest doctor of all time, which is pretty unbelievable when you sit back and think about it. That honor actually belongs to a guy named Dr. Bala Ambati, who graduated form the Mount Sanai School of Medicine in New York back in 1995 when he was just 17. But, either way, Yano’s accomplishment of becoming a doctor at the age of 21 is—please pardon the pun—nothing to sneeze at.
And, it should help put things into perspective for others his age. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with enjoying your life and making the most of your time as a young adult by partying, hitting the club, and having a drink or two, you also need to be thinking about your future and planning for what you want to do next in your life well before you hit your 20s. That’s not to say everybody needs to be a doctor by the time they turn 21. But, Yano is a good example of what a person can become if they put their mind to good use early on in life.
This young man gives credence to the fact that with work and the right attitude, people can achieve their dreams. Instead of hitting the party mode and following the crowd, he became a doctor. Sure, he is intelligent but there are many intelligent people who have wasted their lives. Kudos to Sho Yano and to the adults who taught him that “If you believe it, you can achieve it.”