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11-year-old college grad: I’m no genius

Devotee of martial arts, astrophysics says he’s ‘regular kid who works hard’

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  11-year-old graduates college
June 5: An 11-year-old Southern California boy is already a college graduate. KNBC-TV's Kim Baldonado reports.

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updated 9:13 p.m. ET June 5, 2009

Moshe Kai Cavalin, 11, graduated with honors Friday from East Los Angeles College, but he'd rather you not call him a genius.

"I consider myself a regular kid who works hard and does his best," says this only child of a Taiwanese mother and an Israeli father.

When Moshe started college at the age of 8, he may have been the youngest person in class, but he ended up tutoring some of his 19- and 20-year-old classmates in math and science.

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Astrophysics is his passion. Albert Einstein and Bruce Lee are among his idols.

Yet like a twist out of a Hollywood action flick, Moshe combines his exceptional smarts with fearsome martial arts abilities: The preteen has won numerous national martial arts championships.

Up next for the tireless boy wonder: In the next six months to a year, he plans to devote himself to martial arts, write a book for kids on how to succeed in school, and take up scuba diving.

Not on the agenda: playing video games.

"I feel it's a waste of time playing video games because it's not helping humanity in any way," says Moshe, who wants to use his knowledge to change the world.


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