Gary 15-year-old Khaya Njumbe set to become youngest-known college graduate in Indiana, school says

GARY, Ind. (WLS) -- A 15-year-old in Northwest Indiana is about to become the youngest-known college graduate in the Hoosier state, his college told ABC7.

Khaya Njumbe taught himself how to speak Chinese, the periodic table, and how to play the piano.

While he's obviously incredibly smart, the Gary teen also manages to make time to fit in an impressive list of extracurricular activities. The sky is the limit for the young phenom.

"I always want to try new things, do what other people aren't doing," Njumbe said.

From a young age, Njumbe was leaps and bounds ahead of his classmates.

"When I was younger, I had a lot of ambition," Njumbe said. "I always just wanted to do more, impress my parents mainly. I was always an overachiever in school."

At seven years old, he taught himself how to play piano and speak Chinese.

"I think I just always wanted to better myself and do new things," Njumbe said.

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Now at age 15, rather than playing video games with friends, he can be found walking the campus of Indiana University Northwest in Gary.

The teenage scholar will soon graduate college next week.

"It's pretty amazing. Obviously the stuff he can do is beyond what most people can do," Indiana University Northwest professor Jack Bloom said.

The young phenom was able to take dual-credit courses while attending 21st Century Charter High School.

"He started taking college courses at 11. Yeah... crazy," 21st Century Charter School social worker Theresa Canady sadi. "Yeah and he's just amazing."

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A child of immigrants, Njumbe is the first in his family to graduate college.

Not only that, he is now the youngest college graduate in the state.

"He's a serious student. He asks really good questions," Bloom said. "He makes good comments. He helps the class."

For a story as novel as Njumbe's, all he hopes for is to inspire others.

"It is something special," Canady said. "It's something special he's doing, and hopefully he's an inspiration to other students."

Njumbe plans to attend medical school and become an orthopedic surgeon one day, but he has to wait until he's 18 to enroll. In the meantime, he's going to pursue a master's degree, he said.

"I just want to show other kids that they can do it too," Njumbe said. "And I'm not an anomaly, no type of genius or prodigy. I just worked hard and just focused really."