A 17-YEAR-OLD student in Kansas, the United States, is set to graduate from high school and Harvard University at the same time this month.

Braxton Moral of Ulysses graduated from Ulysses High School on May 19 and will graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University on Thursday. The student began taking classes at Harvard Extension School when he was just 11 years old.

“The first time we took him to Cambridge, he came up to my wife and I and said: ‘I actually fit in here,’” said Carlos Moral, Braxton’s father. “We live in a small town in Kansas, so there were no challenges for him ... so this is how he got challenged.”

When his son showed that he could do the work, the university admitted him right before his 13th birthday.

“He loves to learn, that’s what makes him tick, and he also wants to make a difference for other kids,” he said.

Jarumi Crooks, a pre-admissions counselor, took the time to understand Braxton and gave him a chance, Carlos said.

Most of the time, Braxton took about 16 credit hours per semester from Harvard on top of his high school courses.

Ulysses High School was also very accommodating and allowed him three hours a day to work on his Harvard degree, the father said. Mark Paul, principal of Ulysses High School, spoke highly of Braxton.

“Braxton graduating from both Harvard and Ulysses High School in the same year speaks of Braxton’s intellectual abilities as well as his love for the educational process,” Paul said.

Carlos said the thing that makes him the proudest of his son is that Braxton recognizes how much others have helped him in his academic journey.

“If anything, we want him to be kind in life. We want him to be a good person, a kind kid and not forget that he needs to be kind,” the father said.

Once Harvard administrators realized that he could graduate, they changed the school’s rules to include an age requirement and high school diploma to enter the university, so what Braxton did won’t happen again, Carlos said.

Braxton has a passion for the law, politics and government, and he aims to go to law school next. He is in the “reserve group” for Columbia Law School and has narrowed his preferences down to about four law schools.

“He wants to be president,” his father said.(SD-Agencies)