What Happened to Wonder Children After Growing Up

Talented kids are incredible. As small children, they accomplish goals that some adults never even dream about. Unfortunately, sometimes talent isn’t just about fame and success and some of these stories only prove this fact.

Bright Side wants to tell you about wonderkinds with really different destinies. In the end, there’s a question for you that we can’t answer.

William Sidis

William Sidis was less than 2 years old when he learned how to read. By the age of 8, he knew several languages and as an adult, he claimed to speak about 25 languages and dialects. At the age of 11, Sidis was enrolled at Harvard and became a teacher there at age 17.

He could have built an incredible career but he decided to quit science and become an accountant. He spent his last years as a hermit.

Akrit Jaswal

When Akrit Jaswal was 7 years old, he performed his first surgery. His 8-year-old friend burned her hand. Her parents couldn’t pay for surgery so the boy decided to help. The surgery was successful, and the patient could move her fingers again.

At the age of 12, the young surgeon entered medical school. Today he’s trying to find a cure for cancer.

Jacob Barnett

2-year-old Jacob Barnett was diagnosed with autism. He used to attend special education classes at school, but his mother noticed that the curriculum was too easy and only annoyed her son. So he started to study at home and later he attended physics and astronomy classes at a university.

Barnett finished high school in 2 weeks and entered college at the age of 10. When he was 13, he developed his own theory of relativity and received a lot of rave reviews from his colleagues. Now he’s a respected astrophysicist.

Gregory Smith

At the age of 2, Gregory Smith learned to read. He entered college when he was 10 and was nominated for a Nobel Prize at the age of 12.

Today he’s a doctor of science in computational biology. When he was asked to explain why we need science, he said, “To develop effective treatments.”

Cleopatra Stratan

Cleopatra is the daughter of Pavel Stratan, a Moldovan singer. When she was a baby, her dad took her to a studio where he had to record a song. He was singing when the girl said, “I know the words too.” She grabbed a microphone and started singing along with Pavel. Everybody absolutely fell in love with her voice.

At the age of 3, Cleopatra Stratan recorded her first album that went platinum. Nowadays, she is a singer and already has 4 albums.

Michael Kearney

When he was only 4 months old he said his first words and learned to read when he was only 10 months old. At the age of 6, he graduated from school and finished college at the age of 10. Michael is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s youngest university graduate. At the age of 14, Kearney obtained a Master’s degree and became a university teacher when he was 17.

Today he works as a scientist and has a hobby: he takes part in intellectual games. Once he almost managed to win $1 million.

Here’s our question: why do you think talent isn’t a keystone to success? Share your opinion with us in the comments.