12-year-old Caleb Anderson starts sophomore year of college majoring in Aerospace Engineering

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While most kids his age are preparing for the 7th grade, Caleb Anderson is starting his sophomore year in college, majoring in aerospace engineering.

Caleb is currently enrolled at Chattahoochee Technical College in Marietta, Georgia, where he’s set to graduate with a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering in two years. From there, his goal is to continue his education at the Georgia Institute of Technology, then the Massachusetts Institute for Technology, and eventually he hopes to get an internship working for Elon Musk, according to CBS News.

“I’m not really smart,” Caleb told the outlet. “I just grasp information quickly. So, if I learn quicker, then I get ahead faster.”

“When I was like 1, I always wanted to go to space,” he told USA Today. “I figured that aerospace engineering would be the best path.”

At only 9 months old, Caleb learned sign language and kept improving after that. He started reading a few months later, then was able to solve math problems around his second birthday, CBS News reported.

He was just 3 years old when he qualified for MENSA — a non-profit organization for people who score in the 98th percentile or higher in a standardized intelligence test.

Caleb’s parents knew early that their child was special, especially when they talked to other parents.

“As we started to interact with other parents, and had other children, then we started to realize how exceptional this experience was, because we had no other frame of reference,” Caleb’s dad, Kobi, told WKYC.

Caleb’s mother, Claire, told WKYC that she hopes her son’s example can show other African American parents that their child can be just as special.

“I think people have a negative perspective when it comes to African American boys,” she said. “There are many other Calebs out there.”

“African American boys like him,” she continued. “From being a teacher — I really believe that. But they don’t have the opportunity or the resources.”